10 Things to Do in Kentucky With Kids

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There are plenty of exciting things to do with the kids, whether they are toddlers, tweens, or teens.

Are your children interested in water fun, dinosaurs, spelunking, or animals?

Immerse yourself and your family in many fun, educational, and unique activities when you check out these 10 things to do in Kentucky with kids.

Things to Do in Kentucky With Kids

Kentucky Horse Park – Lexington

Let the kids spend time with beautiful horses at Kentucky Horse Park.

Horses have been on the grounds since 1777.

The Kentucky Horse Park is a 1,200-acre park that allows visitors to get close to the horses and to experience activities such as the daily Parade of Breeds show, horse barn tours, and youth camps.

There are 60,000 square feet of permanent exhibitions in the International Museum of the Horse.

Visitors can engage in interactive experiences.

The Al-Marah Arabian Horse Galleries is a “state-of-the-art multimedia, interactive experience” that focuses on younger visitors.

Older kids can participate in a guided 35-minute trail ride, which is fine for first-time riders.

Smaller children will enjoy a pony ride, specifically geared toward children ages two to ten.

Visitors can stay at the KHP Campground, visit the campground store, and cool off in the pool.

Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay – Louisville

Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay touts itself as being “where families come to discover fun.”

It is both an amusement park and a water park with more than 70 attractions.

Take the family on the Mile High Falls or cool off on the Raging Rapids River Ride.

Younger children will enjoy rides such as the Whirl-Around-Swings and the Rowdy Racers in King Louie’s Playland, while older kids will enjoy the Kentucky Flyer and the Flying Wheel.

Daring teens will likely brave the opportunity to take a seat on the Scream Extreme.

Let the teens enjoy the thrill of the world-renowned wooden roller coaster called the Thunder Run.

It features more than 3,000 linear feet of track and a 74-foot drop.

Hurricane Bay has giant wave pools, and slides for all ages, including the Deep Water Dive with a 12-story drop at a 70-degree angle.

Wave Family Lagoon features fun for the entire family.

Indulge in some shopping and enjoy foods such as pizza, burgers, tacos, funnel cake, and bakery items.

Newport Aquarium – Newport

Share an unforgettable experience with your kids when you visit Newport Aquarium, where thousands of animals live in more than one million gallons of water.

Touch a live shark and an ancient Megalodon Shark tooth.

Younger children will enjoy the Shark Nursery, where they can see the eggs of different species of sharks.

Cross Shark Bridge, where you can walk within a few inches of living sharks, stingrays, and more than 300 species of fish.

The 75-foot-long rope bridge is sure to excite tweens and teens.

Sea, Touch, & Explore offers kids the opportunity to discover a sunken ship lying on the bottom of the sea floor.

Take them to Gator Alley to see rare crocodiles, rare albino alligators, lizards, and other reptiles.

Penguin Palooza will excite kids as they watch several species of penguins splash and play.

Go to the Octopus Den to see the Giant Pacific Octopus, and to learn how an octopus changes color and body shape.

Walk under large aquariums, explore the Coral Reef Tunnel, and discover rare and exotic species at Newport Aquarium.

Dinosaur World – Cave City

Walk among life-sized fiberglass, steel, and concrete replicas of a variety of dinosaurs at Dinosaur World.

Some replicas are up to 80 feet in length.

The theme park, geared towards children ages 12 and under, features interactive exhibits and activities.

One example is the Boneyard, where they can dig up a life-sized dinosaur skeleton.

Let the kids play at the dinosaur-themed playground.

Stop by the gift shop, which measures more than 5,000 square feet, to shop for toys, games, geodes, and prehistoric artifacts.

Louisville Zoo – Louisville

The Louisville Zoo, which opened in 1969, has more than 1,200 animals throughout the 130 acres of natural settings.

Kids will marvel at majestic animals from Africa, and animals in the Zone of The Americas, which houses jaguars, sloths, and wolves.

Explore The Islands exhibit to see orangutans, crocodiles, and Sumatran Tigers.

Little kids will like the penguins at Penguin Cove.

The award-winning Islands exhibit simulates the way that these animals live in the wild.

Daring older kids who venture to the HerpAquarium will enjoy an experience that allows them to see an American Alligator, black piranhas, vampire bats, and reptiles from across the globe.

The fun experience for your teens may well be when they trek across the Ropes Adventure Course and see the zoo while they are perched high above the ground.

