Running along a ridge of land between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, Woodlands Trace is a beautiful, easy drive in rolling terrain with opportunities to pull off and explore on your own or at developed interpretive facilities. This outdoor setting includes the seasonal splendors of nature, with blossoming trees and flowers in the spring, a green canopy in the summer, brilliant fall foliage, and the open view in the forest in the winter. Travel this 43-mile passageway through Land Between the Lakes to your choice of outdoor recreation activities such as camping under the stars, hiking forest trails, exploring the universe from your planetarium seat, canoeing or kayaking picturesque bays, motorboating along splendid waterways, riding ATVs, mountain biking along lakeside clefts, horseback riding to scenic views, picnicking at a quiet pond, time-traveling to the 1850s, discovering Civil War sites, or photographing beautiful spring flowers or colorful autumn leaves.

Getting to the Byway:

Hopkinsville, KY
* Head west on State Highway 68/80 * Turn left onto Woodlands Trace

Murray, KY
* Head north on KY 641. * Turn right onto State Highway 68/80. * Turn right onto Woodlands Trace.

Nashville, TN
* Take I-24 W toward Clarskville. * Take the US-79 S exit (exit 4) toward Clarksville/Ft Campbell. * Turn left onto US-79S/Wilma Rudolph Blvd/TN-13 S. * Take a slight right onto TN-374 N/101 St Airborne Division Pkwy. * Take the US-79 ramp toward Dover. * Turn right onto Dover Rd/US-79 S. * Continue to follow US-79 S/TN-76 S. * Turn right onto The Trace (TN 461) into Woodlands Trace.

Paducah, KY
* Take I-24 E toward Nashville. * Take the KY-453 exit (exit 31) toward Smithland/Grand Rivers. * Turn right onto KY-453 S (The Trace) into Woodlands Trace.

Navigating the Byway:
* Begin at the intersection of Interstate 24 and SR 453/The Trace Rd, southwest of Grand Rivers, KY. * Drive southwest on SR 453 to SR 49/The Trace at the state line of Kentucy and Tenessee. * Continue southwest on SR 49/The Trace. * End at the border of the Land Between the Lakes and the end of SR-461 near Dover, TN.