RV Rental Elizabethtown, KY

Elizabethtown, the county seat of Hardin County, was established in July 1797. Three early settlers, Col. Andrew Hynes, Capt. Thomas Helm, and Col. Samuel Haycraft, constructed forts with block houses to serve as stockades for defense against Native Americans in 1779. Due to their one-mile separation, the regiments formed a triangle. Colonel John Hardin was an Indian fighter killed by Native Americans while on a peace mission with tribes in Ohio. He inspired the naming of Hardin County, which was first established in 1793. Colonel Hynes surveyed thirty acres of land to build Elizabethtown, divided it into lots, and laid it out into streets. On July 4, 1797, Elizabethtown became a legally recognized city and was given its name in honor of Andrew Hynes's wife.

In 1854, Elizabethtown saw the construction of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Elizabethtown expanded and prospered as a result of the railroad's opening. During the Civil War, the area developed into one of the most significant railroad stops and a key strategic location. Confederate forces led by General John Hunt Morgan set up shop in the Elizabethtown City Cemetery on December 27, 1862, to launch an artillery assault on Federal troops. On the cemetery hill, Confederate cannons fired into the city center.

The Brown-Pusey House is just one of the many resources in Elizabethtown for tracing family ancestry. The 1852-built Brown-Pusey House is a historic structure recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. A meeting room and a genealogical library have been established in the former boarding house. There are over 1000 volumes of marriage certificates, land titles, tax records, and census data in the library, along with over 600 files on various local families.

Elizabethtown is still expanding today and has a population of over 20,000 people. It also has a developing industrial and commercial economy. Additionally, the region offers a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities, such as the Heartland Festival and organized sports. Visit Swope's Cars of Yesteryear Museum to see sporty cars and horseless carriages, and Freeman Lake Park to have a picnic.

Campgrounds Near Elizabethtown, Kentucky 

Derby Park Expo Five has back-in and pull-through sites with full hookups. Enjoy the daily live music, two top-shelf bars, karaoke, corn-hole, pool tables, and the on-site breakfast served on event days. Showers, free Wi-Fi, an on-site dump station, and an outdoor grill and patio are among the other amenities available.

Enjoy the pet-friendly back-in and pull-through sites at Louisville South KOA. This park is perfect for kids because it has a huge pool, a mini-golf course, bike rentals, a sizable, up-to-date playground, and even a blow-up outdoor movie screen. Tie-dying shirts and Halloween parties are just a couple of the enjoyable events and activities they host.

At Kentucky Exposition Center, there are 120 full-hookup back-in and pull-through campsites for you to enjoy. You are welcome to go hiking with your pet. There is also a shower and on-site laundry available. Walking or taking public transportation to the event is straightforward because the grounds are only one mile from the Kentucky Derby.

National Parks Near Elizabethtown, Kentucky 

Visit Mammoth Cave and explore the longest-known cave system in the world. You will have to drive for an hour to Elizabethtown. Even though the national park has a relatively mild climate, both summer and winter temperatures can feel stifling due to atmospheric humidity. Enjoy a wide range of cave tours to suit your interests and level of fitness, including one that is wheelchair accessible. Explore the hiking trails on the two sides of this magnificent natural park, including its sunlit surface and underground depths. You will also enjoy the area's recreational opportunities, which include fishing, boating, hiking, biking, and horseback riding.

Explore the over 500,000-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 257 miles from Elizabethtown. With over 800 trails available, you can choose from a half mile to 70 miles. You will delight in the wide variety of sights and landscapes, including mountain scenery, as you travel through the park. Savor the diversity of plant and animal life, the endless ridges of the forest, the sweeping vistas, and the gushing mountain streams. Among other species, you might see black bears and hepatica wildflowers in the park.

You will love Gateway Arch National Park, 283 miles from Elizabethtown, covering 91 riverside acres. Visit the famous arch, which serves as a monument to pioneer heritage and a clandestine border between the eastern and western parts of the country. Enjoy the breathtaking view from 630 feet in the air while learning more about this region of the country's significant history. You can also visit the St. Louis Courthouse, where the crucial Dred Scott case occurred in the middle of the 1800s.

