After a short break from Adventures in Kentucky, WBKO’s Brandon Lokits is back and more adventurous than ever. This week Brandon introduces us to just one expedition in a new series of adventures sponsored by the State Park Service.

The Backcountry Adventure Series is a new way to explore the wilderness of Kentucky with a little guidance from the State Park Service.

It just started in January of this year. A lot of the parks have been doing some of the overnight trips, but we all got together and decided that there would be six parks that would offer trips that would give a reward at the end for participating, to get people out in the Backcountry of Kentucky.

On this particular day, we are in the park at Mammoth Cave. Aside from the cave, the park has huge resources to offer. I’ve joined a group on a short, guided hike only lasting a few hours and within that short time we were able to see so many things.

We find ourselves walking past old homesteads and the site of the old riverboat ferry. Within the beautiful scenery there are tons of wildflowers and just as much wildlife.

Among the animals, we saw deer, a harmless non-venomous snake and a skittish woodpecker. If this program sounds familiar, it is because Kentucky parks have offered a similar program before.

Kentucky state parks used to have another series, The Trekking Series and they wanted to expand on that. That was all hikes and as we were getting more people interested in backpacking, canoeing and caving, we decided to incorporate that.

If you are at all interested in getting outside and exploring the beautiful backcountry of Kentucky, log on to www.parks.ky.gov.