WHAT'S TO LOVE IN & AROUND PADUCAH
   
Bicycle Touring & Road Riding

Bike Western Kentucky- Like much of western KY,  McCracken County offers miles of flat road, ideal for bike riding. But, if you like more variety, there are rolling hills south of Paducah. Bicycle through unspoiled western Kentucky countryside, on paved rural farm roads past crops in the fields, grazing livestock and wildflowers. Roads are narrow, but overall the pavement is smooth, drivers are generally friendly and most roads have only light traffic, perfect for riding a bicycle.

For in-town touring, park your car at BikeWorld and do an easy bike ride in and around Paducah to check out the Floodwall Murals, River Heritage Museum, National Quilt Museum Quilts, the artists studios, and more.

Mountain Biking
Land Between The Lakes (LBL) is 30 miles east of Paducah, and offers miles of hard packed, well drained single track. The Canal Loop Trail is one of the most popular and offers hiking and mountain biking. It is hilly!! Check out the Canal Loop Map. In addition to bicycling, there other neat outdoor things to do, especially with kids, including visits to the 1850's Homeplace and The Woodlands Nature Center. There's also a planetarium. In Grand Rivers don't miss: Patti's 1880's Settlement, where you'll find Miss Patti's famous 2 inch pork chops and Arielle's Miniature Golf Course.

Trails
The Paducah Greenway Trail runs between Bob Noble Park, 2801 Park Ave. and Stewart Nelson Park, 175 Stuart Nelson Park. Just short of 2 miles in length, this little beauty is shady and secluded and worth the ride. Except for the paved entrance ramp, it's all densely packed gravel. The access from Noble Park is behind the baseball fields. During the summer months, on Tuesdays through Saturday afternoons riders can cool off after their ride at the Noble Park Swimming Pool.

The Tunnel Hill Trail rail-trail in southern Illinois (22 miles north of Paducah) is terrific. Never more than a two percent grade and scenic! Railroad bridges with the creek way down below, really thrilling stuff, especially for our 10 year old friends. An exciting tunnel has about 20 heart stopping seconds when you can't see daylight at either end. To get to there, via Vienna, IL: From I-24, take 16; go west about half a mile. Vienna City Park is on the right. Trail runs behind the visitor's center.
 

 
Paducah Attractions

Paducah is home to a vibrant arts community and it's easy to explore Paducah by bike. Enjoy performing arts, museums and restaurants. Nearly all of Paducah is fairly accessible by bike, but to avoid motor vehicular traffic, you'll often need to take the road less traveled. Don't know your way around the back streets? Just email us! Tell us where you're coming from and where you want to go. We'll trace the route we would use for the same trip and send it back to you. But, just generally speaking, Madison and Monroe Streets are terrific bike routes-wide streets with sparse traffic and low speed limits bordered by sidewalks.

Some of Our Favorite "Unique-to-Paducah" Things

Baseball Park: Brooks Stadium 2400 Brooks Stadium Drive. A step back in time. Multi-year host for OVC College Conference Baseball playoffs, and the home field for the Paducah Tilghman High School Tornados and the Post 31 American Legion Team. Kids can stand in the parking lot to retrieve foul balls the turn them for a quarter each.

Coffee: Etcetera Coffeehouse, 320 N. 6th Street. Friendly folks, student art, Friday night poetry & /writer's, fair trade coffee and bubble tea, muffins, bagels, brownies, and on week-ends homemade quiche. 270.443.7760 Hours: Sun., Mon., & Thurs., 8 AM-5:30 PM; Fri. & Sat., 8 AM-9:30 PM

Food: These unique-to-Paducah are the BikeWorld staff's recommended places to eat. Zee – Just Hamburgers, 2532 Jackson St.; Ben- Pizza By The Pound, 600 North 32nd St.; Chris- Spicy Ginger Asian, 4793 Village Square Drive; Justin-Guadalajara Mexican, 3125 Lone Oak Rd. Martha- House of Grace, 2620 Jackson St; Group Favs: Kirchhoff's Bakery & Deli, 114 -118 South 2nd St. Flamingo Row, 2640 Perkins Creek Dr; Tribecca Mexican Cuisine, 127 Market House Square; Whaler's Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 123 N 2nd St.

History: Wickliffe Mounds, 94 Green Street, Wickliffe, KY 42087, 270-335-3681 35 miles west of Paducah. This state historic site is the absolutely neatest, little known place in western KY. Archaeological site of a prehistoric Native American village of the Mississippian mound builders, the museum has exhibits displaying the actual artifacts of excavated burial mounds.

Movie House: Maiden Alley Cinema In the heart of downtown! Our favorite movie art house shows hard to find, little known great films, shorts, foreign language films and great classics.

Museum: Paducah is home to several fine museums, but if you only have time for one, we suggest The National Quilt Museum Astonishing fabric art captures the history and heart of America! It's an easy bike ride from BikeWorld to the museum. Free parking at BikeWorld, then it's an easy bicycle ride from our store to the museum.

Plays: Market House Theater, 132 Market House Square. Acclaimed, incredible, nationally recognized. Community theater doesn't get any better than MHT! Main stage and youth season.

Radio Station: WKMS 91.3 We love our national public radio station.

Schools: Paducah Public Schools The most diverse school system in the state. Recognized by Standard & Poor's as one of 18 Academic Outperformers in Kentucky. Paducah Tilghman High draws from many neighboring areas, and with good reason, including 15 AP classes, renowned music and speech programs and a history as a sports powerhouse. Tilghman alumni include: Buffalo Bills Special Teams captain, George Wilson; 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Robert H. Grubbs; Golden Glove winner Steve Findley; seven-time All-American sprinter, Danielle Carruthers; and numerous writers including "The Dollar Crisis" author Richard Duncan; and Orlando Sentinel beat reporter, Kyle Hightower.

Superman: Superman Statue Metropolis, Illinois, just across the river from Paducah, is DC Comics' "Home of Superman." The town has a larger-than-life statue of the superhero that attracts visitors from all over the world. First order of business, getting your photo snapped with Superman! Then, cross the street and visit the Super Museum, where you'll find more Superman memorabilia than we know what to do with, and a gift shop take home souvenirs.

Symphony & Other Performing Arts: The Paducah Symphony Orchestra inside the Luther F. Carson Center for the Performing Arts 100 Kentucky Avenue. The arts are accessible in Paducah. You can catch performances here you can't find in many larger cities.