coal miner's daughter museum tours

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Loretta Lynn’s Horseback Trail Ride – Summer 2024

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Take a virtual tour of loretta’s historic home.

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The Ultimate Family Destination

Nestled in the hills of rural Tennessee, Loretta Lynn’s Ranch is the ultimate family destination. Billed as one of Tennessee’s top tourist attractions and one of the largest campgrounds in the Middle Tennessee Area, the facility boasts a full-service RV Park with 50-amp Water/Electric/Sewer Hookups, over 300 power and water campsites, Primitive Camping, and 18 Cabins. Sit back, relax, and enjoy live music during our weekend campfire shows, get a tan by the pool, reel in the big fish, or get wet tubing or kayaking down beautiful Hurricane Creek. Be sure to check out our many gift shop and museums located in Western Town.

Looking for the full Ranch experience? Be sure to visit during one of our many special events! Get the family ready to make a memory that will last a lifetime. Here at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, everyone is family!

Museums & Tours

Her Legendary Life Story

If you have ever heard the saying “a Rags to Riches story”, then you know the basics of the story of Loretta Lynn. The Coal Miner’s Daughter Museum allows visitors to see everything from Loretta’s simple mountain life in Butcher Holler, KY to the rise of stardom and building of her legacy in Hurricane Mills, TN. Her legendary career and life are preserved at her Ranch for all to see in the 18,000 square feet museum she built and completed in 2001. Visitors will experience her amazing life getting to see her many awards and honors, as well as see how huge a fan Loretta is of everyone in entertainment and American political fields. Come see, experience, and live her life through her eyes at the Coal Miner’s Daughter Museum! As if that was not enough, you can also come and see Loretta’s love for her fans at her Doll and Fan Museum. Loretta recreated the Frontier Homestead to preserve the history of the Hurricane Mill’s area by moving and reconstructing buildings from her property. The Grist Mill Museum pays homage to the iconic Grist Mill in the heart of Hurricane Mills. As many know, Loretta loves Native Americans and has collected many relics of the years which is all viewable at the Native American Artifacts Museum!

Western Town

Take a Step Back in Time

Western Town sits in the heart of Hurricane Mills, TN upon the waterfall of the historic Grist Mill. Gift shops, guided tours, and Museums are located here. An exact replica of Loretta’s Butcher Holler, KY Home was built on her ranch so that visitors can tour and see first-hand how this American Icon grew up to become the woman she is! Meticulously designed and built from personal studies of the original home in Eastern Kentucky, this house was recreated to be as Loretta lived in it before she married Mooney Lynn.

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Tour Butcher Holler: Loretta Lynn’s Home Place

See the place where the “coal miner’s daughter” was born, loretta lynn’s butcher hollow.

Tour the cabin that Loretta Lynn and her famous sister Crystal Gayle grew up in. Stand on the porch where they sang songs and honed their skills before becoming some of Country Music’s greatest stars. Inside the cabin you will find authentic Loretta Lynn memorabilia, her mother’s original washboard, porch swing, bed and more.

Attraction Spotlight

From humble beginnings to  country music stardom ..

Tucked into the hills of Eastern Kentucky is Country Music’s hallowed ground, Butcher Holler, the home place of Loretta Lynn. Come and see Loretta Lynn’s humble beginnings, the place that shaped her into the Coal Miner’s Daughter and the sensation that captured America’s heart. A tour of Loretta Lynn’s Butcher Holler is just a short drive North of Pikeville, Kentucky.

Tours are $5/person. No reservation is required. Tour Hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., every day. Hours may change without notice due to weather.

Tours are only available during the warm months of the year. Tours end in late November and resume in April. Contact the tour operators at: (606) 789-3397.

MoonPie, RC Cola, and  Coal Mining Heritage at Webb’s General Store .

After your tour of the cabin, you will visit Webb’s General Store, formerly an old coal mining camp store. Purchase MoonPies, RC Cola, sandwiches, keepsakes such as autograph photos, t-shirts and other collectables. Learn about coal scrip, and take a peek into the life of the Appalachian coal miner of yesteryear. Pike County Tourism CVB can help you make your tour of Butcher Holler a special one.

Find Butcher Hollow

Contact 1917 Millers Crk, Van Lear, KY 41265 Phone: (606) 789-3397 Email: [email protected] Tourism Director: Tony Tackett

Need a brochure?  We can mail you one!

Click the link below, and fill out your name and mailing address. We’ll do the rest.

Butcher Hollow Gallery

Memories from Butcher Hollow in Van Lear, Kentucky.

Pikeville-Pike County Visitors Center 685 Hambley Blvd. 

