music >> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening, and welcome to this special edition of Kentucky edition, where we explore the mountain's natural beauty and adventure that abounds in Eastern Kentucky.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for spending some of your evening with us.

Tourism is big business in the Bluegrass State.

2024 marked a new record year for Kentucky tourism, with $14.3 billion generated in economic impact, supporting more than 93,000 jobs.

There is no shortage of things to do, places to go and art to create and enjoy in the eastern part of our state, with attractions ranging from music and history to gorges and waterfalls and ATV trails, the Appalachian region of Kentucky is bringing in tourists and delighting the locals at the same time.

Our Toby Gibbs starts us off with a short list of some of the cultural and scenic attractions that await.

>> Eastern Kentucky is home to more than a dozen of Kentucky's 44 state parks and one national park, the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee meet.

Hikers and bikers can meander through 85 miles of trails.

It's believed 300,000 people crossed the Appalachians there to settle what was then called the West.

See the Niagara of the South at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, where Whitley County meets McCreary County, and there's the Grand Canyon of the South Breaks Interstate Park five miles east of Elkhorn City, with hiking, biking, boating, and fishing.

Kingdom Come State Park in Harlan County is known for Raven Rock and log Rock, which looks like a fallen tree.

The Red River Gorge Canyon System in the Daniel Boone National Forest includes sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, and waterfalls.

Nearby natural bridge spans 78ft and stands 65ft high.

There's canoeing and kayaking along Pike County's Hatfield and McCoy trail, named for the famous feud waged from 1863 to 1891, with death numbers estimated at everything from 12 to 20 to 60.

Named for a pioneer woman who escaped after 11 months of captivity by a group of indigenous tribes living in the area, the Jenny Wiley State Park in Prestonsburg has trails, cottages, and campgrounds.

Cruise down country music.

Highway 23 near the birthplace of music legends old and new, on your way to the U.S.

23 Country Music Highway Museum in Paintsville.

Some of country music's brightest stars hail from the hollers, and their sounds and stories are often shaped by their experiences in eastern Kentucky.

Loretta Lynn, often called the queen of country music, hailed from Butcher Holler in Johnson County.

The late Keith Whitley was from Ashland.

He was considered a pioneer of the late 1980s neo traditional country music before his death at the age of 34.

11 time Grammy winner Chris Stapleton is a singer songwriter born in Lexington and raised in Staffordsville, near Paintsville.

Tyler Childers, who combines Neotraditional, country, bluegrass, folk and honky tonk, was born in Lawrence County, then moved to Paintsville, and Sturgill Simpson, often referred to as a disciple of outlaw country, grew up in Jackson.

For Kentucky edition.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you so much Toby Gibbs.

Now there's more to the region than the storied Hatfield and McCoy family feud.

From mountains to repurposed underground coal mines that age bourbon to music and adventure, Eastern Kentucky has its sights set on becoming a major tourism destination.

Now, you may not know that Pike County is the state's largest county by landmass, covering close to 800mi█!S.

Outdoor enthusiasts seeking a getaway that explores rugged Appalachian terrain are charmed by Pikeville quaint, small town vibe, with adventure options galore.

I visited the area recently to learn more with State Senator Philip Wheeler, who hails from Pikeville, as our tour guide.

>> Well, you know, when I first got elected in 2019, we had been through some struggles, obviously, with the decline in the coal industry, which, you know, carried this region for many generations.

So coming up with a new not necessarily replacement, but at least a concurrent industry to diversify our economy was was really something that, you know, was a goal of mine.

I mean, you're sitting in the perfect example of that right now.

I mean, you know, Cannon and Shannon and Kendall Wright took a facility that, you know, had been through some tough times, and they're now investing their their dedication and their resources here at Eastern Kentucky to make sure that it flourishes here in our community and serves as another attraction to get people into this area.

>> Kendall Wright is one half of the Brothers Wright Distilling.

>> So we're sitting in the entryway to the Dueling Barrels Distillery, which is now the Brothers Wright Distilling Company.

My brother and I took over the facility about eight weeks ago.

We are local, local boys.

We built our brands and our companies right here locally, 350 gallon moonshine still.

And then we have a spirit.

