These are historic sites or interpretive facilities on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail in Kentucky that you can visit:

Gray’s Inn (Stagecoach Inn), Guthrie

Location: 88 Graysville Road (State Highway 294), in Tiny Town, 3 miles west of Guthrie, Todd County.

Hours: privately-owned home, not open to the public

Historical Significance: Cherokee Indians camped on these grounds while traveling the main (northern) land migration route during the 1838-39 Trail of Tears.

Exhibits: Kentucky Historical Society marker

To learn more: prairiebluestem.blogspot.com/2006/12/life-in-upper-south.html

Mantle Rock, Joy

Location: on the grounds of the 367-acre Mantle Rock Preserve, which is two miles west of Joy (Livingston County) on State Highway 133

Telephone: (859) 259-9655

Hours: restricted; call the Nature Conservancy (see number below) before visiting

Historical Significance: thousands of Cherokee camped for weeks along the main (northern) route, located adjacent to Mantle Rock, during the winter of 1838-39 as they waited for ice conditions in the Ohio River to allow a safe crossing.

Available Facilities: trails, interpretive markers

Exhibits: historical plaque; additional historical and ecological markers are proposed

To learn more: www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/kentucky/preserves/art10908.html

Radford Farm, near Pembroke and Trenton

Location: 610 Dixie Beeline Highway (U.S. 41), in Todd County between Pembroke and Trenton

Telephone: (270) 475-4076 – call ahead to arrange a visit

Hours: private property, restricted access

Historical Significance: Cherokee detachments following the Northern Route during the winter of 1838-39 passed through this farm and alongside the Radford farmhouse. Rev. Daniel Butrick, who traveled with the Richard Taylor detachment, preached at this site.

Available Facilities: This farm contains several hundred yards of discernible trail surface, and the farmhouse on the property predates the Trail of Tears migration.

Exhibits: Identifying signage has been posted along the Dixie B-Line Highway.

Website: none

Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, Hopkinsville

Location: The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park is at U.S. Highway 41 and Skyline Drive in Hopkinsville, Christian County.

Phone: none

Hours: Park access is unrestricted, but the park’s heritage center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Historical Significance:This historic park was used as an encampment in 1838 and 1839. It is the burial site for two Cherokee chiefs who died during the removal: Fly Smith and Whitepath.

Available Facilities: The 12.5-acre park contains the graves of Fly Smith and Whitepath, two Cherokee chiefs who died along the Trail of Tears. On site is a Cherokee memorial with a circle of flags. A two-room historic log cabin (relocated to the park) serves as a visitor center/museum (Heritage Center). A picnic area and wheelchair-accessible restrooms are available. The Trail of Tears Commission, Inc., manages the park, a certified site on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Exhibits: The Heritage Center contains two rooms of exhibits interpreting the Cherokee Nation, the Trail of Tears, and various American Indian tribes and their respective removal histories.

To learn more: www.trailoftears.org