Bessie Bend Clutch

Named for the smallest place in Kentucky, the Kentucky Bend, New Madrid Bend or Bessie Bend is a roughly 11 square mile portion of Fulton County separated in a peninsula by the Missouri River.

In 1812, the river was highly disrupted and was even reported to flow backwards because of the New Madrid series of earthquakes, some of the largest ever felt in the United States.

Travelers going here have to pass into Tennessee by road, as there is no bridge from Missouri, and then go north to reach the Kentucky Bend exclave. It is expected that over time, the river will cut across the short neck of the peninsula, cutting it off entirely from Kentucky, with land gradually filling in behind it to connect it to Missouri.

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Kentucky Great River Road National Scenic Byway
The National Route of the Great River Road provides a continuous roadway parallel to the Mississippi river from the river’s headwaters in Minnesota’s Lake Itasca to the delta in the Gulf of Mexico.

Western Waterlands
Bordered by the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, with the two largest lakes in the state, the Western Waterlands offers an inviting mix of water sports, family fun, arts, culture, historic sites and entertainment.