Big Bone Lick

The Voss family enjoyed a trip to Big Bone Lick State Park in June.  Here is an excerpt of their visit:

Our first stop was at the trailside museum where they had life-size replicas of Wooly Mammoths, Mastodons, etc.  There were several geocaches and letterboxes in the park.  We hiked about 6 miles when all was said and done.

Big Bone Lick State Park has a herd of buffalo, which is part of the reason we decided to visit.  We were fortunate enough to be able to see several baby buffalo while we were there.  Too cute!

After a picnic lunch, we decided to venture up to the Coralberry Trail, which is a 2-mile hike around a small hilltop lake.  It really is beautiful there and so peaceful.

Glenna Von Henna has posted a series of beautiful, stylized photos of Big Bone Lick State Park on Flickr.  The photos have an emotive, dream-like view of the park like you’ve never seen it before.  Click on the thumbnails below to see the full size photos on Flickr:

Check out these excellent close-up photos of bison at Big Bone Lick State Park.  Some include a bison calf!

View the Bison Photos

Stacey Moore posted photos on Flickr from her recent trip to Big Bone Lick State Park in Boone County, Kentucky:

KYPetalPusher, aka L.K. Niceley from Union, Kentucky, documented her hike with friends on a sunny winter day at Big Bone Lick State Park:

“We started at the museum/gift shop, took Gobblers Trace up to the campground, then took the Coralberry trail around the lake.  Finally, we dropped down to see the herd of buffalo at the park.”

Check out her trail and photos:

Map your trip with EveryTrail

T. David had a chance to visit Big Bone Lick State Park and was pleasantly surprised to discover a herd of bison.  The bison are part of an effort to ensure their continued existence in the United States.  These magnificent beasts once ruled the prairie, but indiscriminate hunting reduced their numbers to less than 1000.  Through conservation efforts and "captive" herds, such as the one at Big Bone Lick State Park, bison are no longer an endangered species.

For more great bison photos, check out T. David’s collection of photos of “The Bison Bunch.”

Wim and Hanlie are two “very ordinary South Africans” who felt obliged to go traveling “so that we would have something to talk about.”  They wrote in their blog that they are currently camped at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky “and as I’m writing this it is storming like you can’t believe.  The new tent is holding out well, the lightning is making almost permanent light outside, the wind is blowing bubbles to all sides of the tent and the rain is pouring down like there’s no tomorrow.  We heard all our (unwashed) dishes being blown from the table outside but they’ll have to wait for the morning.  I wonder if the bikes have been blown over yet.”

Read about the rest of their trip

There were two blog postings about field trips to Big Bone Lick State Park. 

The first was Discovery School Days:  “We enjoyed a day with the park naturalist.  He led us in a fun lecture about the ice age that covered this part of KY.  The kids all took part in role playing saber-tooth tigers, sloths, mammoths, even ice moving across land…an excellent use of creative dramatics! “At lunch, Mrs. Rachel lit a fire and everyone roasted marshmallows.  Then we spent the afternoon learning survival skills that may have been used by American Indians in this area.  We learned flint napping, jewelry making, even how to start a fire using a bow and hearth… not by rubbing two sticks together!  It was a great day!!”

The second report was by Hoppy Hollow Farm: “We learned about the Ice Age and learned survival skills, including how to start a fire.  The naturalist was exceptional and we got all this for $3 a student. It was an incredible deal!!

This neat photo by D.G. Flickr shows the sun beaming over the large hill at Big Bone Lick State Park.  Here is what he wrote:  “Wanted to go a grab any shots I could from Big Bone Lick area before all of the snow melted, but the snow had melted.  Oh well, I saw this hill on the way to the park, and loved the shadows on the hill with the trees, but when I drove back the shadows were not as good as they were before, oh well, I still love the row of trees.”

Melissa is a homeschool mom to three beautiful children ages 12, 10, and 3.  They use Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophies of learning the natural, everyday hands-on life way.  They especially enjoy learning and growing together beyond the classroom doors in God’s amazing creation in nature.

On Wednesday they went on a very fun field trip with some of the other families from their co-op to Big Bone Lick State Park.  Their naturalist guide taught the kids three different sessions on bison, animal tracks, and survival in the wild.

Melissa was surprised to learn that bison are quite dangerous.  They do not like anyone or anything in their territory and will quickly charge to eliminate it.  And the fact that they can weigh up to a ton, run 40 mph (humans can’t run that fast, even Olympics competitors), and can leap over 6 feet, she wouldn’t want to get in their space.  Bison are primarily all muscle, and that is how they are so powerful.

 See more photos on Melissa’s blog