Glacier Run, another award-winning exhibit, features animals from the Arctic wilderness, including polar bears, grizzly bears, sea lions, seals, and snow leopards. Smaller children will love their visit to the petting zoo.

Take the entire family on a camel ride for a unique experience.

Bring your own cooler or dine at the African Outpost, Wild Burger Restaurant, or Kentucky Outpost.

Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo – Horse Cave

The Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo is unlike any other zoo.

Take the kids on a trip to this memorable destination where they can pet a kangaroo, and visit The Outback, where kangaroos freely roam about the area.

Give the younger kids the nominal fee to feed the animals at the petting zoo, while the older kids pay the small charge to feed the lorries that fly right on them at Land of the Lories.

Sift a bag of sand and discover genuine gemstones.

Learn about exotic animals at the animal show and visit the Mammoth Onyx Cave, a natural limestone cave.

There are many other exhibits and activities at this Australian-themed park.

Red River Gorge and Red River Gorge Zip Line – East-Central Kentucky

Situated in the Daniel Boone National Forest, and spanning across 21 Kentucky counties, is the Red River Gorge.

Experience the jaw-dropping, scenic, natural area, with plenty of activities for kids.

It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a federally-designated National Geological Area, National Natural Landmark.

Explore unique plant and wildlife habitats, go boating, or take a scenic drive on the Red River Gorge Scenic Byway.

View or climb rock features, and have fun hiking, camping, or fishing.

A fun experience for teens is the Red River Gorge Zip Line.

Experience the adrenaline rush while on the zipline that towers 300 feet above the Gorge.

Beech Bend Raceway, Amusement Park & Splash Lagoon – Bowling Greene

Bounded by the Barren River and covered with beech trees throughout the 379-acre park, Beech Bend has provided fun activities for kids and adults since 1898.

Adults can relax, knowing that the amusement park owners are committed to providing safe, clean family fun.

The destination has appeared on the Amusement Today magazine list of “Top 5 Friendliest Parks.”

Let the younger kids experience the fun of riding the Tea Party or Grand Carousel, while older kids ride thrill rides such as Air Race or The Kentucky Rumbler, the most twisted coaster within a seven-state region.

The family will enjoy the Whitewater Express, Splash Lagoon, and a variety of shows and entertainment.

Watch NHRA races at Beech Bend Raceway.

Dine at DJ’s Diner, Tiki Grill, or other options.

Stay at the campgrounds for even more fun.

Cumberland Falls – Corbin

Cumberland Falls lies in the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

The largest waterfall in Kentucky is known as the “Niagara of the South.

Cumberland Falls stands 68 feet high and 125 feet wide.

The spectacular waterfall rushes 3,600 cubic feet of water over the edge every second.

The kids will enjoy the fantastic sight of the majestic falls and the roar of the rushing waters.

Families who visit at the end of a full moon can see a rare occurrence called a moonbow, also known as a white rainbow.

Take a whitewater rafting trip below the falls, partake in gem mining to find real gemstones, and enjoy picnicking, swimming, and horseback riding.

Enjoy a vacation with several lodging options at Cumberland Falls.

Mammoth Cave National Park – Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest cave system known to man.

Take the kids on an adventure through the rock beds that started forming approximately 320 million years ago, while the cave itself began forming 10 to 15 million years ago.

The kids will learn that the cave system is still forming today.

Guided cave tours allow everyone to enjoy Mammoth Cave.

The park suggests that visitors read tour descriptions before purchasing tickets.

There are short tours, crawling tours, wheelchair-accessible tours, and lantern tours.

Explore artifacts, unusual rock formations, historic areas, stalagmites, stalactites, gypsum crystals, and other formations.

Adventurous older kids may wish to ascend and descend hundreds of stairs and steeper inclines to explore cave rooms.

Mammoth Cave provides more than cave tours.

Hiking, bicycling, boating, kayaking, horseback riding, and stargazing are other fun activities.

Visit the Lodge at Mammoth Cave to learn about lodging and where to eat during your visit.

Kentucky Safety Overview

READ THE FULL REPORT: Kentucky Safety Review

Safety Index:

64

• OVERALL RISK: MEDIUM
• TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: MEDIUM
• PICKPOCKETS RISK: MEDIUM
• NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: MEDIUM
• MUGGING RISK: MEDIUM
• TERRORISM RISK: LOW
• SCAMS RISK: MEDIUM
• WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: MEDIUM