Pineville, Kentucky: Chained Rock
RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report
Pine Mountain State Resort Park
- Address:
- Chained Rock Rd, Pineville, KY
- Directions:
- Pine Mountain State Resort Park. From Pineville drive south one mile on US Hwy 25E. Turn west at the brown Chained Rock Overlook sign onto Asher Clear Creek Rd. Drive a half-mile. Bear right onto State Park Rd. Drive three miles up the mountain. Make a sharp right onto Chained Rock Rd. Drive one mile to the parking lot. The trail begins at the far end of the parking lot, down a set of steps into the trees.
- Phone:
- 606-337-3066
- Admission:
- Free
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Results 1 to 5 of 5...
A large chain bolted to an even larger rock at the top of a mountain has spared from destruction the little town below -- or so the story goes.
Roadsideamerica.com Report... [05/01/2016]Visitor Tips and News About Chained Rock
Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.
The story states that there was no earlier chain. That is wrong. You can still see the remnant of the original chain bolted onto the mountain. It was a small logging chain.
When you are at the summit and you cross the wooden foot path that leads under the rock overhang, the remnants of the chain are on the left side of the path bolted into the rock near your feet. It's only a few badly aged links now but, they are still there. Some of the old folks in the area say that it was put up as a joke a long, long time ago.
[Leuico Welch, 07/02/2016]
I would put this attraction under experienced hikers only, or bring some water and good boots to hike in! We were not prepared for the walk ahead. Whew!
[Kayla, 08/30/2014]
This park is part of the Pine Mountain State Park just east of Pineville. It requires a mile hike after you drive a long winding road to the top of the mountain. You will find a fantastic view overlooking Pineville and the surrounding hills. There you will find a large chain attached to the mountain and across a span to a large outcrop of rock hanging over the town below.
[Paul Mays, 02/09/2010]
Above the town of Pineville, on route 25E, there are several very large boulders that are "chained together" to keep them from crashing down on the town and destroying it. You must drive there from Pine Mountain State Park and then hike about one mile to see it. It is worth the walk. It defies all sense of logic, why somebody would haul this very heavy chain up a mountain to foster such a myth.
[Bob Smith, 11/16/1998]Nearby Offbeat Places
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The myth was started in 1933 by the town Kiwanis, who attached the chain -- 3,000 pounds, 101 feet long. July 2005: Tipster Alicia notes "that it was a publicity stunt, to draw traffic to the (then) new state park and hopefully pull some dollars in for the local economy (It worked.)." Jan 2002: Tipster Steve Woodward sent photos and adds: "The chain links are huge and weigh a whopping 7 pounds each, and were carried to the location by pack mule. The boulder does actually loom right above the city and I suppose the chain gave the people a sense of security. I think the site is actually called Chain Rock."