Kentucky

Carter Caves State Resort Park

Established: 1946
Acreage: 2,000 · ~2,000 acres in north-central Carter County; 945 ac donated by local citizens July 31, 1946; additional land acquired since
Location: Carter County, KY near Olive Hill (eastern Kentucky)
Key features: 20+ caverns including Bat Cave, Cascade Cave (with a 30-ft underground waterfall), Saltpetre Cave, and X Cave; Smokey Bridge — the largest natural bridge in Kentucky; Carter Cave Natural Bridge with a paved road on top; 45-acre Smokey Lake; Tygart Creek
Activities: Cave tours (4 caves open to public), hiking, horseback riding, swimming pool, mini-golf, fishing, boating, camping, lodge and cabin lodging, canoeing on Tygart Creek
Notable: Home to Smokey Bridge — the largest natural bridge in Kentucky — and Bat Cave, which hosts ~40,000 federally endangered Indiana bats hibernating each winter; Saltpetre Cave's name comes from saltpeter works that produced gunpowder during the War of 1812

Visits

Source: parks.ky.gov · 2026-05-10