31W / 31E Heritage Corridor

Click here to see a map of this historic corridor.

There is another side of Kentucky and Tennessee. It lies along roadsides little traveled since the interstates cut a furrow through the countryside in the middle of the 20th Century. The old places still exist along US31W and US31E, where you will find our heritage alive and well.

Revisit the early settlements of the nation's heartland and some of the most contested grounds of its Civil War.

Discover natural wonders, timeless antiques and national and state historic sites.

Come and take the roads less traveled . . .

US 31W

This is an old, old road. The buffalo started it, following the easiest path, and the Indians followed them. Settlers found the path ready-made and by 1826 stagecoach wheels rolled where your tires roll now. Highway 31W was the first paved highway in Kentucky and the first toll road. Travelers have referred to it as the Post Road, the Shipping Port to Salt River Road, the Valley Turnpike and the Louisville to Nashville Turnpike. But mostly, folks calls it the Dixie Highway.

Discover this road for yourself. From the Farnsley-Moremen Landing in Louisville to the Civil War battlefields of Munfordville to the historic stations of Tennessee, US 31W threads through the heritage of the American heartland.

US 31E

Once a buffalo trail, Highway 31E later became known as Pioneer's Trace, Old Kentucky Turnpike and then Jackson Highway following the political career of Andrew Jackson. This historic road system, from Louisville to Nashville, was also a major route for General Bragg and the Confederate Army invading Kentucky. When Interstate 65 was built, this road traveled at a relaxed pace.

Revisit the past and see historic homes, museums and timeless treasures. Tour Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home, My Old Kentucky Home, "The Hermitage" and many other sites along the way. See breathtaking views and beautiful countryside, old country stores and historic downtowns. Ride a passenger train and enjoy dinner in a dining car.

Bardstown

Beech Bend Park

Bowling Green

Bullitt County

Cave City

Edmonson County

Elizabethtown

Fort Knox

Franklin

Gallatin

Glasgow

Glendale

Hart County

Hendersonville

Hodgenville

Kentucky Museum

Lost River Cave

Meade County

Millersville/Goodlettsville

My Old KY Dinner Train

National Corvette Museum

New Haven

Otter Creek Park

Park City

Portland/Cross Plains/White House

Radcliff

Riverside, the Farnsley Moremen Landing

Riverview

Scottsville

Shaker Museum

Smiths Grove

West Point/Ft. Duffield

Westmoreland

Recreational Opportunities on Federal Lands

U.S. Army Armor Center

Mammoth Cave N.P.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace, NHS

Barren River Lake, Army Corps of Eng.

Back to Trails in Kentucky


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