Kentucky Bigfoot Stories

This a collection of some bigfoot stories that I have heard from some of the local Kentuckians that I personally know, work with or have met out hiking, you'd be shocked by how many of the locals have had some sort of unexplained encounter just spending time outdoors in the wilderness.  You'd also be surprised by how many of them are willing to talk about their experiences, maybe it's because I'm a fellow believer in bigfoot too and they knew I would take their stories seriously. 

This first story happened in McCreary County in Kentucky.  The area it happened in is also an area that I've personally gone hiking so that made it extra creepy for me.  This took place in the late seventies, early eighties.  A family of four went camping, like they usually did in their RV for the weekend.  They were in a pretty secluded spot being nature lovers and truly trying to get away from the busy day to day life of working a nine to five job and being full time parents.  Their children at the time were very young, about four and five years old, one boy and one girl.  During the day the children would go outside and play in the forest and by the river, while their parents would stay back at the RV and relax.  One day the boy and girl ran back to the RV scared and hysterical that a strange man was trying to take them.  When their parents pried them about what the man looked like, they said he was big, hairy, smelly and looked like a giant teddy bear.  He was gesturing with his arms for them to come to him, putting his arms forward and motioning them back towards himself in a come here movement.  He never spoke to them, and the way the children described the man to their parents he seemed more animalistic than human, and sadly they thought their children had overactive imaginations and had just made it all up.  The children were telling the truth however and didn't wander too far from the RV after that in fear that whatever this thing was would take them.  The child that this story happened to is my coworker's friend. 

This second story also takes place in McCreary County.  In the same vicinity as the first story.  One of my peers was camping/boating in an area she likes to go fishing during the summer.  One day it was close to dusk, and she was boating back to the shore when a figure caught her eye on the tree line.  She looked directly at it and couldn't describe it as anything other than non-human, it definitely wasn't a bear, it was too large and it wasn't a human, it was too animalistic.  She believes it was of bigfoot/cryptid origin.  She was born and raised in Kentucky and grew up being outdoors.  She is of Native American descent.

This story takes place at Mammoth Cave National Park.  I had the pleasure of speaking to a park ranger that worked there during 2019 when a bigfoot ripped through a campsite and captured national media attention.  She has had unexplained experiences working at the park over the years, a memorable one was seeing what at first looked like bears in the forest and upon closer inspection realizing they weren't bears and none other than the elusive bigfoot.  

This last story takes place at Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky.  Another peer of mine grew up hiking and camping in that area and has heard scary and strange noises in the woods, seen large shadow figures at night, and even saw what she thought was a large boulder, until it moved, and she realized it was some sort of strange creature.  

I think it's important to be aware of what a day out in the wilderness can potentially bring, whether it's severe weather or wild animals or cryptids, the more you know the better you'll be prepared to respond in an unexpected situation.