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Hurricane Mills, Tennessee : Loretta Lynn's Ranch and Museum

Tour Loretta Lynn's home, recording studio, and replica coal mine. Similar in spirit to Graceland, but a lot less crowded.

Loretta Lynn's Ranch

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Visitor Tips and News About Loretta Lynn's Ranch and Museum

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters . Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip .

My wife and I have lived in Tennessee for over 20 years and driven by this exit many times without stopping. However, after being Covid-19 quarantined for 18 months, we decided to take an unplanned road trip to just "get-away."

We visited several sights in Middle Tennessee but the highlight was Loretta Lynn's Ranch. We actually enjoyed it so much that we spent two days in Hurricane Mills. The property offers cabins, RV parking, and camping. We decided on a hotel room a few miles away. One the first day, we drove around the huge property and looked at everything (campsites, AMA Motor-cross track, pool) and then toured the plantation home. It was a guided tour and the guide was well knowledgeable about Loretta's life -- he shared numerous stories and "secrets."

On the second day, we toured the museum and did some shopping in the various gift shops on-site. Just a friendly note: the restrooms in the museum are a lot nicer than the ones by the gazebo.

The 87-year-old country star still lives on the property, in a small house she and her (now deceased) husband Mooney built behind the mansion when the kids moved out, which allowed tours of the "Big" House that continues to this day.

A lot has been added over the years, including a museum, a tour, several retail stores, a coal mine replica, a replica of her childhood home, and a circa 1896 working mill with a dam. In addition there is a large campground. This is a fun salute to a great lady of country music, not nearly as crowded or glitzy as Graceland in Memphis or Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. The day I was there, the Indian statue that had been standing sentry since the 1980s was laying on his back, toppled by a winter storm. While well-known, the entire "village" of Hurricane Mills feels totally off the beaten path.

We thought we'd stop by at the museum for half an hour and found ourselves leaving two hours later, and we didn't even do any guided tours. This place rivals Graceland easily, if you ask me. Loretta Lynn has so much space devoted to friends and family. It's not just all about one person.

A large Indian statue is in front of the old recording studio on the property of Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch.

The statue of an Indian brave has been on the Loretta Lynn Ranch property since at least the 1980s, when we snapped this photo.

Take a tour of the Coal Miner's Daughter's plantation home, see a replica of her humble family home back in the Butcher Hollow, KY days, see a giant wooden indian of muffler man proportions and much more. There's lots to see even if you don't spend a dime on the tours. The Coal Miner's Daughter movie is a guilty pleasure of mine, so this place was a real treat.

A file photo from one of our early visits, ~1985, when the museum was still under construction and "Twitty City" was the state's biggest self-celebratory attraction.

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Butcher Holler

Attractions, butcher holler: home to the coal miners’ daughter, home to the coal miners’ daughter.

Loretta Lynn is one of the most awarded musicians of all time. She has been inducted into more music Halls of Fame than any female recording artist, including The Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was the first woman to be named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 1972. Lynn received Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. She has won four Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010) and sold more than 45 million records worldwide. ( Source )

But before arriving in Nashville to push boundaries with her music, country legend Loretta Lynn lived in Butcher Holler with seven brothers and sisters, including country music’s Crystal Gayle. Now, visitors can tour Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle’s homeplace to see the mountain cabin that was the foundation of their successful careers. 

After touring the Butcher Holler homeplace, visitors can stop in Webb’s General Store, which was depicted in the film, “Coal Miners’ Daughter.” Previously named “Number Five” store due to a nearby mine, the store is over 100 years old and owned by Loretta’s family. Purchase MoonPies, RC Cola, sandwiches, keepsakes such as autograph photos, t-shirts and other collectables.

Webb’s Grocery & Tour Hours of Operations:

• Monday-Saturday: 10:00am-5:00pm
• Sunday: 12:00pm-5:00pm

Directions- from the intersection of Route 460/40/321 in Paintsville, take 321 south for five miles. Turn left on Rt. 1107 and travel 0.9 miles. Turn right on Rt 302 for 1.5 miles, turn left on Millers Creek Road. For tours, stop at Webb’s General Store #5 on the right side of the road. Continue traveling Millers Creek Road, then turn left up “Butcher Holler.” The homeplace is located 2 miles past Webb’s General Store. For tour and site information, call Webb’s Grocery Store at (606) 789-3397. For further information, contact (606) 886-1341 or email [email protected] .

photo: Jimmy Emerson, DVM

Loretta Lynn's Ranch, Museum and Home

Loretta Lynn's Ranch

No visit to Humphreys County, Tennessee, can be considered truly complete without a stop at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, a 3,000-acre ranch, campground, event venue, and tourist destination in Hurricane Mills. Located just 65 miles west of Nashville, the historic community of Hurricane Mills has been home to Loretta Lynn and her family since the late 1960s. In fact, Loretta owns all of the historic district, with the exception of the public cemetery. Hurricane Mills has long been a popular outdoor recreation site, but Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, officially founded in 1974, has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Tennessee.

At Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Family Campground, you’ll find a multitude of activities for the family, as well as tours, shops, museums, and special events sure to please visitors from all generations. You don’t have to be a diehard Loretta fan to enjoy the ranch, but we’re willing to bet you will be after your visit! Snag a spot for RV camping or tent camping or rent a cabin that can sleep four to eight people. Tour museums that house collections of Loretta Lynn memorabilia, Native American artifacts, and relics and replicas that showcase life and hard work during a simpler time. Attend a special event like the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival or the Annual Halloween Championship Chuckwagon Races. No matter what tickles your fancy, you’re sure to find it at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Read on for more specific information about the ranch and everything it has to offer.

Lodging and Camping

Stagecoach Hill:  Featuring 55 full-service, 50-amp pull through spots, four A-frame log cabins, seven cozy cabins, and a large bunkhouse for bigger families, Stagecoach Hill is a beautiful campground fit for any family. With a fire pit, camp store, horseshoes, cornhole, live music, games during peak season, and beautiful hiking trails, this is the perfect spot for your trip to the ranch.

Boone Hill:  If you want easy access to the main highway and seclusion from the rest of the ranch’s attractions, try staying in the Boone Hill section. Six cabins sit in a horseshoe cul-de-sac with a gazebo and charcoal grills in the middle. Sounds like a great way to get away from it all and concentrate on family time! When you’re not grilling out or hanging in the cabin, try the walking trails behind the cabins that lead down to the lower campground.

Lower Campground:  The lower campground is the place to be if you want to be smack-dab in the middle of all the fun! Here you’ll find 30-amp water/electric camping spots for hooking up your camper or RV. There’s tons of fun to be had at the lower campground, including an in-ground pool, a playground, a bath house, a 10,000-square-foot pavilion, and Hurricane Creek, where you can rent tubes and kayaks and play to your heart’s content. 

Please note that Loretta Lynn’s Ranch is pet-friendly with a pet fee and a signed waiver. Pets must be leashed at all times. 

The ranch also hosts concerts, weddings, and festivals and features recreational activities like horseback riding, canoe and kayak rentals, and hiking on over one hundred miles of beautiful rural trails. Other activities available at the ranch include the creek, pool, tubing, fishing, trail rides, playgrounds, volleyball, horseshoes, cornhole, game room, campfire shows, cookouts, picnics, biking, camping, and special and seasonal events. Additional fees may apply for some activities and equipment rentals.

chuck wagon races, motocross races, festivals, a spring fling, and more. Check the website or  social media  to view the events calendar, or call (931) 296-7700.

There is certainly no shortage of things to do, see, and learn at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. No matter what tickles your fancy—touring a museum, having fun in the water, playing outdoor games, picnicking, fishing, hiking, or biking—there’s something fun for everyone. Bring the young’uns, the elders, and the in-betweeners, and get ready for some good, old-fashioned family fun that you’ll all be sure to remember for years to come.

Itinerary Points of Interest

Stagecoach Hill

Featuring 55 full-service, 50-amp pull through spots, four A-frame log cabins, seven cozy cabins, and a large bunkhouse for bigger families, Stagecoach Hill is fit for any family. With a fire pit, camp store, horseshoes, cornhole, live music, games during peak season, and hiking trails, this is the perfect spot for your extended trip to the ranch.

If you want easy access to the main highway and seclusion from the rest of the ranch’s attractions, try staying in the Boone Hill section. Six cabins sit in a horseshoe cul-de-sac with a gazebo and charcoal grills in the middle.

Lower Campground

The lower campground is you’ll find 30-amp water/electric camping spots for hooking up your camper or RV, an in-ground pool, a playground, a bath house, a 10,000-square-foot pavilion, and Hurricane Creek, where you can rent tubes and kayaks and play to your heart’s content.

Coal Miner’s Daughter Museum

This 18,000 square foot museum is dedicated to Loretta Lynn’s fans and filled with memorabilia, awards, and mementos from her famous friends.

Doll Museum

The Doll Museum is filled with dolls and gifts that have been sent to Loretta Lynn from her fans throughout her career.

Loretta’s Frontier Homestead

This museum features original, furnished log cabins with more than four hundred artifacts like tools, saws, saddles, cookware, utensils, crocks, churns, clothing, horse-drawn equipment, and wagons.

Grist Mill Museum

Here, you’ll see the original generator and control panel used to power the Mill and Loretta’s Historic Home as well as the equipment used in the production of cornmeal in the late 1800s.

