Florence Off The Beaten Path Tips by kywildcat

If you're visiting from...

If you're visiting from Spring-Summer:On a day, when you have nothing particulary planned and the weather will allow you, get in your car and just follow RT 45 towards Union. You'll be amazed how beautiful Boone County is during those months when everything is in bloom. You'll see beautiful houses in Richwood and Union with rich, green properties and you might even find some horse farms out in the country. Be sure to visit Big Bone Lick Park. It's a great outdoor activity for the whole family. We even have real Bison there and get some more insight on stone aged mammals and fossils while you stroll along the paths or visit the little museum inside the gift shop!
Here some more information I've gathered while at it:
Big Bone Lick State Park has its origins steeped in prehistoric events. Imagine ancient giant mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, and bison roaming through mineral springs and swamps that are now grassy plains covered with trees and shrubs. That was the scene at Big Bone Lick for an 8,000-year period towards the end of the Ice Age, 12,000 to 20,000 years ago. During that time period, great ice sheets covered the North American continent just north of the Ohio River Valley. These prehistoric animals, driven southward by the prevailing ice, were attracted to the salt and minerals found in the swamp area now known as Big Bone Lick. Many of these prehistoric creatures became trapped and perished in the quagmire surrounding the swamps' ancient sulfur springs.

There are no longer ancient marshes or prehistoric animals at Big Bone Lick, and the sulphur springs are slowly drying up. But the fossilized remains of these past inhabitants provide clues about life in Kentucky thousands of years ago. The discovery of the bones in the 1700s inspired a new field of study. The scientific world recognizes Big Bone Lick as the Birthplace for American Vertebrate Paleontology.