Kentucky Appalachians is the region where Kentucky, a proud country state, gets country. The wild mountainous areas are more what you would expect from West Virginia, and Kentucky's famous national Poet Laureates Robert Penn Warren and Jesse Stuart called these mountains home, as well as country music stars Naomi and Wynonna Judd, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Chris Stapleton, and Keith Whitley.

Understand

The name "Kentucky Appalachians" is used only by the state government for tourism promotion. Locals consider almost all of this region to be the northern part of the Eastern Coalfield or Eastern Kentucky, with the state-designated Daniel Boone Country as its southern part.

Mount Sterling lies within the state-defined Kentucky Appalachians, but is locally considered part of the Bluegrass region (not to be confused with the state-defined tourism region of that name). The locally defined Bluegrass is rimmed by a circular chain of hills known as The Knobs, and Mount Sterling is west of the eastern stretch of The Knobs.

Cities

• 1 Ashland
• 2 Catlettsburg
• 3 Morehead
• 4 Mount Sterling
• 5 Paintsville
• 6 Pikeville

Other destinations

• 1 Carter Caves State Resort Park
• 2 Greenbo State Resort Park