Type Kentucky state park Area 1,657 acres (671 ha) Established August 21, 1931 | Nearest city Corbin, Kentucky Elevation 1,073 feet (327 m) | |
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Location McCreary County & Whitley County, Kentucky, United States | ||
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is a park located just southwest of Corbin, Kentucky and is contained entirely within the Daniel Boone National Forest. The park encompasses 1,657 acres (671 ha) and is named for its major feature, 68-foot-tall (21 m) Cumberland Falls. The falls are one of the few places in the western hemisphere where a moonbow can frequently be seen on nights with a full moon. The park is also the home of 44-foot (13 m) Eagle Falls.
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History
After the discussion of building an hydroelectric power plant above the falls in 1927, Kentucky native T. Coleman du Pont offered to buy the falls and surrounding acreage in order to create a state park. Although he died before he could purchase the land, his wife purchased the falls and the 593 acres (240 ha) surrounding it for $400,000 on March 10, 1930, after the Kentucky General Assembly (legislature) approved the creation of the state park. Cumberland Falls was dedicated as a state park at 1:30 p.m. on August 21, 1931.
Following a $2 million renovation project in 2006, the park received an upgraded rating from two diamonds to three diamonds from the American Automobile Association (AAA) in 2007. Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park also received the upgraded rating. The two facilities were the first state resort parks to achieve the three-diamond rating following AAA's revision of its rating system in 2001.