Entry 2: Big Bone Lick State Park - Union, Kentucky

Located in Boone County, Kentucky, Big Bone Lick State Park is one of the most fascinating—and underrated—historic and scientific sites in North America. While the name might raise a few eyebrows, the story behind it is anything but a joke. This park is widely recognized as the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology and offers a unique look into the prehistoric past of the continent.

A Quick Big Bone Lick History Lesson

Long before highways and hiking trails, this land was a salt and mineral lick—a marshy area where animals came to ingest essential nutrients. During the Pleistocene era (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), this spot became a gathering ground for mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, and other now-extinct megafauna. Many became trapped in the soft, boggy terrain, leaving behind a treasure trove of fossilized bones that would one day revolutionize science.

Indigenous peoples, including the Shawnee, Cherokee, and others, knew of the lick’s significance for hunting and for the natural resources it provided. Later, French trappers and early settlers stumbled upon the massive bones left behind. Word of this strange site spread, drawing curiosity and speculation.

By 1739, French Canadian explorer Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil had sent reports of Big Bone Lick’s fossil finds to France. But the site gained national prominence in 1807, when President Thomas Jefferson—an avid amateur scientist—sent William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) to collect fossils for study. This event marked one of the earliest government-backed fossil expeditions in U.S. history.

Over the next two centuries, scientists excavated countless fossils from the site, providing critical evidence of species once roaming North America and influencing global paleontological thought. The discoveries helped shift perceptions about extinction, species evolution, and Earth’s natural history.

From Fossils to Forest Trails

Designated a Kentucky State Park in 1960, Big Bone Lick today combines natural beauty with historical and educational experiences. The park features a visitor center and museum, fossil displays, and engaging interpretive programs that tell the story of the animals—and the people—who shaped this landscape.

Visitors can explore well-maintained trails that weave through forests and past wetlands, watch bison grazing in the park’s living history enclosure, and imagine a time when mammoths walked the ground beneath their feet. Whether you're a science nerd, history buff, nature lover, or casual explorer, the park has something for you.

Why Public Lands Like This Matter

Big Bone Lick isn’t just a state park—it’s a cultural and scientific time capsule. It exists today because people made a conscious choice to protect it—not for commercial gain, but for the sake of science, education, and public benefit. In an age where development often trumps preservation, places like this remind us that some land should be saved simply because it tells a story.

Protecting spaces like Big Bone Lick ensures that we don’t lose the physical evidence of our planet’s deep past. These public lands give visitors the opportunity to engage with history, walk through ancient landscapes, and spark curiosity in the next generation of scientists, thinkers, and stewards of the earth.

So if you're anywhere near northern Kentucky, make the trip. You’ll come away with more than just a cool selfie—you'll leave with a better understanding of what the world looked like long before us, and why it’s worth remembering.

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