Wind Cave, Kentucky
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the McKee census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40447. It stands on Wind Cave Branch. The Survey maps it on the Leighton quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1892 USGS Beattyville quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1952 USGS Leighton quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Irvine quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
214 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 214 fires within 5 miles of Wind Cave between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,216 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 149 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 149 |
| Debris and open burning | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Daniel Boone National Forest | LOWER DRY FORK |
| 2 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | CARLTON ROAD #2 |
| 19 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 16 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 45 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | GRASSY FORK |
| 12 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | RADER RIDGE |
| 10 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | RADAR RIDGE |
| 1 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | STEER FORK |
| 1 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Daniel Boone National Forest | HALE RIDGE #2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
4 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wind Cave in 4 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wind Cave | $5,000 | Jackson County dispatch reported at least a dozen instances of trees blown down around the county, including along Wind Cave Road, KY-89, and Ledger Fork Road. Some of the trees also took down power lines. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wind Cave | - | Trees were reported down near 2000 Salt Rock Road near the communities of Fox Town and Wind Cave. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wind Cave | - | Trees were blown down on Wind Cave Rd. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Wind Cave | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakes | 0.7 miles | 13 | |
| Salt Rock (historical) | 2.3 miles | 13 | |
| Turkey Foot | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| New Zion | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Foxtown | 3.5 miles | 13 | |
| Fairview (historical) | 3.7 miles | 13 | |
| Sand Springs | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| South Fork (historical) | 4.1 miles | 13 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 516416. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