Native American Artifact Museum

This museum on Loretta Lynn’s Ranch is an homage to her proud Cherokee heritage.

Western Town

Overlooking Hurricane Creek and a scenic waterfall at the Grist Mill, Western Town is where you’ll find museums, gift shops, and guided tours. It is also home to the Butcher Holler Home Replica, Simulated Coal Mine #5, Western Store, Mill Shop, and Loretta’s Shop.

Grist Mill Gift Shop 

At the heart of Hurricane Mills, the Grist Mill Gift Shop offers country-themed selections like jams, jellies, sauces, locally made and sourced crafts, and Kentucky Coal souvenirs.

Loretta’s Shop 

This shop features Loretta Lynn souvenirs including replica guitars, t-shirts, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” glassware, and more.

Western Store

This is the main gift shop for The Ranch and where you will find hats, boots, shirts, accessories, kids clothing, and toys. This is also where you’ll purchase tickets for guided tours.

Located on Stagecoach Hill, The Camp Store is where you’ll find your morning coffee or cappuccino, soft drinks, beer, ice, firewood, and any other convenience store items you might need.

Lady Loretta Boutique

This boutique offers personalized Loretta Lynn items like pictures, books, jewelry, and additional memorabilia.

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Butcher Holler is in Johnson County, Kentucky and home of the world’s most famous coal miner’s daughter, Loretta Lynn. Her birthplace and family home is nestled between two fog shrouded mountains up a “holler” in Van Lear, Kentucky.

Loretta, her sisters Patsy and Crystal Gayle, sang songs with attitude and pride. They brought their brand of country music to an admiring public, and gained fame and fortune for themselves and new respect for coal miners everywhere.

Directions – from the intersection of Route 460/40/321 in Paintsville, take 321 south for five miles. Turn left on Rt. 1107 and travel 0.9 miles. Turn right on Rt 302 for 1.5 miles, turn left on Millers Creek Road. For tours, stop at Webb’s General Store #5 on the right side of the road. Continue traveling Millers Creek Road, then turn left up “Butcher Holler.” The homeplace is located 2 miles past Webb’s General Store.

Millers Creek Road Van Lear   KY   41265

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Loretta Lynn's Ranch Tells the Story of the Country Icon's Life

If you're a fan of the Coal Miner's Daughter (and who isn't?), get ready to take a trip down memory lane to Loretta Lynn 's ranch in Hurricane Mills. Just an hour west of Nashville , the country music legend's  Tennessee ranch is the ultimate tourist attraction for country music fans. You'll even get the chance to visit a replica of her childhood home and trace her musical and personal journey from Butcher Holler to country legend. 

The ranch has campgrounds that are open year round, but you can also rent a cabin if you aren't up for that. There are a couple of tour options that will show you everything you need to know about the music legend. You get to see the Plantation Home, coal mine, a replica of her  Butcher Holler home and more. Special events are also held throughout the year, such as concerts and shows and the Tennessee Motorcycles and Music Revival Bike Festival.

Read More:  Butcher Holler, Kentucky is Hallowed Ground Every Country Fan Should Visit at Least Once

The Loretta Lynn Ranch has so much in store for its visitors, including multiple museums. The 18,000 square foot Coal Miner's Daughter Museum has a huge collection of memorabilia and awards from Lynn's career as well as mementos from her peers in the entertainment industry. The Doll and Fan Museum (located in the Grist Mill) features dolls and gifts that fans have sent Lynn throughout her career.  Loretta's Frontier Homestead features original artifacts from the original log cabins on the property. The Grist Mill Museum features equipment used to produce corn meal dating back to the 1800s. It's also home to the original generator that provides electricity to the mill and Plantation Home. The Native American Artifact Museum honors Lynn's Cherokee heritage and showcases Native American artifacts that the singer has collected over the years. 

The Western Town area, where the Grist Mill is located, is full of activities. You can take a trail ride on horseback or visit the creek, pool, corn hole, game room or more for hours of family fun.

When you've been able to make your way through all of the museums, don't forget to stop at one of the many gift shops. The Grist Mill Gift Shop, Plantation Shop, Western Store, Loretta's Snack Shop and the Camp Store are full of goodies. Ranging from handmade milkshakes at the Snack Shop to Loretta Lynn memorabilia available for purchase, there is something for everyone.

This article was originally published in 2019.

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Loretta Lynn’s Ranch: Discover All There Is To Do!

Loretta Lynn’s Ranch is 3000 acres of nature, boasting the beautiful landscape of rural Tennessee. Nestled in Hurricane Mills, it has fun-filled activities for the adventure-seeking spirits, a large campground and a selection of premium cabins for the souls who need some rest and peace, and museums with guided tours to know more about the “Coal Miner’s Daughter” singer Loretta Lynn herself. 

