Breaks Interstate Park
| Breaks Interstate Park | |
|---|---|
Breaks Canyon, May 2003
|
|
 Location on Kentucky/Virginia border
|
|
| Location | Kentucky and Virginia, United States |
| Nearest city | Elkhorn City, Kentucky |
| Coordinates | 37°17′47″N 82°17′49″W / 37.29639°N 82.29694°WCoordinates: 37°17′47″N 82°17′49″W / 37.29639°N 82.29694°W |
| Area | 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) |
| Established | 1954 |
| Visitors | 286,401 (in 2014) |
| Governing body | Breaks Interstate Park Compact |
| http://www.breakspark.com | |
Breaks Interstate Park is a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and mostly in southwestern Virginia, in the Jefferson National Forest, at the northeastern terminus of Pine Mountain. Rather than their respective state park systems, it is instead administered by an interstate compact between the states of Virginia and Kentucky. It is one of several interstate parks in the United States, but only one of two operated jointly under a compact rather than as two separate state park units. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Kentucky Department of Parks are still major partner organizations, however.
The Breaks, also referred as the "Grand Canyon of the South", is the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River, through which the Russell Fork river and Clinchfield Railroad (now the CSX Transportation Kingsport Subdivision) run. It is accessed via highway 80 (Virginia 80 and Kentucky 80), between Haysi, Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, and passes through the community of Breaks, Virginia east of the park.
American frontiersman Daniel Boone is credited with being the first person of European descent to discover the Breaks, which he first saw in 1767.
...
Wikipedia