We've been in business nearly 30 years.

And we started going down this, this avenue of about five years ago and just had a passion for bourbon and the bourbon industry.

We also have production capabilities from being able to run all the equipment from the basement as well.

>> The Brothers Wright Distilling Company is known for aging its Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey in an over 100 year old repurposed underground coal mine.

The former dueling barrels, which the brothers Kendall and Shannon acquired, was the vision of late Alltech founder Pierce Lyons, who, with his wife Deirdre, created a visitor experience reminiscent of their native Ireland.

It was Eastern Kentucky's first combined beer, bourbon and moonshine operation.

>> The Lyons family built such an amazing facility here and really, it really opened before Covid, but kind of Covid kind of slowed it down quite a bit.

And and they reached out to us about six months ago and asked us if we'd be interested, and we figured out how to make it happen.

>> So when when you look at, you know, the old Dueling Barrels brochure, you know, it talks about bourbon country, moonshine belt and Appalachian craft beer corridor.

And Pikeville is the intersection of all three of those things.

Is that still what's happening here?

>> It is.

And it's kind of our vision as well.

Although we're mainly a our plans were mainly for bourbon.

But this this facility was set up beautifully to do craft beers and single malt liquors.

And at some point we're going to jump into all those.

We're really kind of focusing in the latter part of 25 here is to produce some quality bourbon and get it in barrels.

So a few years down the road that we can sit in here and have a sip of it, but we will we will jump into all those avenues at some point.

We're just we're right now we're wading into the waters, trying not to get in over our head.

>> The 30,000 square foot facility in downtown Pikeville has a street side peek at the three Vendome copper pot stills, a 350 gallon moonshine still 19 stainless steel fermenters, two traditional cypress fermenters, and beer brewing equipment capable of producing 40,000 barrels annually, plus a gift shop and event space.

What's the five year vision or plan?

>> Well, this was like the ten year vision.

I'm already standing in the middle of it.

>> You're an overachiever.

>> Well, you know, I didn't.

You know, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

You either figure out how to make it happen or you get out of the way.

And we were fortunate enough to try to make this thing happen now.

So I'm afraid to say what a five year vision is, because the next few steps of this is obviously, I've got to build another distillery at the location in belfry, Kentucky, which is where the mines located at.

I've, I've got 1200 acre property there that's set up for this.

And so I'm I'll have a distillery here in downtown Pikeville and I'll have a distillery in belfry, Kentucky.

And, and we're going to try to get tours and tastings and an old coal mine that was opened in 1913.

>> Even though the Bourbon Trail doesn't make its way yet to eastern Kentucky, there are many hoping the brothers Wright earns Pikeville a star on that map.

Now, if you're looking for a trail of a different sort, here's an idea.

When we talk about adventure tourism, for somebody who's like, exactly what is that?

How would you define it?

>> Well, I think the definition is a little bit different for everyone.

I mean, for me, you know, I do like enjoy getting out on some of the side by sides and ATVs and going out for a day.

>> Sounds like a plan.

Now, this isn't your granddad's all terrain vehicle.

This is the Cadillac version.

>> Okay, so what we got right here is a cfmoto.

You force Highlander, and it's the u10 XL, and it's a really neat machine because it's cabin closed, power windows, power flip windshield.

You've got heat and AC, so we're about to be in comfort if you get cold or if you get hot, we can fix that and adjust it.

>> These 20 to $40,000 machines, as they're called.

Take us on phase one of the Hillbilly Trail system 20 miles south of Pikeville on US 23.

Jerry Atkins is the director of the trail system.

He says visitors come from all over the U.S.

to dig their wheels in, as do visitors from Canada and Mexico.

>> It's their phase one.

It's called Flatwoods Trailhead.

We have over 100 miles of trail here on nearly 6000 acres of land.

>> Wow.

And how long has this been around?

>> We've just started our third year now.

>> Yeah.

What's the big vision?

>> Well, we're going to start phase two on the northern end of the county.

This is the southern tip of the county where we're at now, Pike County, Kentucky.

And land mass is one of the largest, if not if not the largest county in land mass east of the Mississippi River.

We're going to go to the other side of the county, start a second phase all the way across the county.

