Producer/Editor: Joy Flynn
Videographer: Brandon Wickey
Writer: Marsha Hellard
Associate Producer: Carolyn Gwinn
Audio: Brent Abshear, Charlie Bissell, Anne Deck
Additional Videography: Matt Grimm
Still Photography: Steve Shaffer

Kentucky’s Last Great Places

Regular viewers of Kentucky Life know that we’ve created several expanded “road shows” for KET’s annual on-air March fund drive. You might call this one the “roadless show.”

Inspired by the book Kentucky’s Last Great Places by naturalist and photographer Thomas Barnes, host Dave Shuffett goes looking for pockets of unspoiled natural beauty and diversity—those places that still look much as they did when European settlers first began arriving in the state. The result is a breathtaking survey of both large-scale scenic beauty and small natural wonders. And because many of the places we visit are out-of-the-way public or private nature preserves where access is strictly limited, it’s also a rare chance to see some of them at all.

The broadcast program is divided into six segments, grouped by geology and habitat type:

Part 1: Cumberland Mountains

• Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
• Blanton Forest State Nature Preserve
• Hi Lewis Pine Barrens State Nature Preserve
• Bad Branch State Nature Preserve

Part 2: Cumberland Plateau

• Crooked Creek Barrens State Nature Preserve
• Bat Cave/Cascade Caverns State Nature Preserve
• Cumberland Falls State Nature Preserve
• Rockcastle River watershed: Flat Lick Falls, Rockcastle Narrows

Part 3: The Bluegrass Region

• Griffith Woods
• Tom Dorman State Nature Preserve
• Jessamine Creek Gorge

Part 4: Highland Rim/Big Barrens

• Thompson Creek Glade State Nature Preserve
• Hazeldell Meadow
• Eastview Barrens State Nature Preserve
• Flat Rock Glade State Nature Preserve
• Raymond Athey Barrens State Nature Preserve
• Log House Prairie

Part 5: Mammoth Cave/Green River Watershed

• Green River watershed

Part 6: East Gulf Coastal Plain (Western Kentucky Wetlands)

• Metropolis Lake State Nature Preserve
• Axe Lake Swamp State Nature Preserve
• Ballard Wildlife Management Area

Click on the links above for descriptions and more information. And for general information, here are some of the organizations that helped us find and explore the places we visited. Their web sites can help you start your own exploration of Kentucky’s natural wonders.

• Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission
• The Nature Conservancy of Kentucky
• Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
• University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service
• Kentucky Natural Lands Trust
• Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• USDA Forest Service
• The University Press of Kentucky