It’s no secret that eastern Kentucky has had a long, documented struggle with poverty. Southeast Kentucky’s been hit especially hard since the downturn of coal. We’re all constantly searching for that silver bullet, the easy, simple answer that’ll help turn things around. Tourism, and more specifically, adventure tourism is probably our best bet for alleviating at least some of our pains.
We’ve been reading and hearing the overused, outplayed, and just plain out ridiculous headline, “The Gatlinburg of Kentucky!” The one big bright shining light in a sea of dark. Or when you read between the lines, another poorly thought out and invariably doomed venture capital money grab.
Thankfully we’re finally seeing some realistic development, though still in idea and on paper rather than shovels in the dirt. But its a start.
Some hometown fellers in Knott County have started a local podcast to discuss some meaningful topics around home and the region (this ain’t an ad, I’m not involved, there’s a lot of good info in there). The third episode, posted in late December 2020, focuses a lot on trails development that is still in the planning stages but well into the process. Mine Made Adventure Park is probably the closest thing to a center piece for the trails development but there’s a whole lot going on throughout Southeast Kentucky to get excited about. You can listen to that episode online here or download the “Down On The Holler” podcast at Apple Podcast, Spotify and several others.