Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
The Log Cabin replica atop the hillside prior to the Memorial Building construction. At first, the log cabin was through the original, but has since been seen as an example of the type of log cabin they would have lived in at the birthplace home. Courtesy National Park Service.
Associate Pages
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Visitor Statistics
212,899 visitors
Lincoln Birthplace
#182 Most Visited National Park
Source: NPS, Rank among 399 National Park Units 2025.
Park Size
344 acres (Federal and Total)
Park Fee
Free
Fees subject to change without notice.
Weather
Summer - This area of Kentucky maintains a moderate climate with warm summers. Most of the rainfall here falls in the spring, although storms are not unusual during summer months as well.
Image above: Sculpture of the Lincoln family, including baby Abraham, inside the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Visitor Center, 2026, America's Best History. Right: The Memorial Building, 2026, America's Best History.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
This is the most photographed site at the Birthplace, a Memorial Building constructed in 1909 to house the cabin that used to be open faced on the hillside. The Sinking Spring farm, bought in December 1808, for $200. The acres were three hundred and Nolan Creek ran through it. Despite this, the farm was not a productive one, with one exception, the birth of Abraham Lincoln on February 12, 1809. He would live there for his first two years. The National Historic Landmark now includes the Knob Creek Farm, located ten miles away on the other side of Hodgenville. Lincoln would live there from 1811 until 1816. He got his first taste of school there and his family attended an anti-slavery church.
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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Then
The log cabin was thought to be typical, much like the cabin which now stands inside the Memorial Building. It was small, but sufficient, ... eighteen feet wide, sixteen feet deep, with a dirt floor. There would have been one window and one door. The beds were made of corn husks and bear skins.
Photo above: Lincoln Tavern on the Knobs Creek Boyhood Home site, now the Visitor Center. Courtesy National Park Service. Below: The Sinking Spring today at the Lincoln Birthplace section where Lincoln's family would get their daily water, 2026. Courtesy America's Best History.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Now
Yes, the spring is still there, plus two sections of Lincoln's childhood at Sinking Spring Farm (birthplace) and Knobs Creek Farm (boyhood). While the Sinking Spring farm commemorates the birth of the future President and contains the replica log cabin and Memorial building, the Knobs Creek farm, with Lincoln as a toddler to young boy, was where his first memories began.
There are Visitor Centers at both locations, as well as replica log cabins, waysides, and more. Between the two sections of the park is the center square of the closest town, Hodgenville, which includes other historic sites, including a Lincoln statue and museum.
Minute Walk in History
Witness the Sinking Spring Farm where Abraham Lincoln was born in that famous log cabin. See a period log cabin now housed in the Monument, plus a second site, Knobs Creek Farm, where he was raised as a boy. The Knobs Creek Farm would be his first recollection and the introduction, at church, to his anti-slavery stance. Yes, that is baby Lincoln in his mother's arm in the statue inside the Visitor Center.
T-Shirts and Souvenirs
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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
Things You Should Not Miss
1. Once in the main Visitor Center of the Lincoln Birthpace section, watch the film that tells the story of Lincoln and his life in this area from birth. It is a must. We know alot more about President Lincoln than Young Lincoln
2. Hike up to the Memorial. First off, it is an impressive sight, and climb, from the bottom, evoking some of the monuments on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C. Inside is a replica of what the Lincoln cabin where Abraham was born would have looked like. You can also hike to the Memorial over a lesser grade, but longer walk on the Pathway of a President Boardwalk.
3. Take some time at the Lincoln Boyhood site to read the exhibits. While the Birthplace Visitor Center has a small exhibit display inside the Visitor Center, the Boyhood site is more complete.
Photo above: Interior of a cabin at Knobs Creek, 2026, America's Best History.
Visitor FAQ
What's There Now
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Visitor Center
Start your visit here at Sinking Spring Farm. There is park ranger orientation, a book store, bathrooms, the park film, and a small exhibit gallery. To the left of the Visitor Center, and you can't miss it, is the Memorial Building and the huge flight of steps you have to climb to get there. Read the waysides along the paths that illucidate Lincoln's story at a young age. Take a ranger walkto explain how the Lincoln family arrived, and the birth of Abraham, if offered the day you are there. It is open every day of the week, and closed on Major Holidays.
Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home
Located a couple miles from the Visitor Center, the separate Knobs Creek Farm, where Lincoln spent his young years, includes another Visitor Center. Here there are bathrooms, picnic tables, exhibits, log houses, the same film but on a smaller screen, and ranger interpretation, plus guided tours some days. Wander around the outside to see waysides that explain the site, its crops, and more. This farm was more rich in soil and more profitable, even thought the Lincoln family would leave here as well in 1816. The grounds of Knobs Creek are open daily, but the Visitor Center is closed Monday and Tuesday. It is only open from the end of May until Labor Day.
Photo above: Log Cabin today inside the Memorial Buildings at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace site, 2026, America's Best History.
Lodging and Camping
There are only a few traditional hotels close to the site in Hodgenville and Elizabethtown. In Hodgenville, Cabin Fever Lodging, as well as the Lincoln Lodge, which is right next door. In Elizabethtown, a Super 8 and America's Best Value Inn are in the center of town or south toward Abraham Lincoln Birthplace. North of Elizabethtown off Interstate 65, many motels of the traditional brands are available.
Camping nearby is also available at the Lincoln Lodge. These campsite are well maintained, but on the high price side. Further away, you can stay at a number of campsite of I-65 both north and south of the park.
Photo above: Once the Lincoln Tavern and now the Visitor Center for the Lincoln Boyhood home section of the park, 2026, America's Best History. Below: Interior exhibits at the Boyhood home Visitor Center, 2026, America's Best History.
Directions and Location
The main Visitor Center at Sinking Spring Farm is located at 2995 Lincoln Farm Road, Hodgenville, KY 42748. This is two miles south of town off Route 31E South, Kentucky 61. The Knobs Creek Farm, the Boyhood section is located ten miles away at 7120 Bardstown Road, Hodgenville, Kentucky 42748.
Photo above: Wayside at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace, showing the family on Sinking Spring Farm, 2026, America's Best History.
