Those of us who live in Kentucky tend to be a bit jaded about our state park system. We’ve grown to expect all the amenities -- lovely scenery, terrific recreational opportunities and state-of-the-art lodging. Most of us have no idea that Kentucky’s is known as the "nation’s finest" park system. Granted, several Western state parks abound with spectacular mountain or ocean vistas. But as far as resort accommodations are concerned, the Bluegrass State outshines them all, offering full-service, modern facilities.

With outdoor recreation as a focus, most of Kentucky’s state parks feature marinas, more than 175 miles of hiking, self-guided interpretive, equestrian and mountain bike trails, swimming pools, playgrounds, seasonal naturalist and recreational programs and lakeside beaches and campgrounds. Lake Cumberland and Lake Barkley boast indoor pools, while Kenlake has indoor tennis. Seven 18-hole and seven nine-hole golf courses lure duffers onto the links, while three parks -- Rough River Dam, Lake Barkley and Kentucky Dam Village -- even have airstrips.

And thanks to a $100 million revitalization program initiated as a 1996 bond issue that was completed this year, Kentucky’s already-gorgeous natural sanctuaries got a facelift, which included replacing outdated marinas and swimming pools, adding new conference facilities, restoring historic sites and upgrading lodges throughout the system.

Annually, 7.9 million visitors enjoy Kentucky’s outdoor treasures, generating a whopping $282 million, a far cry from the scanty seed money that began it all 75 years ago.

In 1924, Kentucky’s state geologist, Dr. Willard R. Jillson, recognized that the state’s numerous natural areas would benefit from state custodianship and agreed to chair the newly formed, three-member State Park Commission. With only $1,100 to start developing a park system, the visionary New Yorker spent the next two years traveling across Kentucky, speaking with community leaders in areas where he felt an appropriate park site might be located.

Soon, four land tracts, three of which -- Pine Mountain area in Bell County, Natural Bridge in Powell County and Old Fort Harrod Hill in Harrodsburg -- are still part of the state park system, were bought or donated, and accepted by the General Assembly as Kentucky parks.

Today, the Kentucky Department of Parks staff operates 50 parks classified either as resort parks (those offering accommodations), historic sites, or recreation parks (usually day-use sites with campgrounds), comprising the most extensive system in the nation. Including Breaks Interstate Resort Park, which is operated jointly with Virginia, total acreage encompasses nearly 45,000, with most resort parks averaging between 1,000 and 4,000 acres.

In Western Kentucky, Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley merge to form one of the largest man-made bodies of water in the U.S. -- over 200,000 acres of water within 3,500 miles of shoreline -- providing an ideal setting for three state resort parks.

On the expansive waters surrounding the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL), Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park began as housing for workers who built Kentucky Dam. Sold by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to the state for a token $39,000, the 2,000-acre property now offers accommodations in either a lodge overlooking Kentucky Lake or secluded cottages.

A blend of old and new, Kenlake State Resort Park has a lodge that steps back in time to the era of grand hotels. From here, guests can explore some of the 200 miles of LBL woodland trails or grab a racquet and give Pete Sampras a run for his money at the Kenlake Indoor Tennis Center.

Sparkling with over three and a half acres of glass, the impressive post-and-beam lodge at Lake Barkley State Resort Park commands outstanding views of the wooded lakeshore. Work out at the fitness center, then pamper yourself in the heated pool.

Near Hopkinsville, the Pennyrile State Forest Resort Park was named for the tiny pennyroyal plant found in the forests near this back-to-nature hideaway. Capture its wildlife on film at Fall Photography Weekend, October 8-10. Sponsored by the [Louisville] Courier-Journal, Kenlake’s 37th annual shutterbug weekend is October 22-24.

Surrounded by lush, rolling countryside overlooking a 5,100-acre lake, Rough River Dam State Resort Park proffers great fishing and water sports, as do many other resort parks. Nearby, history buffs can peek at a quaint 19th-century mill town, Falls of Rough. Or take to the stage at the Pine Knob Theatre at one of its evening outdoor productions from June to September.

Named "The Barrens" by early pioneers, the treeless area in Kentucky’s southern mid-section houses three state resort parks, all on bodies of water.

Near Mammoth Cave, Barren River Lake State Resort Park curves around a 10,000-acre, fishing- and boating-friendly lake. Guests can ring in the millennium with a special New Year’s Eve Celebration package here, as at most of the other resort parks, including Dale Hollow Lake. Perched high atop a bluff with a stunning view of a 28,000-acre lake, this relatively new site joined its sister parks in 1997, when its $7.5 million lodge complex and 18-hole golf course were dedicated.

Horse around and drop anchor at one of the best fishing and pleasure boating areas in the Eastern U.S. at Lake Cumberland State Resort Park, where 60,000-plus acres of water are reputed to have more bass, walleye and crappie than any other lake in America.

Soak up some history on high at the antique- and heirloom-filled Butler-Turpin Historic House at General Butler State Resort Park, right at the confluence of the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers, north of Louisville. River town charm abounds in the resort’s hilltop lodge, and its mountain goat-approved, craggy golf course is downright fun to play.

The newest state resort park, its lodge brand-new this spring, is Blue Licks Battlefield, famous for prehistoric salt springs and as the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War. Discover its history at the Pioneer Museum and at a Reenactment Celebration, August 21-22.

Deep in the Daniel Boone National Forest near the Red River Gorge Geological Area, million-year-old Natural Bridge spans 78 feet and soars 65 feet high. An 85-foot skylift offers non-hikers an alternative at this state resort park, where toes will be a-tappin’ at the 33rd annual Labor Day Weekend Square Dance Festival, September 3-5.

Known as the "Niagara of the South," Cumberland Falls’ 125-wide curtain of water plummets 60 feet into a boulder-strewn gorge at Corbin’s state resort park. On a clear night you can see its famous moonbow, a phenomenon not found anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. Stay at the historic Dupont Lodge, and go white water rafting below the falls, or take a scenic rail excursion through nearby Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Far Eastern Kentucky’s mountains and hills cradle five resort parks, including Pine Mountain, which in 1924 became the system’s very first. In 1935 the first Mountain Laurel Festival was held here in the forested Laurel Cove Amphitheater, as it still is today, when the beautiful laurel is in full blossom the last weekend in May.

Or head over the mountain to Buckhorn Lake State Park for Elk Watch Weekend the first of October to see these graceful creatures roaming the wild.

The attractive fieldstone lodge at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park is named in honor of former Kentucky Poet Laureate Jesse Stuart, whose works are in its reading room and will be expounded upon during Jesse Stuart Weekend, September 24-25.

Honored by another park’s name, Jenny Wiley was a brave pioneer woman who escaped Indian captivity in 1789, and whose life story joins Broadway musicals in summer theater at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park near Prestonsburg.

Rounding out the state resort park lineup is mysterious Carter Caves, where nature has hidden more than 20 twisting caverns, among them Cascade Cave, with its 30-foot underground waterfall, and X Cave, with luminous stone fans, pipes and spirals.

Summing up what makes Kentucky’s state park system so outstanding, Diana Harrod, head of media relations for the Kentucky Department of Parks, says, "Each park has its own personality. No matter what your interests are -- education and history, family recreation, boating and water sorts, or just a quiet getaway -- there’s always one park that fills your needs."

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.