Things to Do in Clarksville

The organizers of Muddy Fanatic test racers' athleticism by plotting a 5K course through the Sellersburg woods. Participants charge through obstacles that range from slippery ascents out of creek beds to fire-lined paths. After competing to reach the finish line, participants must lend each other a hand to surmount Mud Mountain, a steep wall of earth rising above a pool of knee-deep water.

To celebrate the day's displays of fortitude, organizers pour every drinking-age participant a free beer, as well as provide additional drinks and food for purchase. Muddy Fanatic's team also encourages racers to self-nominate themselves for awards that include muddiest, best body, and best and worst costume. Audience members determine the winners by applauding and throwing roses at their favorites.

At Paint Spot, a gallery of more than 500 pieces of ceramic pottery and figurines await the tickle and color of visitors' paintbrushes. Owner Marsha Ensor-Johnson and her creative staff advise artists as they splash vibrantly colored pigments across clay canvases such as salad plates, coffee mugs, piggy banks, and figurines. Painters can lower their brushes and consider their next stroke while nibbling on snacks and sipping beverages brought from home, whether they're working alone or taking part in lively painting parties, adult classes, or children's camps. The trusted staff members carefully glaze and fire every hand-painted creations, which are ready for pickup seven days later. All of Paint Spot's paints are nontoxic and water soluble, rendering finished works safe to use as snack dishes for pet rocks.

In addition to the Lights Under Louisville tour, the expert tour guides at Louisville Mega Cavern can propel guests through a 4-million-square-foot subterranean expanse, slinking in and out of more than 100 acres of manmade passageways. Originally a limestone mine, the Mega Cavern was mined for 42 years, beginning in the 1930s, and is now the largest building in the state of Kentucky. The cavernous facility utilizes its 90-foot-high thoroughfares to unite guests with an exhilaration previously known only to highly caffeinated miners—ziplining. During two-hour zipline tours, amateur spelunkers will stream across the subterrain’s five underground ziplines and dual racing lines under the sage supervision of the cavern's ACCT-certified experts. Along the way, guides will entertain guests with tales of the cavern’s rich history and uncanny impressions of stalagmites. Guides also give tram tours as well as seasonal Lights Under Louisville tours, a holiday light show underground.

After traveling the globe performing and racking up awards, world-champion dancer Brian Barakauskas returned to his native Louisville to pay homage to the city where he first learned to dance. At his studio, Dance Louisville, Barakauskas and his staff of professional instructors tap into their extensive dance backgrounds to help students reach their own dance goals, whether they want to compete professionally or simply learn a new salsa routine for an upcoming boardroom presentation. Pupils flit across a 2,400-square-foot floating dance floor during both private and group lessons as well as wedding-dance rehearsals.

Since 1815, Louisville Stoneware's artisans have been transforming natural stoneware clay, harvested from deposits in Kentucky and Indiana, into elaborate table fixtures through an awe-inspiring series of crafting techniques. Twenty pairs of skilled specialist hands conspire to mix, form, and paint each functional art piece before professional fire tamers arrange finished items in the factory kiln, which reaches 2,350 degrees, to melt glazes into a glassy, durable surface. Hundreds of stoneware possibilities emerge from this artistic inferno, filling the firm's shelves with bake ware and home decor. Personalized mugs commemorate special occasions, and birdhouses work to fill yards with the melodies of avian pop stars.

Alternatively, visitors can decorate their own stoneware using vibrant paints and included supplies. After customers finish their work, staff members glaze, fire, and verbally quiz creations to ready them for lifetimes atop fireplace mantels.

Nearly three decade ago, New Orleans transplant Sharon Potter became so enamored with her new hometown of Kentucky that she raised 1.2 million dollars to assemble and present her own 4,000-image slideshow, KentuckyShow!, which celebrated the state’s unique beauty, culture, and history. In 2003 Potter was approached by the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau about the possibility of updating the visual spectacle and rose to the challenge with the help of seasoned producer Donna Lawrence and graphic designer Julius Friedman. The updated 32-minute documentary now amazes audiences with new high-definition images of the Bluegrass State, as well as narration by Hollywood starlet Ashley Judd and director’s commentary by Kentucky’s state bird, the northern cardinal.

Today, local and out-of-state visitors—enjoying jaw-dropping views of Kentucky’s gorgeous landscape and meeting some of the commonwealth’s most memorable characters from past and present—come to the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts to feast their eyes on KentuckyShow!. Renée S. Gordon of the Philadelphia Sun referred to the majestic video tour as “an outstanding overview of the state’s multicultural history.”