Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Counties in Kentucky that I have Visited

There are 120 Counties in Kentucky – “The Bluegrass State“

Also be sure to see my United States County Counting Page for the rest of the states.

Kentucky Counties Visited

I have visited 87 Counties = 72.5% of Counties in Kentucky

Counties visited are colored-in; counties still needing to be visited are blank. Map created using Mob Rule.

Twelve Mile Circle Articles Featuring Places in Kentucky

Markers designate the Kentucky locations featured in Twelve Mile Circle articles.

Counties in Kentucky

The Hensley Settlement
The Hensley Settlement in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Below are the 120 counties in Kentucky. Although infrequent, counties sometimes do change so please let me know if any of this information is out of date and I will update it. Those counties that I have visited are highlighted in Red. Readers can also link to any articles manually in this section if the map isn’t working.

  1. Adair: Kentucky Time Zone Anomaly; Kentucky Adventure
  2. Allen
  3. Anderson
  4. Ballard: Wickliffe Mounds; Ohio/Mississippi River Confluence
  5. Barren
  6. Bath: Salt Lick
  7. Bell: Saddle of the Gap; Hensley Settlement
  8. Boone: Big Bone Lick
  9. Bourbon: Colville Covered Bridge
  10. Boyd
  11. Boyle
  12. Bracken: Augusta Ferry
  13. Breathitt
  14. Breckinridge
  15. Bullitt
  16. Butler
  17. Caldwell
  18. Calloway
  19. Campbell: Named for Captain Newport
  20. Carlisle
  21. Carroll
  22. Carter
  23. Casey: Alien Encounters
  24. Christian: Jefferson Davis Monument
  25. Clark
  26. Clay
  27. Clinton
  28. Crittenden
  29. Cumberland
  30. Daviess
  31. Edmonson: Green River Ferry; Mammoth Cave
  32. Elliott
  33. Estill
  34. Fayette
  35. Flemming
  36. Floyd
  37. Franklin
  38. Fulton: Dorena-Hickman Ferry; Kentucky Bend
  39. Gallatin: That Other Warsaw
  40. Garrard
  41. Grant: Ark Encounter
  42. Graves
  43. Grayson
  44. Green
  45. Greenup
  46. Hancock
  47. Hardin
  48. Harlan
  49. Harrison
  50. Hart
  51. Henderson: Green River Island
  52. Henry
  53. Hickman: Wolf Island; Columbus-Belmont Park
  54. Hopkins
  55. Jackson
  56. Jefferson: Largest county population in Kentucky (693,604 people in 2000 Census): NuLu; Idlewild Butterfly Farm; Louisville Zoo Cemetery; Louisville Mega Cavern; Cave Hill Cemetery; The Big Four Bridge
  57. Jessamine
  58. Johnson
  59. Kenton
  60. Knott
  61. Knox
  62. Larue
  63. Laurel: Hundred Dollar Hamburger
  64. Lawrence
  65. Lee
  66. Leslie: Breckinridge Memorial Park
  67. Letcher
  68. Lewis
  69. Lincoln
  70. Livingston
  71. Logan
  72. Lyon
  73. Madison
  74. Magoffin
  75. Marion: Turtleman Exhibit; Maker’s Mark Distillery
  76. Marshall
  77. Martin
  78. Mason
  79. McCracken
  80. McCreary: Blue Heron Mine
  81. McLean
  82. Meade
  83. Menifee
  84. Mercer
  85. Metcalfe
  86. Monroe
  87. Montgomery: No more rest?; Kentucky Adventure
  88. Morgan
  89. Muhlenberg
  90. Nelson
  91. Nicholas: Daniel Boone Cabin
  92. Ohio: County with (Another) State’s Name
  93. Oldham
  94. Owen
  95. Owsley
  96. Pendleton
  97. Perry
  98. Pike: Largest county in Kentucky (788 square miles); Unknown Confederate Soldier; Pikeville Cut-Through Overlook; Nolan Toll Bridge; Appalachian Loop; The Oddity of U.S. Route 52/119
  99. Powell
  100. Pulaski: Mill Springs Battlefield; Cumberland Parkway Time Zone Crossing
  101. Robertson: Smallest county in Kentucky (100 square miles) and Smallest county population in Kentucky (2,266 people in 2000 Census); Blue Licks Battlefield Resort Park
  102. Rockcastle: Orlando (not that one)
  103. Rowan
  104. Russel: Wolf Creek Fish Hatchery; Cumberland Parkway Time Zone Crossing
  105. Scott
  106. Shelby
  107. Simpson: Simpson County Offset
  108. Spencer
  109. Taylor: Kentucky Time Zone Anomaly
  110. Todd
  111. Trigg
  112. Trimble
  113. Union
  114. Warren: Bowling Greener
  115. Washington: Lincoln Homestead
  116. Wayne: Mill Springs Mill
  117. Webster
  118. Whitley: Cumberland Falls
  119. Wolfe
  120. Woodford: Woodford Reserve Distillery