Dubbed as the top tourist attraction in Tennessee, this ranch is the ultimate family destination. So if you’re looking for the full ranch experience, then this is the place to go. No doubt. 

A Quick History of Loretta Lynn’s Ranch

Loretta Lynn’s Ranch was first a historic plantation where a Civil Battle was fought with nineteen Confederate soldiers who were rumored to be buried on the Hurricane Mills grounds. There were also a lot of discovered stories behind the people who first lived in the mansion about apparitions of a grieving young woman and former owner of the estate. 

In the 1960s, American singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn and her husband Oliver “Mooney” Lynn , who was also known as “Doolittle,” purchased the town of Hurricane Mills along with the mansion. Now, the place has become one of the most interesting places to visit and also a hangout destination for fans, families, and friends. 

Exploring the Ranch

If you’re thinking of reserving a spot here, here is a quick guide about the lodging spaces, campgrounds, tours, events, and everything there is to do at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. 

Camp Out and Have Some Rest

Loretta Lynn’s Ranch boasts three campground sites where you can enjoy nature and the camping experience in a safe and secure space. 

Stagecoach Hill is the premier campground that offers the largest lodging space and widest selection of amenities. It also has a common area with live music and games during peak season. The Camp Store is also located here where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or cappuccino in the morning. They also sell soda, beer, ice, and other camping needs. And if you want to explore the beautiful woods of Middle Tennessee, the hiking trails are located here. 

Here, you have the choice to rent a full hooked-up RV for $42.50 per night, a stylish A-Frame log cabin or a cozy cabin with a nice scenic view of the campground for $130 per night good for 4 people, or the family-oriented bunkhouse with an open floor plan that sleeps 8 people and costs $205 per night.

Second is Boone Hill, with a horse-shoe cul-de-sac layout perfect for those who want a more secluded space away from the attractions. The Boone Hill cabins are quaint in a motel style fashion, which you can rent for $105 per night and are good for 4 people each. You can enjoy some fun in the central gazebo and cook some staple camping foods in the charcoal grills. 

Through the scenic hills are walking trails that will lead you to the Lower Campground, which is the epicenter of activities at The Ranch. Here you can rent a water/electric camping spot for $37.50 per night or a tent for $20 per night. Plus, you can also indulge yourself in the bathhouse or enjoy adventures with tubes and kayaks. 

You can enjoy all of these with your pets with a non-refundable pet charge of $50 for cabins. And make sure that they are on a leash when they’re outdoors. And note that from the months of November through April, the Lower Campground, Boone Hill, and the Creek Area will be closed for public access. 

Walk through Western Town

Western Town is home to all the museums and gift shops. It is located upon the waterfall of the historic and famous Grist Mill with a large deck where you can view the scenic waterfall and the Hurricane Creek.

First on the list is the Grist Mill Museum which hosts the equipment used in the late 1800s to produce cornmeal. You will be welcomed by Uncle Rufus upon arrival, and this is where you can see the original generator and control panel that once supplied electricity in the mill. There are also early pictures of Loretta’s Historic Home displayed here, among others. 

Make sure also to visit the Grist Mill Gift Shop, where you can find a selection of country food items, locally-made and -sourced crafts, and Kentucky Coal souvenirs. 

Next is the Butcher Holler Home Replica, designed and built exactly as Loretta Lynn’s East Kentucky home where she grew up. Then there’s also the newly added Loretta’s Frontier Homestead which houses over 400 artifacts on display like tools, cookware & utensils, crocks, clothes, wagons, and many more. 

You can also visit the 18,000-square-foot Coal Miner’s Daughter Museum, where you can personally see and walk through the “Rags to Riches” story of Loretta Lynn. The complex was finished in 2001 and is home to Loretta’s amazing collection, where each piece marks a significant memory in her legendary life. And of course, the Doll and Fan Museum hosts all of the dolls and gifts spanning her six-decade career, which were sent in by her devoted fans. 

And if you want a piece of Loretta Lynn memento, you can head over to Loretta’s Shop, which is everything, Loretta Lynn. Or if you’re feeling hungry, stop by Loretta’s Snack Shop, a newly-renovated rustic-themed diner with handmade milkshakes!

You can get your tickets for the guided tours at the Western Shop alongside a selection of western wear for both adults and kids. The full tour costs $30, while the home-only and museum-only tours cost $17.50 each. There are no guided tours or museum access for Monday and Tuesday. 

