Pilot Knob, Boone’s overlook

By tradition they reached the summit on June 7, 1769, before making camp and exploring the country beyond; Finley called it “the beautiful level of Kentucky,” and John Filson’s 1784 Boone narrative has Boone recalling that he “had gained the summit of a commanding ridge” and “beheld the ample plains, the beauteous tracts below.” The Kentucky Historical Society marks June 7 as Boone Day.

The knob, also called Boone’s Overlook, is Pennsylvanian conglomerate sandstone, and pieces of it were once quarried for millstones. From the top you can see the Cumberland Plateau, the Knobs, and the Bluegrass. The state dedicated the first 308 acres as Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve on Sept. 26, 1985; it has since grown to about 1,258 acres with two strenuous trails. The map pin marks the preserve, near the knob.