Quick Facts About Kentucky

  • Location: East South Central United States. See map above.
  • Size(1): 39,486 square miles. Kentucky is the 37th largest state. The next larger state is Virginia and the next smaller state is Indiana.
  • Population(2): 4,468,402 people. Kentucky is the 26th most populous state. The next more populous state is Louisiana and the next less populous state is Oregon.
  • Population Density: 113.2 people per square mile. Kentucky is the 23rd most densely populated state. The next more densely populated state is Washington and the next less densely populated state is Texas.
  • Bordering States: Kentucky shares a border with 7 states: Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; Missouri; Tennessee; Virginia and West Virginia.
  • Admission to the Union: June 1, 1792. Kentucky was the 15th state admitted to the Union, after Vermont and before Ohio.
  • Capital: Frankfort.
  • Highest Point: 4,139 feet at Black Mountain. See SummitPost’s Black Mountain page.
  • Lowest Point: 279 Feet at the Mississippi River in Fulton County.
  • Government website: Kentucky.gov.
  • Official Tourism website: Kentucky Tourism.
  • Still not enough? See Wikipedia’s Kentucky

Sources:

(1) Wikipedia: List of U.S. states and territories by area. Land area only.
(2) Wikipedia: List of states and territories of the United States by population. Estimated population on July 1, 2019.

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Comments

4 responses to “Counties in Kentucky that I have Visited”

  1. David Smith Avatar
    David Smith

    Have you planned a route to visit all 120 counties by vehicle, I’m going to try and visit all by motorcycle, and I would like to do it as efficiently as possible.

    Reply
    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar
      Twelve Mile Circle

      I’ve not tried to do that although it sounds like a lot of fun. What you’ve described is called the “Traveling Salesman Problem” in mathematics. There are websites that can provide TSP calculations, although I don’t think they would go as high as 120 different points. The mathematics would be daunting.

      Reply
  2. The Curmudgeon Avatar
    The Curmudgeon

    When I did a search of “kentucky counties map” I thought the map I had created came up. Turns out it was your map.

    I’m gradually going to all the counties in the country; later this year I’ll be going through the remaining counties in Michigan, and I saw that, on the way back from there to my home in South Texas, I could, with only a modest detour, go through the 8 remaining Kentucky counties (Pendleton, Bracken, Robertson, Nicholas, Harrison, Marion, Taylor and Greene), and then for good measure the last two counties in Tennessee. I’m glad to see I’m not the only person with this objective. (I find it a useful way to get me to go to places I would otherwise never go.) Unfortunately, since Mapquest stopped showing county lines on their maps, and Google Maps only sometimes will show them on a mapsearch by county name, it makes trip planning kind of problematic.
    I have found, though, that Roadtrippers Plus is helpful. (The free version not so much.)

    Reply
    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar
      Twelve Mile Circle

      I use https://www.mob-rule.com/home and highly recommend it. The site includes a tool that lets users see what counties the route travels through.

      Reply

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