>> The thrill of the ride might get your blood pumping, but the sights you see when you put it in park certainly will soothe your soul.

>> Are you going to be, well, surprised?

We got beautiful views, overlooks, but great trails, rock formations, just a great variety of things that you'll be seeing.

>> If you need to stretch your legs on the way to these picturesque overlooks, jump out into these swings made by volunteers to kick up your heels for a while.

You're certainly going to feel like a kid again.

>> Oh.

>> All right, take you back to your childhood.

>> That's awesome.

>> It's a lot of fun.

>> So, Jerry, what does this mean in terms of, like, the tourism economy here to have this trail?

>> Well, it's bringing in a great amount of tourism dollars and more.

So it's a lot of county citizens are becoming entrepreneurs.

We've since, as I said, been open over two years now and we've got nearly 20 places of lodging.

People have made Airbnbs out of rental units.

One campground was completed solely because of this trail system.

Hillbilly trails got two more campgrounds under construction over on the south trailhead side of the trail system, ATV parts stores, repair shops going in.

Just a lot of entrepreneurs now that had never had been.

So it's helping the citizens of the county.

Also.

>> You know, I my long term vision is, you know, maybe we could become the Switzerland of Eastern Kentucky, maybe not a large development, but, you know, Switzerland is a place that is scenically beautiful, but also a great manufacturing place with a lot of small manufactories that that, you know, provide one of the highest standards of living in the world.

You know, I don't know that we'll get there overnight, but as long as I'm in office, my my dedication is going to be to, to this area that I grew up in.

>> Now traveling south now to Bell County from Pike County that borders two states, Tennessee to the south and Virginia to the southeast, south southeast, colliding at the famous Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, where all three meet.

The county is home to both a state park and a national park, which bring a wealth of opportunities to explore the region's scenic views.

Our Laura Rogers went to Pine Mountain State Resort Park, where she sat down with county officials to discuss tourism efforts there.

>> Tourism has exploded here in comparison to what it was years ago.

>> But tourism wasn't top of mind when Bell County Judge executive Albey Brock came into office nearly two decades ago.

>> When I first got elected, we did a study to see what we could do to grow our community.

We involved hundreds of members of the community.

You know, it ranked really high on potential.

>> Much of that potential centers around outdoor recreation and adventure, of which there is plentiful opportunity.

And the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

>> We've just got so much of it.

We've got more public hunting than any place in Kentucky by a lot.

We're the only county in the state that has both a national park and a state park.

We've got two golf courses.

We've got places to fly, fish places to go, off roading, kayaking, whatever you like to do outdoors, chances are you'll find something here.

>> That list will soon grow with the arrival of a new tourism destination expected to open in 2027.

>> We've got the largest tourism project taking place in Bell County right now in Boone's Ridge.

It's a 50 plus million dollar project that is estimated by USDA estimates, not, you know, stuff a developer, you know has brought up to bring in over a million people a year.

>> With those expectations, we set out to learn more about Boone's Ridge in the works in Bell County for more than a decade.

>> To the best of my knowledge, it's the largest, most aggressive tourism venue being developed in eastern Kentucky.

>> The nonprofit Appalachian Wildlife Foundation is the owner and developer of Boone's Ridge, which sits on 12,000 acres outside Pineville.

>> Our mission is the environmental, education and economic revitalization of Kentucky's Appalachian region.

>> With an estimated year to 18 months left of construction, Boone's Ridge is already home to a resident elk herd relocated from other parts of the state.

>> What we've done is we've restored the elk population to this area.

We used helicopters to relocate, trap and transport elk over a three year period.

>> A couple hundred elk have now multiplied to more than 600 roaming freely.

>> In addition to that, though, we have an incredible black bear, deer, bobcat, and wild turkeys, of course, are part of the birding experience but abundant wildlife on site.

>> And the goal is for everyone to be able to enjoy that.

>> Wildlife accessibility is something that we're focused on.

We've created an accessible nature trail.

It's a paved, improved nature trail that will allow people with mobility impairments to actually get out and enjoy the wildlife and the wild views.

>> There are stunning views from this eastern Kentucky mountaintop, an area once heavily dependent on coal that Frank Allen says will greatly benefit from the tourism dollars Boone's Ridge aims to attract.