Enjoy some adrenaline-rushing events, concerts, and festivals

For 2021, Loretta Lynn’s Ranch has a line-up of its staple events that will surely make everyone’s stay more fun and exciting. 

One of the many anticipated events is the Trail Jam hosted by Topless in Tennessee Jeep Club, a weekend vacation style for jeep enthusiasts. It features over 20 miles of one-way trails for demonstrations. There’s also a lot of fun camping activities, live music, and evening entertainment. And there’s also the concert Salute to the legendary duo Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn on July 3 to be hosted and performed by Tre Twitty and Tayla Lynn, their grandson and granddaughter. This is also a celebration of the Independence Day Fireworks. General admission tickets cost $30, while VIP is at $35. 

Aside from these, Loretta Lynn also occasionally does live concerts at The Ranch, which also made it one of the top tourist attractions in the whole state. 

Loretta Lynn Ranch Pictures

The iconic coal miner’s daughter gate.

The entrance to The Ranch. Make sure you take a photo here for memories!

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Precious Family Time

Enjoy some bonding with your family at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch campground. And double the fun by staying in an RV. Or enjoy some good food with the traditional camping style in tents.

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Monica Farrell England (@our_adventures19)

River-Lovin’ Adventures

Goof off and have some fun in the water!

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eli_Herrick_513 (@whereiseliiiii)

The Must-See Grist Mill Museum

The iconic museum at The Ranch was built in the late 1800s. 

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Ride the Track 

Hop on to the motocross and sweep the trails. 

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Watch them heat it up on the trail. 

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For more details about Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, you can visit their website  or their Facebook page. 

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Coal Miner's Daughter Opens New Museum

Loretta Lynn will open her Coal Miner's Daughter Museum in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., on May 26 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and concert. Located on Lynn's ranch, the 18,000-square-foot museum features a mini-theater, boutique and room displays depicting her school in Butcher Holler, Ky., and her first Nashville home.

The Country Music Hall of Fame member's tour bus will be on display, along with other automobiles that belonged to Lynn and her late husband, Mooney. Personal collectibles such as awards and vintage clothes will be on exhibit, along with items that appeared in the film Coal Miner's Daughter . The ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place at 1 p.m. at the museum's entrance. Lynn will perform at 8 p.m. at the Entertainment Pavilion. The museum will be open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through October and on weekends November through March.

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Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn's Ranch

• United States    
• Tennessee (TN)    
• Hurricane Mills    
• Hurricane Mills - Things to Do    
• Loretta Lynn's Ranch

It was an experience! I’m certainly glad I experienced it but I think it’s more enjoyed by an... read more

This is a totally paid attraction unless you just want to go to the gift shop or front gates of her... read more

Coal Miner's Daughter

Admission is free, but guided tours are paid. Her home is gorgeous & we could walk all around for free @ our leisure or pay for guided tours of the house, her old homestead from Butcher Holler, & the #5 coal mine. The gift shop was reasonably priced & everything was signed by Loretta Lynn! Great way to spend the entire afternoon!

Drove out here after closing, so we didn't get to go on the tour (I think it closes at 5pm). But what we saw was fabulous! Beautiful house, big lake with waterfall, swings, shopping, restaurant, concert arena, offroading track, horse stables, cabins for rent, and some faux old timey log cabins in the front which were cute. Plenty to see and looks like an afternoon full of stuff to do. It's about a 10-15min drive off the 40 with a gas station and couple of restaurants near the exit. (Hot Spot BBQ is NOT recommended, unless you enjoy beef jerky like ribs and no ambiance.)

I loved the Loretta Lynn Gift Shop - EVERY single thing in there had Loretta's signature!

I am a huge Loretta fan and a couple years we were in Nashville and drove over to see her place. We did the whole tour. We recently moved to the area and we visited again and just walked around. It's a huge plot of land. When you come in their is a Frontier house replica you can walk and look at. Then their is camping sites,cabins,place where they have concerts,motercycle arena. Then you come to her once home she lived in that overlooks a beautiful river,great place for pictures! There is about 3 gift shops which pretty much had all the same stuff in each one. They have a snack shop. Then their is the replica of her childhood home and a coal mine and then the museum. I had a good time this time just walking through the shops and seeing the river. It's like it's own little town. Great to visit if your a loretta fan. You have to pay for the Museum,tour of house,coal mine and butcher hollow house,but everything else you can walk through.

We happened upon her ranch after eating at her restaurant. It's free to the public and the grounds are beautiful. A Winding road leads you beside a huge amphitheater and small diet race track all the way back to her gorgeous colonial homestead. Her horses are within reach and the setting is serene. I higjhly recommend you stop by. It's wonderful to see how open she is to her community.

