The National Geographic Society is about to put the “undiscovered treasures” of Kentucky’s culturally rich Appalachian region on the map.

Thirty tourist sites from Eastern Kentucky to the cave country of south-central Kentucky are being featured in a foldout map in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler and as part of an interactive map on the National Geographic’s web site.

Included in the listings are such varied sites as the Blanton Forest State Nature Preserve in Harland County, the Snug Hollow Bed and Breakfast in Irvine and the historic Valley View Ferry across the Kentucky River between Lexington and Richmond.

The American Cave Museum-Hidden River Cave and the Kentucky Repertory Theatre in Horse Cave, nearby Mammoth Cave, the Big South Fork Scenic Railway in McCreary County, Fleming County’s covered bridges, Bybee Pottery in Madison County, the Country Music Highway, Pine Mountain Trail and 20 other sites are listed.

Making use of the Web

“What we’re doing here for the 975,000 subscribers to National Geographic Traveler magazine who will get this map insert is providing Web addresses through the National Geographic map to look not just at the 30 (sites) that National Geographic selected, but home pages for each of the more than 400 businesses and attractions currently participating in the Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trails program,” said Cheryl Stone of the Eastern Kentucky University Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Online linking of the two programs—coupled with the estimated 4 million readers reached by the magazine—offers a cluster marketing approach that may have a significant impact on tourism based on Kentucky’s rural cultural heritage.

“To make a big difference for us, we don’t need to have a hundred thousand people driven here,” said Matt Collinsworth, director of the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead. “If we have five or six or ten thousand people driven here, that’s a huge boost—especially where gas prices may reach this June or July. We may need all the help we can get, drawing out-of-state tourists.”

Accessible Appalachia

The National Geographic map will includes tourism sites throughout the 13-state Appalachian region, but online viewers may click on Kentucky for an expanded listing of related sites, maps, photos and summaries of locations along the state’s off-the-beaten-path cultural heritage trails.

“What we’ve done is develop driving trails … using support from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the state’s Department of Tourism,” said Chris Cathers, program manager of Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trails. “Part of our object was, “As new tourists come into Kentucky, how do you get them to come off the interstate system into Appalachia?’ We tried to take all the guesswork out of that.”

The Appalachian Regional Commission will distribute the maps to schools, libraries and civic organizations throughout Appalachia. The tourism sites will be available online in April at www.nationalgeographic.com, or on the Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trails web site at www.KAHT.com.