All the counties

Kentucky ranks only 37th in size among the US states, but it ranks 4th in the number of counties: 120.

I grew up in Kentucky and spent my first 43 years here, then moved away for a while, but have been back since 2018. I've biked in a bunch of the counties in the state (actually, "Commonwealth") over the years, but haven't kept track of them.

I thought it would be a fun project to try to travel through all 120 counties over the next several months, as a series of short bike tours.

These are my self-imposed rules for this little project:

1. The visit to a county must be part of a "tour" that contains multiple days of riding (at least one overnight.) Day rides don't count.

2. It would be a little too easy to just "nick the corner" of some counties and count them, so I will make it more interesting by riding to the county seat of each county. Each county seat has what are traditionally called "courthouses", although nowadays newer buildings are sometimes referred to as "judicial centers." I will try to take a picture of my bike in front of each courthouse. I might relax this rule for some of the urban counties, like Jefferson (the city of Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington), since I really dislike urban riding. Fortunately, Kentucky is mostly very rural.

Here are the counties. I will update this page after each little tour to color in the counties I visit:

I visited seven county seats on my first little tour (October 31st through November 2, 2025):

Rowan, Bath, Fleming, Lewis, Carter, Elliott, and Morgan counties.

I visited eight counties on my second tour (November 13 through November 15, 2025):

Henderson, Union, Webster, Crittenden, Lyon, Caldwell, Hopkins, and McLean counties.

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Scott AndersonWhat's with the small circle in the lower left. Is it an exclave in the neighboring state? If so, that must rank Kentucky pretty high on the number of exclaves.
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2 months ago

Bob DistelbergThat’s a very fun sounding goal. We have something in Vermont called the 251 club, in which members attempt to visit all 251 towns and cities in Vermont. There’s a subset of that club that attempts to do it by bicycle. You have me thinking…
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2 months ago

Jeff LeeTo Scott AndersonScott,

Yes, it's an exclave that's encircled by Tennessee and Missouri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Bend).

Jeff
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2 months ago

Jeff LeeTo Bob DistelbergHey Bob,

That sounds interesting. You should do it!

I had the idea for my project a few weeks ago when I read something on Reddit by a guy who bragged that he'd driven a motor vehicle in almost all of the Kentucky counties (interestingly, the one county he'd never visited was the one where I was born and grew up: Fleming County.)

I'm looking for motivation to keep riding through the cold and dreary months, so this seemed like an good idea. I want to finish this before my "real" tour next summer. We'll see if my motivation lasts :)

Jeff
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2 months ago

Mark BinghamTo Jeff LeeThe Wikipedia article about the exclave is interesting, as I'm sure your tour will be. Looking forward to reading about it.
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2 months ago

Bill ShaneyfeltReally interested in this one. I lived in Richmond for 3 years and really enjoyed it. I bike commuted during my time there. First year from an apartment building in town between the interstate and the university, then east of town in an established housing plot, then finally west of the interstate in an old wonderful brick farm house that a few years ago was leveled as new expensive housing was built.

Did a lot of local cycling in the nearby area before being sent to my next assignment in '76.

Did quarterly temporary duty there from the mid 90s till I retired here in Dayton, OH in '08. Also did quarterly TDY to the Ft Campbell area and a few other locations along I-75 and also the coal mining area between Madisonville and Central City where there are some explosives manufacturers I inspected quarterly. Always requested the minivan so I could throw my bike in the back and then hop on and ride away from the motel after I finished an inspection. Good memories, hilly, narrow roads, steep dropoffs and sometimes nasty logging trucks cutting the tangent in curves as they raced to get in just one more load for the day.

Many good memories of a state that I really liked.
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2 months ago

Jeff LeeTo Bill ShaneyfeltI hope you enjoy my project Bill.

There are fewer coal trucks on the roads in Kentucky than in years past, and I don't see too many logging trucks in my part of the state.

I assume the loose dogs were as prevalent back then as they are now, though.
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2 months ago

Bill ShaneyfeltTo Jeff LeeI mostly bike commuted in the Richmond area back in the mid 70s, and yes there were dogs. One in particular on an uphill about half a mile from work in the mornings, teeth bared, hackles up and intending to take a bite if he could, but I would ride the white line and gradually drift into the lane as he approached from the rear... when he was about even with the rear hub, I would suddenly cut right and cross the white edge line (only a couple inches of pavement there) sending my rear his way and he would back way off and make another charge before I got far enough from his territory to give up. Then one day, as I approached his domain, it occurred to me that I had my bike lock & chain around my neck and across my chest. I grabbed it and held my line until he was almost within biting distance, and swung the chain (inch long heavy security chain links), catching him across the snout. Not a peep. Ran right home. Next morning, he was barking again... 50 feet away! :-)

Not any logging or coal trucks on my commute, but other rides, yeah.
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2 months ago