
Kentucky Road Trip to Nowhere: Your Route to See the State’s Best Abandoned Places
This road trip takes you across Kentucky, leading to some of the Commonwealth's most infamous abandoned places.
WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter these properties. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.
A Fascination with Abandoned Places
There is something so eerie and captivating about places that have been abandoned. Abandoned places are often like time capsules from when they were left behind. It's fascinating to see nature reclaiming manmade structures. It serves as a powerful reminder that with the passing of time and forces of nature, nothing lasts forever. For this reason many people enjoy exploring abandoned places, these folks are considered "urban explorers."
Urban Explorers
With the popularity of social media and people's fascination with abandoned places, urban exploration has become a popular activity for thrill-seekers and photographers. If you search any social media site for "urban exploring" or "urbex" you will see thousands of photos and videos of folks exploring abandoned places.
Urban Exploration (UE) is an activity where participants explore abandoned or forgotten sites in cities and towns. It’s an exciting way to learn more about the history and culture of a place, as well as uncover hidden stories. Urban Explorers are generally looking for places that are off the beaten path – places that have been abandoned or overlooked.

Now is urban exploring legal? It depends on the location. Some once-abandoned locations now welcome people to come and explore and see what abandoned places look like. Some abandoned places are privately owned and off-limits, so you should be mindful of where you're going and get proper permissions before you go. If abandoned places fascinate you, you'll love this road trip!
The Road Trip to Nowhere
Hidden Gems USA Travel has created a road trip that winds you across the Bluegrass State, to some of the most notoriously abandoned locations. Please note, not all of these locations welcome guests, so you need to check all proper permissions to make sure you don't trespass.
Here are the locations this epic abandoned road trip will take you to mapped out by Hidden Gems USA Travel:
- Ghost Ship (USS Sachem)
- Fort Knox Tank Graveyard*
- Old Stone Jail (Bullitt County)
- Chinn’s Cave House*
- Waverly Hills Sanitorium
- Boone Tunnel
- Camp Nelson Bridge
- Mullins Station Limestone Mine
- Portal 31 Coal Mine
*Fort Knox can be explored throughout the year, but the Tank Graveyard is a restricted area and is usually only open to explore over Memorial Day.
*Chinn’s Cave House is restricted by a fence and cannot be entered...but can be viewed from the outside.
You can see the actual map for the road trip and plan your adventure, by checking out Hidden Gems USA Travel, here.
See Inside of Indiana's Abandoned Birdsell Mansion
Gallery Credit: Melissa