Home » State parks and Dawkins Line recognized by parks group

State parks and Dawkins Line recognized by parks group

Honorees were Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Big Bone Lick State Historic Site and Dawkins Line Rail Trail

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 12, 2014) – Two Kentucky state parks and a state park trail were honored recently during the annual meeting of the Kentucky Recreation and Park Society in Owensboro.

state parksThe honorees were Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonsburg, Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in Union and the Dawkins Line Rail Trail in eastern Kentucky.

Jenny Wiley won the award for outstanding state park in the category for parks with 16 or more employees by demonstrating outstanding contributions through programming. The park has a lodge, cottages, restaurant, marina, and campground. Jenny Wiley also offers elk viewing tours in the fall and winter.

Big Bone Lick won the award for outstanding state park in the category for parks with 15 or fewer employees.  The Big Bone Lick State Historic Site is a unique, world-renowned site, with a visitor center that displays Ice Age mammal bones, fossils, and Native American artifacts. The park also has trails, a bison herd and a campground.

The Dawkins Line Rail Trail received the Facility Class II Award for facilities with 15 or fewer employees that offer a unique enhancement in quality of life for the community they serve. The Dawkins Line opened an 18-mile section in Johnson and Magoffin counties last year to hikers, cyclists and horseback riders. This section features 24 trestles and Gun Creek Tunnel. Work continues on extending the trail another 18 miles into Breathitt County.

“We’re proud of the employees who work so hard to make these parks special to their visitors,” Parks Commissioner Elaine Walker said. “Thanks to all of our park staffers who are dedicated to making the Kentucky State Parks the best park system in the country.”

For more information about these and other parks, visit www.parks.ky.gov