My wife is a life long fan of Loretta so during a trip to TN we decided to stop by the ranch and home to check things out. First off, it's very difficult to navigate the website and get any meaningful information regarding ticket prices. The only nugget I found was from another website that had the figures completely off. Needless to say we forked over for the house tour and museum and were disappointed based on the price we paid. The house is much like many other historical houses we have visited. The guide was unimpressive and seemed more like a family friend rather and passing on historical knowledge. The museum looks like it was haphazardly thrown together and very confusing as to what belongs to whom. The curator (if there is one) needs to visit Graceland and get some pointers. With all that said, if you're a fan of course you'll want to stop by just don't expect anything awe inspiring.

Welcome to the Whitwell Marion County Coal Miners Museum!

Our museum is packed to the brim with photographs and artifacts of Whitwell's local coal mining industry, passed down for generations.

Give us a visit, and learn about the rich history of coal mining in Southeast Tennessee.

Learn More About Us

Visit this page to learn about our history or the miners who volunteer at our museum

In Our Community

Learn about how we love to interact with our community!

On the News

Watch clips from when we've been featured on the local news.

Explore Our Museum

Scroll through our photo gallery to get a glimpse of what all our museum holds.

Visited by Neighbors Far and Wide

This is an absolutely amazing gem of history, memorabilia and true stories from the men and families who worked there. It is unimpressive from the outside. Do not be fooled. Must see if you want to find out about the 90mph wooden horse.

We hope to see you soon!

Kentucky Coal Mining Museum Tour

How much do you know about the Kentucky Coal Industry? On a recent road trip, our family took the time to drive through Eastern Kentucky and tour the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in Harlan County. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this museum and tour was one of the highlights of our summer road trips.

The museum is located in the former company store and shows you a snapshot of life during the early coal mining days. The main floor is the home for many exhibits such as the Barber shop, General Store, Hospital and rooms with the supplies that helped the coal mining community maintain their life.

The displays are open and not hidden behind glass cases. This gives the museum a more homey, natural feel. Of course, you don’t want to touch the items on display, but I loved how inviting the museum was to visitors.

The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is heritage center located in Benham, Kentucky. Its focus is the history of the coal industry in Eastern Kentucky, featuring specific exhibits on the company towns of Benham and neighboring Lynch. It is housed in a former company store that was built by International Harvester in 1923.

In the basement of the museum, you can experience what a coal miner would feel. As you crawl through the tunnels of this ‘coal mine’, the lights will come on so you can see the next area. There are even plastic coal miners hats that you can wear to give you a more authentic experience. This is a little daunting at first, but quickly became one of the favorite places in the museum.

The museum is also home to an extensive collection of Country Music Loretta Lynn’s personal items. Lynn is most famous for her “Coal Miner’s Daughter” song.

Tour through the Mine – Portal 31

One of the more recent additions to the Coal Mining Museum is the opportunity to ride a mine car down into Portal 31 and experience firsthand what it was like to be a miner. You travel through the mine tunnels and see exhibits from the different time periods of Kentucky mining.

Tip: Call ahead to book your tour into Portal 31. These tours do fill up quickly. When we arrived, they were able to work 3 of our family members into a tour.

The tour is very dark. The only lights in the tunnels are the headlight on the mining car and the exhibits when you stop at each one. The mining car is also loud as it travels through the tunnels. This is an authentic mine portal that has been redesigned as a tourist opportunity to share the mining experience with the world.

I am so glad we were able to tour the museum and visit Portal 31.  Have you ever visited the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum? Did you even know this existed?

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Here's why you must visit the Gulag Museum in Moscow

Children who were once labeled "enemies of the people" are now advanced in their years, but they can still recall the most terrible moments of their lives, when people in uniforms came for their parents late at night - the last time they ever saw them. Today, a young woman watches these video interviews in a room at the Gulag Museum. She starts to cry. A group of high school students hang on the guide's every word, dismay written on their faces. It seems they find it difficult to imagine that in the 1930s kids their own age found themselves behind barbed wire. Meanwhile, a group of foreigners sit in the museum cafe, trying to digest what they have just seen and unable to say a word.

In a prisoner's shoes

The Gulag History Museum  used to be based in a tiny building, but it recently moved to new premises and, with its huge archive, it now has a home of its own. The designers tried to make it look like a prison camp: intimidating steel gates, brickwork, dim light and lots of sullen and drab black color. From the very first minute, a visitor is immersed in the atmosphere of the darkest side of Soviet power - the terrible years of the Great Terror and repressions.

In the first room, you're greeted by numerous doors – a door from a camp barracks, a door from a cell in a remand prison in Magadan, a door from one of the Seven Sisters buildings in Moscow, from where people were taken away forever – it is a metaphor of moving to another, terrible world .