>> This is an area where the economy has been based on the extraction and export of the natural resources, and what we're doing is showing the value in preserving and showcasing the natural resources.

>> The foundation has raised $74 million for the project, with a goal of another 20 million, and they expect a big return on investment.

>> We're hoping that long after I'm gone, this will be an attraction similar on a much smaller scale to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

>> This one will also be family friendly, with a big playground and a petting zoo, along with retail, restaurants and an aerial gondola.

>> Once that project gets off the ground and gets going, it's a game changer.

>> The Promised land.

>> Another game changer has been John Grace's efforts to organize musical performances in Bell County, like the Laurel Cove Music Festival and Pineville and Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series.

What has that brought to the community to offer these these live music opportunities and concerts?

>> It's been great.

I remember when I took over the position in 2016, you know, obviously I knew being from here that our outdoor recreation, our frontier era history are kind of two pillars, but we were looking for just something else.

And events and event based tourism has been something that has really worked well for us.

We have an event like Laurel Cove Music Festival, which takes place here at the state park.

We've been really lucky and humbled that the past two years, it sold out in under five minutes before we even announced a band, which I never we would have never dreamed that that would have happened.

But we knew that with the setting, the venue at Laurel Cove Amphitheater, it's such a esthetically and acoustically it's just it's beautiful, like it's a great place to have a concert.

>> They've worked to build on that success.

With shows at Bell Theater in downtown Pineville, with the added benefit of bringing more foot traffic downtown to support small businesses like coffee shops, restaurants and retail, which you'll also find in Bell County's largest city.

Tell us more about the communities of Pineville and also Middlesboro.

>> Pikeville is a small community as well as Middlesboro, and we have local retail shops.

We have several little cute boutiques that have merchandise that is something unique to our area that you can only find here.

So it's a great place to shop local.

We have nice little restaurants in Middlesboro that have outdoor seating, indoor seating, lots of different choices of meals that you can find and just enjoy being on the main streets.

>> And I'm sure you have a lot of out of town guests that come in to visit the state park here.

And then they're also exploring the surrounding communities as well.

I know you all appreciate that support.

>> Yes, Pine Mountain State Park is a wonderful place to come.

Have a vacation.

You can do the hiking trails.

You can just explore the whole area.

And rock is especially a neat little hike that you can take and overlook the city.

>> Bell County is also home to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, located between Middlesboro and Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.

>> We're the only county in the state with a national park and a state park.

A lot of people don't realize that.

>> Which means double the opportunity for taking in the area's natural beauty, history, and culture.

Somebody is really going to stay busy when they come visit.

>> Yeah, yeah.

And that's kind of the whole idea is to kind of market it as a place you can go and have multiple things you can do over the course of several days or a week and, and try to find those cross sections where people can come and, you know, they can hike at the national park or state park.

They can enjoy a live music event downtown Pikeville or in Middlesboro or, you know, the tons of other stuff.

The national park has got a great exhibit on, like the frontier era history.

Up here.

We've got museums.

There's a lot of stuff to do here.

>> It's not an accident that our numbers have exploded.

It's been a lot of vision and and effort and support has went into that.

>> And has that led to a larger economic impact in your communities?

>> Absolutely.

You look at our community based on population and you look at Middlesboro, and we've got multiple branded chain hotels.

There are a lot of people make careers out of being in the hospitality industry.

So, you know, there's a lot of employment associated with it.

And then obviously, you know, they stay, they shop.

It helps our local business.

>> You are new to this role being executive director at Bell County Chambers.

So what would you like to accomplish and and see the chamber do in the near future?

>> I've lived in Bell County all my life, and I think it's the best place to to live and work and raise a family.

I am working closely with our two Main Street directors and with John Grayson with tourism.

And so we are really trying to push this area.

We want people to come stay, we want people to shop, we want people to explore everything that we have and give back to our area and grow to love it as much as we do.

>> Thank you so much, Laura, for that trip.

Now we continue our Eastern Kentucky road trip to the northeastern part of the state, Boyd County, home to a beautiful riverfront and the historic Paramount Arts Center, the famous Country Music Highway has its roots here.

