Trip 13 · Hazard & Buckhorn
Mother Goose & the Log Cathedral
OdditiesHistoryLittle kids OKGrade-school sweet spotTeens won't groan
A stone house shaped like a nesting goose, a 1920s church built of gigantic poplar logs beside a mountain lake, and one of the best true science stories in Appalachia.
The route
Mountain Parkway → KY 15 through Jackson → Hazard → KY 28 west to Buckhorn → KY 28 → Mountain Parkway home
Stops
Jackson
Breathitt County's seat above the Panbowl loop of the river; a September Honey Festival sweetens Main Street most years.
The Mother Goose House
A stone house shaped like a goose — head aloft, egg-shaped windows — finished around 1940 by a builder who saw a goose and thought bigger. Private property: admire from the street.
Buckhorn Log Cathedral
A 1920s church built of massive poplar logs beside a mountain lake — one of the largest log churches anywhere. Peek inside when open; the lake beach makes a fine picnic.
🕯 This watershed was home to the famous Blue Fugates — a family whose rare, harmless blood condition tinted their skin blue for generations, until a 1960s doctor solved it with vitamin science. A true story about real people, told with respect: genetics is wilder than folklore.
File a field report
Found a new dairy bar? Bridge out? Dog mayor re-elected? Email a field report and the best dispatches get published (first names only) on the Field Notes page.