In the execution chamber, the floor is strewn with empty casings, while portraits of the murdered are projected onto a brick wall, one replacing another to the sound of cocking the gun. Archival footage shows prisoners working at a logging camp. There are personal items, including those found in mass graves. Once you're surrounded by all this, it is difficult to recover.

A system of reprisals from 1917 to Stalin's death

The purpose of the museum is to trace not only the history of the camps themselves, but of the entire system of political repressions. In order to show how executions without trial and investigation became part of the legal practice of the USSR, the museum displays documents, NKVD resolutions and quotes from leaders of the Revolution .

The Soviet authorities believed that in order to build a new world, it was necessary to exterminate people who, in one way or another, allegedly sabotaged it. The list of these categories of people was forever expanding. “Repression for the attainment of economic ends is a necessary weapon of the socialist dictatorship,” said one of the main ideologists of the revolution, Leon Trotsky .

The first political prisoners in the USSR were put into existing prisons and monasteries, from where monks were being expelled. A separate section of the exhibition is devoted to the Solovki Special-Purpose Camp, the first of its kind. Later, in the 1930s, during the years of the Great Terror, camps were built across the country and convict labor became one of the pillars of the Soviet economy.

For the first time, Gulag is presented through multimedia

The museum also offers audio versions of memoirs of people who went through the camps: the author of The Kolyma Tales , Varlam Shalamov; Alexander Solzhenitsyn (who has a separate room dedicated to his life); Leo Tolstoy’s daughter Alexandra; and many others .

An interactive map of the Gulag shows the chronology, location, number of prisoners and types of camps (corrective labor, special, screening and filtration) throughout the country. It is available online, so you can see it without visiting the museum - gulagmap.ru .

With the help of a VR helmet, you can take a virtual tour with museum director Roman Romanov around what remains of the Butugychag camp in the Russian Far East, where inmates worked in uranium mines without wearing any radiation protection. The museum plans to develop more virtual tours like this .

All information in the museum is translated into English; same as all the audio materials, and the videos have English subtitles. The museum has a documents center, where one can get information about victims of repressions.

In the last room, a voice on the speaker system reads out the names of people who were wrongfully convicted and killed. A young couple, holding hands and motionless, listen to the seemingly endless list. As part of the finale, there are horrifying figures displayed on the black wall: during the Great Terror, more than 20 million people were sent to prison camps; two million died there, and 700,000 were executed.

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Boris Pasternak's museum house

Pasternak’s “important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition" was honored with a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. For many readers outside Russia, Pasternak is known mainly as the author of the touching historical novel Doctor Zhivago written in 1957. The novel as a whole communicates the haphazard, uncertain and chaotic quality of life caused by the Russian Revolution and the heroic case of quiet humanism demonstrated by a single person.

Pasternak’s translations of Georgian poets favored by Joseph Stalin probably saved his life during the purges of the 1930’s. However, the individualistic Pasternak was not suited to the Soviet artistic climate when art was required to have a clear socialism-inspired agenda and so Russian publishers were unwilling to print Pasternak’s novel. In fact, Doctor Zhivago first appeared in Italy in 1957.

Pasternak won his Nobel Prize the following year. Despite Pasternak politely declining his Nobel Prize quoting: “because of the significance given to this award in the society to which I belong”, the award nevertheless spread his fame well beyond Russia. He ended his life in virtual exile in an artist's community in Peredelkino village. His last poems are devoted to love, to freedom and to reconciliation with God.

Pasternak was rehabilitated posthumously in 1987. In 1988, after being banned for three decades, "Doctor Zhivago" was published in the USSR. In 1989 Pasternak's son accepted his father's Nobel medal in Stockholm.

Pastenak loved his house in Peredelkino, the house and surrounding nature featuring in his poetry. The poet considered the cycle of poems "Peredelkino", which he completed in the spring of 1941, to be his best work. The poet spent the first difficult months of the war in Peredelkino; he completed the novel "Doctor Zhivago" here, wrote the Lara poems and translated Shakespeare and Goethe. It was in this house that he learned he was to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 23rd 1958. He died here on May 30 1960.

The house in Peredelkino only acquired the status of a museum in 1990, thirty years after the poet's death and a century after his birth. The museum has fully preserved the environment and atmosphere of the house where Boris Pasternak lived and worked. The director of the museum is Elena Pasternak, grandaughter of Boris Pasternak.

Pasternak’s grave can be found in Peredelkino cemetery which is situated 20 minutes walk from the poet’s house.

Tour duration: 6-7 hours

Tour cost: English -  150 USD, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese - 180 USD

Additional expenses: car - 150 USD, or train - 10 USD

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