We sent our Emily Sisk out to learn more.

>> Where art meets adventure.

That's how Boyd County leaders describe their tourism scene.

At the core of that scene is the Paramount Arts Center, which has a 90 year old history of bringing entertainment to the region.

>> In my opinion, it is the jewel of the Tri-State.

>> In the early 1900s, Paramount Pictures film company decided to build a state of the art theater.

In each one of the 50 states.

>> They picked the location of Paramount Arts Center based off what city they thought was going to thrive.

>> Because of the area's rich industries like steel and coal.

Paramount pictures decided on Ashland not because of the Great Depression.

Paramount pictures had to pause construction after finishing around a dozen theaters, but Ashland has been the preferred location of the arts center since 1931.

>> The preservation is maybe the most important part of the thing that we do here, and so these murals that are actual, honest to God murals with paint, every year, they get redone and revisited.

>> Had some some pretty major work done probably 20 years ago now when they added the stage house.

Any traveling show can travel, theater show, or any act has its.

It's perfectly suited for that.

>> We had Tyler Childers in for a conference a few years ago.

My favorite concert that has ever been here.

Not a country music star, but Weird Al was incredible.

>> There's also an in-house theater group called the Paramount Players that puts on shows for the community.

For many northeast Kentuckians, the Paramount is an irreplaceable piece in the region's puzzle.

>> That of of all the places in town.

That may be my favorite place, just to kind of be.

>> Music and the arts continue to shape Boyd County tourism.

The county is now host to two major music festivals, Rock the Country and Healing Appalachia.

Both events bring in world class musicians and many out of town visitors.

>> Being able to have Tyler Childers and Chris Stapleton perform, being able to have Nickelback and Kid Rock here, and a slew of other artists and just welcome people from all across the world to Boyd County.

We got a 50 mile radius of people staying in hotels for these festivals, but it's super cool just people coming from California, people coming from Ireland.

>> You couldn't get a hotel room from Mount Sterling to Charleston, West Virginia because of those events.

>> And in case the crowds of people don't sell the impact, the county has the dollar figures to back it up.

>> We'll probably add 50 to $55 million in economic impact, specifically in tourism, to our region, because of two festivals.

>> Now, besides music, Boyd County also touts its adventure tourism.

One piece of that is Camp Landing.

The entertainment district has a Malibu Jack's theme park, ax throwing, movie theater, sports simulator and more, all on one property.

And they're still growing, with plans to add a sports complex, horse racing track and hotels in the near future.

>> For one piece of land, it will be the biggest entertainment facility in the state of Kentucky.

>> The masterminds behind Camp Landing are Elizabeth and Jason Camp, who moved from coastal Florida to Boyd County.

>> We love the small town atmosphere.

We love the friendly people that are here.

But there was a lack of, you know, doing some things.

>> So the camps bought what was a vacant mall and turned it into an entertainment district.

>> We never in our wildest dreams would have thought we would have bought a dead mall and turned it into something like this.

>> I think it could be a model for all of all of Kentucky or Appalachia or even the country.

You know, retail is is struggling all over.

So, you know, just reinventing it.

>> And as visitors get further outside the city limits, they'll even find an off road track in rush, which is an unincorporated community on the edge of Boyd and Carter counties.

>> It's a 7000 acre off road park.

They have over 100 miles of trails.

We'll walk them 50 60,000 unique visitors a year to rush.

>> So with all the industries and attractions at hand, what helps Boyd County tourism stick together?

There was one loud answer.

>> It's the people.

It's always going to be the people.

>> The community is the one that keeps it going.

>> Tourism director Andrew Steele said.

If Boyd County prospers, then their neighbors in surrounding counties and states will succeed as well.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you Emily.

Starting next year, the Paramount Arts Center in Boyd County will be operated by an Iowa based management company rather than the local board.

The city of Ashland announced that decision at the end of November.

Now, to learn more about the importance of Eastern Kentucky tourism and the new ideas to help make the region the so-called Switzerland of Kentucky, you can check out our recent episode of Kentucky Tonight that can be streamed online and on demand at ket.org Johnny Nash KY tonight.

Thanks so very much for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw and until I see you again, have a really good night and take really good care.

So long.