Kentucky Route 8 is a east–west

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

divided into two distinct segments across northern

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The western terminus of the route is at

KY 237 Kentucky Route 237 (KY 237) is a state highway in Boone County, Kentucky, connecting the Florence, Kentucky, Florence/Burlington, Kentucky, Burlington area with Hebron, Kentucky, Hebron. The southern terminus of the route is at Kentucky Route 5 ...

near Francisville. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 23 in South Portsmouth. The two distinct segments of this route were not meant to be connected together. KY 8 from its west end in Boone County to Augusta in Bracken County is designated as a part of an identified corridor for bikes named the Ramblin' River Tour by the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

(AASHTO). KY 8 is named the Mary Ingles Highway for part of its length. It is rumored that she was the first white woman in Kentucky. Captured by Indians in Virginia in 1755 and taken to Ohio, she later escaped a salt-making party at

Big Bone Lick Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone, Kentucky, Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene megafauna fossils found there. Mammoths are believed to have been drawn to this location by a salt lic ...

and made her way across the Kentucky wilderness back home to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Route description

Western segment

The western segment of KY 8, the longer of the two, extends between rural Boone County and Maysville. KY 8 begins 1.5 miles west of

Kentucky Route 237 Kentucky Route 237 (KY 237) is a state highway in Boone County, Kentucky, connecting the Florence/ Burlington area with Hebron. The southern terminus of the route is at KY 536 in Florence. The northern terminus is at KY 8 near Hebron. Most of ...

along River Road near Francisville. The route runs parallel to the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

as it heads eastward, passing through Covington,

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

, and Augusta before ending at an intersection with

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) is an east–west United States Highway in the southern and northeastern United States. It runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian bo ...

in Maysville. KY 8 has been re-routed from its original path along Mary Ingles Highway in Fort Thomas due to a landslide. According to Mike Bezold, a member of the Kentucky Transport Cabinet, the cost to repair the damaged section of road would be $50 million despite having a low number of drivers. Now, KY 8 follows KY 1998 out of Silver Grove until it meets up with

US 27 U.S. Route 27 or U.S. Highway 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Southern and Midwestern U.S. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I ...

in Cold Spring. It then returns to its original route in Newport, but creates a small spur through

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and

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. Its previous route along Mary Ingles Highway in Fort Thomas has since been replaced with KY 445 to between Industrial Road and River Road. The rest of the route up to Dayton has since been reclassified as KY 6335. The Ramblin' River Tour which inhabits the part of the KY 8 that has been closed has not been redesignated as bicycles are still able to pass the landslide with ease. This section was reopened in July 2024 however the route still follows US 27 within the area.

Eastern segment

The eastern segment of KY 8 extends for from Concord-Trinity Road west of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

to U.S. Route 23 in South Portsmouth west of South Shore. The western terminus of this portion is a very narrow two-lane road that becomes gravel. From Kentucky Route 3037 in Vanceburg to its eastern terminus at US 23, KY 8 was formerly designated

Kentucky Route 10 Kentucky Route 10 (KY 10) is a highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) that runs from Alexandria, Kentucky, Alexandria (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio) to the Jesse Stuart Memorial Bridge at Lloyd, Kentucky, Lloyd, rough ...

, with KY 8 ending at KY 3037 (then KY 10). The road became part of KY 8 in the late-1990s after KY 10 was rerouted onto the

AA Highway The AA Highway is a State highway (US), state highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The mainline route parallels the Ohio River from Interstate 275 (Ohio–Indiana–Kentucky), Interstate ...

Route description

Western segment

Eastern segment

Major intersections

Western segment

Eastern segment

References

External links