We’ll assemble in Lexington, the heart of Bluegrass Country, and ride from the city on Day 2 to beautiful Bourbon County, home to some of the world’s greatest thoroughbred horse farms – the breeding grounds for racehorses like Secretariat and Riva Ridge. As we ride from Lexington, we’ll ride past one of the world’s great racetracks at Keeneland where a Morning Works tour is possible. We work our way around Lexington to Paris, then ride south to Winchester, where we’ll spend the evening.
Early morning of Day 3, we’ll ride south to Fort Boonesborough State Park, site of the fort constructed by Daniel Boone on the banks of the Kentucky River in 1775. We’ll continue south through Richmond to the fascinating town of Berea, where we’ll spend our second night. Regarded as the arts and crafts capital of Kentucky, Berea boasts over 150 antique shops and more than 40 crafts workshops.
From Berea on Day 4, we’ll ride to the west to Danville, the original capital of the Kentucky District of Virginia and a major trading center on the Wilderness Road that extended westward from Cumberland Gap. We continue on to the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Park, site of a major Civil War battle in 1862. After a stop there, our route ends up in Harrodsburg, founded in 1774 as Kentucky’s first permanent settlement. We have an option to visit the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill north of Harrodsburg, before spending the evening in the grand historic Beaumont Inn.
On Day 5, we’ll ride east from Harrodsburg through Springfield. We’re headed to Bardstown, and a visit to My Old Kentucky Home State Park. Bardstown also is home to four noted bourbon distilleries and is the repository for the legend of “good old Kentucky bourbon.”
More of the beautiful Bluegrass Country unfolds as we ride east through Lawrenceburg to Versailles on Day 6. We’ll spend our final night in one of the elegant, historic bed and breakfasts in Versailles prior to our return to Lexington on Day 7. No need to rush through the last day of riding, as options to visit more horse farms, distilleries, and wineries abound, along with the Kentucky Castle and the Aviation museum. Eventually we will land in Lexington for the conclusion of our Kentucky Blue Grass tour.
