Kentucky Route 218
Kentucky Route 218 (KY 218) is a 31.113-mile-long (50.072 km) west-east state highway that traverses three counties in south-central Kentucky. It is locally known as LeGrande Highway from Horse Cave to near Shady Grove.
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KY 218 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by KYTC | ||||
| Length | 31.113 mi[1] (50.072 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | Flint Ridge Road / Mammoth Cave Park Road @ Davis Williams Road in Northtown | |||
 I-65 near Horse Cave
 KY 314 near Shady Grove (Metcalfe County) | ||||
| East end |   US 68 / KY 70 near Exie | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties | Hart, Metcalfe, Green | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
Hart County
Kentucky Route 218 begins at the unincorporated Hart County community of Northtown west of Interstate 65 (I-65). It is the beginning of state maintenance as the main road west of Northtown is actually a back road (Flint Ridge Road) that leads to the Mammoth Cave National Park, and would provide a direct link to the park's visitor center. The official Kentucky road maps do not show this section of KY 218 because of its western terminus is intersecting another back road and not a major road or highway.
It crosses I-65 near a local Love's Travel Stop, and enters the town of Horse Cave, which is part of a tourism hotbed in southern Kentucky due to its proximity to the Mammoth Cave park. After being co-signed with Kentucky Route 335 for a couple of miles, it crosses US Route 31W (Dixie Highway). Five miles after downtown Horse Cave, it crosses US Route 31E (Jackson Highway), and then continues eastward to LeGrande, and will enter Metcalfe County a moment after the KY 677 junction.
Metcalfe and Green Counties
KY 218 goes through a small sliver of the northernmost portion of Metcalfe County, and it intersects KY 314 while doing so. It enters Green County, crosses the Little Barren River, and will reach its end at Exie, where it meets the intersection with US Route 68, which at that point, is co-joined with Kentucky Route 70 from Sulphur Well all the way to Greensburg and Campbellsville.
History
KY 218 between US Route 31W and US Route 31E was formerly a portion of US Route 68.[2]
Points of interest along the route
- Kentucky Down Under & Kentucky Caverns, Horse Cave
- Hidden River Cave / American Cave Museum, downtown Horse Cave
- Wigwam Roadside Store
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hart | Northtown | 0.000 | 0.000 | Davis Williams Road north / Mammoth Cave Park Road (Flint Ridge Road) west | Western terminus; continuation as Flint Ridge Road (Mammoth Cave Park Road) Beginning of State Maintenance |
| Horse Cave | 5.211 | 8.386 | I-65 south – Nashville | Exit 58 off I-65 SB and on-ramp to I-65 NB | |
| 5.267 | 8.476 | I-65 north – Louisville | Exit 58 off I-65 NB and on-ramp to I-65 NB | ||
| 5.423 | 8.727 |   KY 335 north (L and N Turnpike Road) to US 31W north – Rowletts | Western end of KY 335 concurrency | ||
| 7.245 | 11.660 | KY 335 south (Old Dixie Highway) – Cave City | Eastern end of KY 335 concurrency | ||
| 7.64 | 12.30 | US 31W (Dixie Street) – Munfordville, Cave City | |||
| 8.431 | 13.568 |  KY 1846 (Short Cut Road) | |||
| | 9.241 | 14.872 |  KY 1141 south (Bear Wallow Road) | Northern terminus of KY 1141 | |
| Wigwam | 11.528 | 18.553 |  US 31E (Jackson Highway) – Hodgenville, Hardyville, Glasgow | ||
| | 13.099 | 21.081 |  KY 571 north (Lonoke Road) | Western end of KY 571 concurrency | |
| Seymour | 13.543 | 21.795 | KY 571 south (Seymour Park Road) | Eastern end of KY 571 concurrency | |
| | 14.554 | 23.422 |  KY 572 west (Oil Field Road) | Western end of KY 572 | |
| LeGrande | 15.045 | 24.213 |   KY 570 north (Rex Road) / KY 436 east (Hundred Acre Pond Road) | Southern terminus of KY 570; western terminus of KY 436 | |
| | 17.295 | 27.834 |   KY 677 south (Hiseville Park Road) to KY 740 – Hiseville | Western end of KY 677 concurrency | |
| | 17.691 | 28.471 | KY 677 north (Three Springs Road) | Eastern end of KY 677 concurrency | |
| Metcalfe | | 19.368 | 31.170 |  KY 1243 south (Atwell Road) | Northern terminus of KY 1243 |
| | 20.98 | 33.76 | KY 314 west (Center Peggyville Road) – Center | Eastern terminus of KY 314 | |
| Green | | 21.947 | 35.320 |  KY 1048 west | Eastern terminus of KY 1048 |
| | 24.770 | 39.863 |  KY 729 south (Little Barren Road) | Northern terminus of KY 729 | |
| Pierce | 26.635 | 42.865 |  KY 1464 north | Southern terminus of KY 1464 | |
| Exie | 31.113 | 50.072 | US 68 (Edmonton Road) / KY 70 – Greensburg, Edmonton | Eastern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Related road
| Flint Ridge Road | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mammoth Cave Visitors Center to Horse Cave |
Flint Ridge Road is an east–west local road that connects the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor's Center directly to Horse Cave. It traverses eastern segments of Mammoth Cave National Park, which is in eastern Edmonson County, along with southwestern Hart County. It begins at an intersection with the Mammoth Cave Parkway near the park's Visitor's Center and ends at the I-65 exit 58 interchange with KY 218. The final 5 1⁄4 miles (8.4 km) of the road is actually part of KY 218.[3]
Points of interest along Flint Ridge Road include the Mammoth Cave Baptist Church, and the Dennison Ferry Day-use area.[4]
References
- Commonwealth of Kentucky. "Official DMI Route Log". Retrieved November 24, 2014.
- Kentucky Department of Highways (September 15, 1939). Road Map of Kentucky (PDF) (Map). Kentucky Department of Highways.
- Mammoth-Cave-National-Park-Visitor-Center-Area-Map.pdf
- National Park Service. Mammoth-Cave-National-Park-Map-Web.pdf Retrieved November 24, 2014.