Perry County pool set to open for Memorial Day weekend, weather permitting

Perry County’s pool was scheduled to open Saturday at 11 a.m. for Memorial Day weekend, giving Hazard families an early start to summer if rain held off. The county said forecast rain could affect operations, so opening-day plans could shift if weather conditions changed.

The pool is part of Perry County Park, which the county describes as one of the largest parks in Perry County. The park includes an outdoor pool, a boat ramp to the Kentucky River, five picnic shelters, baseball and softball fields, a stage area for concerts, putt-putt golf, tennis courts, a skateboard park, basketball courts, a walking track and a playground area. More than 6 miles of hiking trails also wind through the property, ranging from easy to very strenuous.

For families planning a holiday weekend close to home, the pool opening marked more than a single amenity coming back online. Perry County Park functions as one of the county’s main public gathering places, and the opening of the pool signaled the broader shift into warm-weather routines that fill the park’s fields, shelters and trails through the summer.

County tourism materials place Perry County Park at 354 Perry Park Road in Hazard, and the main park number is 606-439-1816. The county says the pool, shelters, Senior Citizens Cabin and stage may be reserved for special events by calling that number, adding another layer of use beyond daily recreation.

The timing also lined up with the county’s other summer fixtures. Hazard-Perry County has been designated the 20th Kentucky Trail Town by the state Office of Adventure Tourism, underscoring the county’s emphasis on outdoor recreation. The Perry County Farmers Market season runs May 28 through Oct. 16, and the annual Perry County Fair is held the third weekend in June at Perry County Park.

If the weather cooperated, Saturday’s opening would have drawn the first wave of early-season traffic to the pool and to the rest of the park complex. For Perry County, it was the unofficial start of the season when public life shifts back outdoors, and one of the county’s most familiar summer spaces begins filling again.