The Valley View Ferry

On Tates Creek Road between Nicholasville and Richmond, the road abruptly is interrupted by the Kentucky River, with the road going right into it. The only way to get across without going 40 miles out of your way is to board the Valley View Ferry, a paddlewheel ferryboat that you actually drive your car onto and let it shuttle you across the river while you sit at the wheel! It's been this way since 1785 and apparently will be forever, since the landowners were granted "a perpetual and irrevocable franchise" to operate the Ferry here.

The original Ferryboat, after 210 years of service, collapsed under the weight of snow and ice during a snowstorm in 1996. The new boat, called the John Craig after the original Ferry operator, utilizes parts from the old Ferry.

The Ferry is only open 6 AM to 8 PM weekdays, 8 AM to 8 PM Saturdays, and 9 AM to 8 PM Sundays. The Ferry is closed entirely during the winter months.