2nd Stop - Big Bone Lick State Park and The Ark Encounter (KY)

Blog Post #9 - Written May 9, 2025

2nd Stop - Big Bone Lick State Park and The Ark Encounter (KY)

If you read the prior post (1st Stop - Columbus OH), you might remember that I was writing it at the mechanic shop while waiting for our truck to be fixed. Turns out that when they replaced one caliper, the other decided to also crap out, so I waited even longer and spent several more dollars to get that fixed. By the time I picked up Megan and the kids from the COSI and we got back to the trailer, it was almost 6pm. We had planned to pack up and head down to KY earlier that afternoon while it was daylight, but there we were. Staring down the decision to either stay put another night (with a basically dead battery at that point--solar panels can’t charge when it’s cloudy and rainy all day--and still no water) or pack up and drive the 3 hours to our next campsite knowing we wouldn't arrive until after dark.

We prayed, ate dinner, and decided to make the drive. It went fairly smoothly if you ignore the stress of trying to decide which GPS to follow (Google Maps or the one we bought that’s supposed to give you specific directions and avoid low tunnels and stuff based on your trailer height, length, weight, etc). Until it got dark and we still weren’t there. We finally pulled into the campground and I was driving very slowly trying to read the signs to find our campsite. Unfortunately, that meant we had zero momentum when we came to the biggest, steepest hill we’ve tested our truck with… I didn’t think we were going to make it.  But somehow, going about 4 mph, the little truck that could puttered up that climb.  The next challenge: my 2nd ever backing up of the trailer. At 9:30pm. In the pitch black darkness. Into a very skinny campsite.  It only took us like 5-7 minutes, which I think was pretty good. Phew, time for bed.

The next morning was Sunday, so we visited the Crittenden Ward (closest local congregation of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Despite their building being very small and simple (reminiscent of the church we went to in Costa Rica), it was a very vibrant, friendly, and welcoming ward and we thoroughly enjoyed worshiping and studying with them.

Back at the Big Bone Lick State Park, we decided to hike from our campsite to the visitor’s center, rather than drive. That was a muddy hike.  In case I haven’t mentioned it yet, this area of the country has had historic amounts of rain over the past few months and it’s been raining/drizzling on and off since we started our trip. Nevertheless, we only had one slip and fall when Q got all sorts of muddy. 

They had an atlatl demonstration and Megan and I got to try our hand as well. I don’t want to brag or anything, but we both hit the target haha, it was super fun!

We hiked down to their bison “herd” (I’m pretty sure they only have like 7) and then back to camp.

If you're wondering where the name of the state park came from, this area is mastodon fossil capital of the world! (i.e. "big bones") And the theory is there were so many here because of a natural salt lick. And they were well preserved in a peat bog.

 Click here for video evidence of Gary hitting the target

Unfortunately I didn't capture Megan hitting it, but she actually hit the bulls-eye. That's my wife! (Edit: Megan wants everyone to know that she beat me in a feat of athleticism! And she made me bold this statement too. There, are you happy now Megan? Rub it in!)

The kids had an absolute BLAST riding around the campground on their bikes. Cruising up and down the grassy hills over and over and over again.  Seeing them be natural kids, running wild, made it all worth it.  Even if D ended up riding her little scooter toy all the way to the other end of the campground about 200 yards away before we noticed and her brothers caught up with her to stop her from escaping completely haha.

Neat Person Spotlight #2: Our camp host, Stanley, is from Myrtle Beach, but has been all over, including Alaska most recently. Now he helps out around the campground in exchange for a free place to stay (in his trailer) for about 8 months a year. And then in the winter he camps back at the beach. Quite the life!

The next morning we packed up and headed to the Ark Encounter. It was pretty amazing to see a full scale replica of the Ark, no wonder it took Noah ~100 years to build it, the thing was massive! It was interesting to see the various feeding and waste removal systems that they thought he might’ve used to care for the animals. And very interesting to learn about some of their beliefs/opinions on things like the creation, evolution, flood, timeline, etc that differ pretty drastically from my own. The little zoo and petting zoo they have there were fun too.  All in all a good stop, but not sure it was worth the $150+ (that's just entry and parking, no food or extras) it cost our family to go. But it was on Megan’s list, so we enjoyed it :)

The kids loved playing with the kids. Q didn't want to leave.               It's hard to describe (or capture) the massive scale of the Ark.

This pic might not show it, but the kids had fun. Just tired.                        Cross-section showing thickness of triple-layer hull of Ark.

    Again, these pics don't do it justice, but the view up or down through the center spaces was impressive.

They have a cool carousel with lots of different animals, including this Quetzalcoatlus. Which the creators of this Ark Encounter portray as one of the animals that Noah might've brought on the Ark. Along with many other prehistoric creatures and dinosaurs. Like I said, very interesting and very different than what I was expecting haha.

Zeb actually got to pet one of the kangaroos, but it quickly hopped away before we snapped a pic.