State Parks Near Elizabethtown, Kentucky 

My Old Kentucky Home State Park, about a half-hour drive from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, offers a rich history of the Bluegrass State. Visit Federal Hill at the center of the park, a farm with a mansion that was a well-known gathering place for neighborhood politicians in the 19th century. At the J. Dan Talbott Amphitheatre, you will enjoy the musical "The Stephen Foster Story." You can enjoy a golf course, hiking trail, and live performances in addition to the mansion tours and live performances. The state park has 39 campsites with water and electricity hookups.

Explore Nolin Lake State Park, which borders Mammoth Cave National Park to the north and is about an hour's drive from Elizabeth. This state park is home to a great blue heron, a wild turkey, sandhill cranes, squirrels, and other animals. Enjoy the pet-friendly campgrounds that offer amenities such as water hookups, electricity hookups, and sewer hookups. You will enjoy hiking and mountain biking on the 9.2 miles of singletrack trails, where you can see a small waterfall. Due to the lake's abundance of bass, walleye, crappie, and catfish, you can also go fishing there. Other enjoyable recreational activities include picnicking, bird watching, and wildlife observation.

Green River Lake State Park includes the enormous 8,200-acre Green River Lake and 1,331 acres of land and is 47.3 miles from Elizabethtown. You can go fishing, water skiing, boating, and tubing on Green River Lake. Explore 28 miles of all-purpose trails suitable for horseback riding, biking, and hiking. The campsites at Green River Lake have good amenities like electricity, water, and internet access.

National Sites Near Elizabethtown, Kentucky 

The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is approximately 16.0 miles from Elizabeth, Kentucky. Discover Lincoln's birthplace in the Birthplace Unit. Access the Symbolic Cabin, which is located inside the Memorial Building. Visit the log house known as Knob Creek Tavern and enter the room where Abraham Lincoln created his earliest childhood memories. Enjoy a 0.94-mile loop hike through a hardwood forest on the TRACK Trail at the park. Hiking provides chances to spot wildlife, observe birds, and take in the seasonal changes in nature. Along the trail in the spring, you might see wildflowers like Jack in the Pulpit and Mayapple.

Visit the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, only 20.1 miles from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Visit the Memorial Visitor Center first, get trail maps and watch a 15-minute documentary about Lincoln's time in Indiana. You will see a bronze sculpture representing a cabin the Lincolns started building in 1829 with sill logs and fireplace hearthstones. Explore Indiana's attempt to honor Abraham Lincoln by visiting the Memorial Building. It was built in the style of Indiana in 1816 and finished in 1943.

Explore Camp Nelson National Monument, about an hour and a half drive from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Begin your tour at the visitor center, where there is a museum, and watch a 17-minute documentary. You will gain knowledge of the difficulties formerly enslaved people encountered when starting their lives as free people. Get acquitted with the federal government's hesitation when confronted with formerly enslaved people fleeing their oppressive system. You will enjoy hiking through the pastoral landscape of the Monument, which is more than five miles of hiking trails.

National Forests Near Elizabethtown, Kentucky 

Visit Hoosier National Forest, 79.8 miles from Elizabeth, Kentucky, and has 202,814 acres. You will enjoy exploring the more than 265 miles of trails that wind through the forest while hiking, mountain biking, or riding a horse. Appreciate seeing wildlife such as Bald eagles, ground squirrels, deer, bobcats, and other species. Enjoy water sports on the lakes, reservoirs, and streams that emerge from the wilderness. The creeks frequently pool, diffusing the tumbling and crashing water effects that appear to define the area, and that will give your eyes a sense of calm.

You will love the Daniel Boone National Forest, which is about a two-hour drive from Elizabethtown and has more than 708,000 acres. Enjoy the 600 miles of forest trails that offer horseback riding, mountain biking, and hiking opportunities. You can go fishing in the regularly stocked streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout the forest. You will enjoy stargazing, geocaching, bird watching, and wildlife observation because of its sloping hills, ridge-top flats, and small valleys. While hiking, you might come across songbirds, eagles, black bears, foxes, squirrels, and raccoons.

The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is 154 miles from Elizabeth, Kentucky. Enjoy the best fishing opportunities in the nation with more than 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline. You will catch different fish species, such as bluegill, catfish, crappie, and bass. Participate in geocaching, a popular sport with over 450 geocaches maintained by the Forest Service. In the forest, rodents like rabbits, squirrels, and voles are everywhere. Enjoy stargazing and other leisure pursuits like hiking and swimming.