State guide

Kentucky Nature Guide

Kentucky is a state of remarkable natural variety, stretched between the southern Appalachian forests of the Cumberland Plateau in the east and the broad floodplains and cypress sloughs of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the west. Between them lie the rolling, spring-fed pastures of the Bluegrass, the cave country and sinkhole plains of the Pennyroyal over the Mammoth Cave karst, and the sandstone arches and gorges of the Red River Gorge. From wintering Bald Eagles and bugling elk at Land Between the Lakes to spring warblers in the Appalachian highlands and the goldenrod-gilded fields of autumn, Kentucky's humid, four-season climate (USDA zones 6a in the eastern mountains to 7a in the far west) delivers a rich, fast-turning nature calendar.