It’s one of our favorite season’s here in Harlan County and with the warm summer days setting in, we wanted to share with you some of our favorite ways to spend those days with our favorite little Harlan Countians!
- Boat at Martins Fork Lake and have fun out on the water!
- Did you know that Black Mountain Thunder Zipline offers a kids tour but that you can also ride tandem with your little ones on the full tour!?
- Hike to Knobby Rock in Blanton Forest and experience some incredible views!
- Putt Putt Golf at Kingdom Come State Park while cooling off under the shade of beautiful trees that surround the mini golf course!
- Try out the paddle boats at Kingdom Come
- Climb the rock features at Kingdom Come like Log Rock & Raven Rock
- 606 Gaming Lounge has lots of fun in store for you and your kids! You can play video games for hours or try our virtual reality! Don’t leave the lounge without trying a milkshake!
- Fish and Picnic at Highsplint Lake
- Take a tour of all of the parks in Harlan County – make a small list to visit in communities like loyall, huff park, shiner’s ground, etc and let your kids rank which parks are their favorites!
- Fish at Kingdom Come State Park
- Splashpads are a great way to cool down during the summer in Harlan County and did you know that Harlan County boasts 2 locations to cool off?
- Visit the Kentucky Coal Museum and let your kids explore the kids mine tour!
- Looney Creek Escape Room in Lynch is great fun for the whole family! You will get locked away in the escape room for an hour while you and your little ones try to solve all of the clues to escape!
- Take the Portal 31 mine tour! This underground tour is not only informative but it’s a lot of fun to go underground by rail car!
- Explore downtown Harlan by taking the downtown walking tour and learning even more about our beautiful mountain home!
- Go on a “bear hunt” (stay in your car and never approach) and look for bears throughout Harlan County
- Check out Festivals throughout the summer – Poke Sallet, Fourth Fest, Labor Day Festival, etc.
- Be sure to take your kid(a) to story times and children’s events at the public library branches! Finish it off by attending the summer reading program!
- Make beautiful items at Willing Hearts in Cumberland as a family!
- Allow your kids to develop an appreciation for shopping local and shopping in the downtowns at shops like Sassy Trash, Raven Rock, Southern Peach, etc.
- Volunteer some time cleaning up an area or beautifying an area with your kids
- Take a tour of Pine Mountain Settlement School
- Collect some really cool rocks and paint them with your kid(s) then take them around your community and hide them for others to find! We recommend putting inspirational messages on them!
- Load up your bikes and bike the paved portion of Little Shepherd Trail
- Geocache – there are tons of hidden geocaches around Harlan County and it’s completely free. You can download a geocache app to see all of the coordinates and clues for the hidden geocaches in Harlan County!
- Take some classes at Pine Mountain Settlement School – they offer all kinds of classes like pottery, orienteering, as well as various camps throughout the summer. Use Experiencepinemountain.com to book an authentic Appalachian experience for your family or group of friends. Options range from weaving to beeswax candles.
- Check out the Summer Under the Stars Movie Series in Downtown Harlan
- Drive up to Holmes Mill and experience one of the biggest waterfalls Harlan County has to offer
- Learn about government process by attending a local city council meeting or county fiscal court meeting
- Drive the Dragonslayer Hwy 160 and sign their visitor wall!
- Book a ghost tour with Bloody Harlan tours and explore the paranormal side of Harlan County!
- Forage- explore the mountains for Poke, hickory chickens, berries, nuts, etc.
- Vacation Bible Schools can be found almost every week in the summer – check with a local church when their VBS may be taking place
- The Boys and Girls Club offers a variety of camps throughout the summer ranging from sports, arts, culture, cooking, and so much more. Follow their social media or contact the club to find out what camps are available.
- Sign up for a kids class with gymnastics
- Take a moment to zen out and attend a yoga class with your kid(s) at Harlan Yoga!
- Book an ATV tour with Black Mountain Adventures and see some breathtaking overlooks while having exhilarating fun!
- The UK extension office offers a variety of classes and clubs that kids are welcome to attend ranging from Appalachian arts, crafts, photography, agriculture projects, and so much more!
- Kayak the Cumberland River – you can even rent kayaks at the Harlan County Campground located in Putney, KY
- Treat yourself with ice cream from a Dairy Hut, Dairy Queen, Roseanne’s Hut, or another local restaurant.
- Have a photoshoot in front of downtown murals and iconic locations in Harlan County
- See what school was like for kids in years past as you enjoy a meal at Benham Schoolhouse Inn.
- Visit the Farmers Market and then prepare a meal together using the local ingredients you found!
- Chalk it up! Find a patch of sidewalk in downtown and create art
- Grab some popcorn or a hotdog and attend one of the local baseball games during the summer!
- Run or walk a 5k in some of Harlan County’s most beautiful locations.
- Explore antique shops, thrift stores, and yard sales to find a fix it up project you can work on together.
- Fill a blessing box in your community.
- Golf on one of Harlan County’s 3 golf courses located just outside of Harlan, and in Cumberland and Lynch.
- Swim at the Lynch Country Club
- Wildflower bouquet – explore areas of Harlan County and pick wildflowers with your kid to create a one of a kind arrangement for your home or to give as a gift for someone else!
- Have a staycation in a cabin at Camp Blanton as you explore the camp area and the surrounding forest.
- Skip cooking and have dinner at Kentucky’s only Rax restaurant!
- Make a Harlan County time capsule filled with all of your favorite things! Be sure to include a copy of the Harlan Enterprise or Tri City News from that week so you can track how long the time capsule has been around!
- Snap colorful pictures under the umbrella alley in downtown harlan.
- Watch for backroads of Appalachia’s announcements about car clubs traveling through the area so that you can see luxurious and exotic cars.
- Take a guided painting class with a local artist.
