Facts About Berea

We are the arts and crafts capital of Kentucky. We have working studios from glass blowers to weavers, doll makers to jewelers and probably our most well known would be our wood workers. There are a number of wood working studios and galleries which are open to the public. We also have the Kentucky Artist Center, which is over 20,000 square feet of Kentucky arts and crafts and we have a very world famous college called Berea College.

Berea is also home to more than 30 miles of hiking trails. If you are familiar with Kentucky, you'll know we are divided into regions. The capital of the Bluegrass region is Lexington where all the horse farms are and we are just at the edge where the mountains meet the Bluegrass region. Our elevation is about 1,000 feet and we have hiking trails and lots of wooded area. It's the closest place from Lexington enjoy some hiking.

We have a pretty extensive park system, probably one of the better ones you will find and we offer everything from tee-ball for the little ones to soccer for the little ones. We also have walking trails, fitness trails for all ages, adult softball leagues, and basket ball leagues. We have an outdoor pool that's very nice and of course the college gives you access to their indoor facilities.

As far as weather, from late December up to mid January we will experience our most severe weather, which can get down below zero. We get some snow, but it usually doesn't last more than a day or two. And we are part of the Ohio Valley, so we get a lot of humid hot weather in the summer.

We estimate over 300,000 tourists come to our community during the year. Our season really doesn't end. There are a couple of shops that will close during the winter, but for the most part we are opened and ready to go seven days a week, 365 days a year.