- With Harlan County’s night sky unpolluted by city lights, stargazing is such a fun activity to do with your kids! You can spend hours gazing at constellations, tracking satellites, looking for shooting stars and more! Be sure to bring a blanket to lay on and plenty of your favorite snacks!
- Take a nature walk and gather pine cones, leaves, and wildflowers for a family craft project
- Pick up a copy of Darla Jackson’s Harlan County Haunts and visit some of the spooky spots described within.
- Use Harlan County public library resources to map your family tree. Plan a tour of the county to the places you learn about in your research.
- Enjoy social media? Choose your favorite Harlan County spot and work with your family to create a tiktok, youtube video, or instagram post to show everyone what you love about Harlan County!
- Grab your skates, scooters, or skateboards and visit the Sue Ford Skate Park.
- Continue on the long tradition of scouting in Harlan County by finding a troop to join.
- Make your way into the past by venturing up to Hensley’s Settlement and see a mountain village that remains untouched by technology and modernity.
- Whether it’s The Portal, Payton’s Diner, or a local event, head out to enjoy some local music.
- Catch a performance at the Godbey Appalachian Center.
- Sign up to play in a youth sports league.
- The accessible playground at Dressen Park is fun for everyone!
- Visit second hand stores like Methodist Opportunity Store or Goodwill to put together a unique collection of dress up clothes.
- Wade into wildlife. Dip your feet in a local stream and keep an eye out for minnows, newts, salamanders, and other local species.
- Start saving with a visit to a local bank where your child can open an account and begin forming good financial habits.
- Build a sand castle at Martins Fork Lake.
- Practice your tracking skills at Kentucky’s first state forest: Kentenia State Forest.
- Hike the Lucy Braun State Nature Preserve with a botany guide in hand and try to identify as many plants and flowers as possible.
- Pack the tent and spend the night at a primitive campsite in Kingdom Come State Park.
- Spend time talking with your kids in a cozy seating area at Moonbow Tipple Coffee & Sweets
- Sing your heart out at weekly karaoke nights at Peyton’s Diner
- Club 180 offers programs for teen and children year round
- Book a horseback riding tour for the whole family with Skeninah Village
- Try out the born learning trail on the walking track at Huff Park.
- Comb the river banks for river glass that has been tossed and smoothed by the water.
- Bring the dog along for a family visit to the dog park in Cumberland or in Harlan once the future site of the Harlan Dog Park is completed.
- Hike to Sand Cave in Blanton Forest.
- Spend the day visiting the downtowns in Harlan County and keep your back to school shopping local by visiting the boutiques in Harlan County! Shop with Hill & Holler, My Sister’s Closet, Sonwood’s, Sweet Southern Peach, PB&J Monogramming, Hot Off the Press, Kerstin’s Closet, Rhonda’s Merle Norman, Belinda’s Belles, the Crazy Daisy, Buff’s Bows & Gifts, Shirt Shack, Sassy Trash, Lumberjack’s, and more!
- Have a free movie night by using your Harlan County Public Library Card and checking out a movie at your local library! Did you know you could check out more than just books? They have movies, music, and so much more!
- Dive into some local Harlan County history and visit the coal monuments and statues throughout the County. Visit with the historical plaques around the courthouse and learn some of Harlan County’s military heritage in each of the downtowns.
- Grab some paints, brushes, and canva’s and head to an iconic Harlan County location and paint some scenes with your kid and also have a picnic! We suggest the coal monument, martin’s fork lake, camp blanton, kingdom come state park, and many more!
- Keep an eye out for back to school bashes in your community! You can have a lot of fun at them and collect quite a bit of free stuff for the upcoming school year!
- Spend some time in the Tri-Cities Area and see the trains and cabooses in Lynch, then take a short walk down the Walk of Legends right next to the trains and learn about some local celebrities who have contributed to the Lynch community. Finish the day with a delicious picnic or run over to Roseanne’s Hut in Cumberland for some burgers and shakes!
- Visit the Harlan Center upstairs gallery periodically to see local art, quilts, and other media that is on display!
- Visit Big Black Mountain – the highest elevation at 4,145ft in the state of Kentucky so you and your kid(s) can say that you have stood on top of Kentucky!
- Have a local spa day and pamper yourself and your kid(s) – visit a local salon, get a pedicure and/or manicure, and book a massage with a local masseuse! You can even follow it up with a refreshing drink from Moonbow and a light lunch!
- Harlan County has a ton of parks where you and your kid(s) can go have a picnic and a water balloon fight to stay cool during the hot summer months! Just be sure to clean up the little busted balloon pieces.
- Grab your beach towels, pack a cooler full refreshing drinks, popsicles, and more and have a beach day at Martin’s Fork Lake
- From baseball camps, cheerleading camps, dance camps, 4H day camps, sports camps, and more – there are lots of day camps throughout Harlan County to partake in. Whatever you kid may be interested in, check periodically with organizations on their camps such a 4H, extension offices, Boys and Girls Club, Little League, or other!
- Family Field Day – gather up outdoor games like cornhole, ladder golf, badminton, egg spoon race, sack races, and more and head to Shriner’s Ground to have a family field day! Be sure to grab snacks from your favorite restaurant or store to take with you!
- An Appalachian cooking day – show your kids all of your secret family recipes passed down through the generations while tying in stories of your family throughout the years in Harlan County.
- Pack a lunch and visit Martin’s Fork Dam! While you are there, pick out a nice spot to spend the afternoon fishing!
- Just because the contest for the Great Harlan County Scavenger Hunt has concluded for this year doesn’t mean you can’t do the scavenger hunt! Visit the list of clues here and scout out lots of iconic Harlan County locations: https://www.harlancountytrails.com/blog/the-great-harlan-county-scavenger-hunt/
