Roller Coaster Yard Sale


The Roller Coaster Yard Sale, sometimes referred to as the Roller Coaster Fair, is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for three days beginning the first Thursday in October. It takes place along several US and state routes in southern Kentucky and northern middle Tennessee.

Event description and history

The event was started by Sarah Ann Bowers in 1986. The reason that Bowers started the event is that she wanted to improve the beautiful Cordell Hull Highway and needed to prove that the road was very well traveled in the area. In 2001, over 140,000 travelers visited the area from miles around just to take in yard sales along the specific routes.
In 2002, the yard sale routes extended into Clay, Overton, and Pickett counties in Middle Tennessee. Soon after that US 127 in Clinton County, Kentucky and Kentucky Route 90 from Clinton County through Burkesville to Glasgow and Cave City, Kentucky were added to the Roller Coaster Fair itinerary to make the event go completely around the Dale Hollow Lake area.
The current yard sale route for this event, in terms of mileage, in the present day, totals about 159 miles, covering five counties in Kentucky and three counties in Tennessee.

Roller Coaster Fair's designated routes

The Roller Coaster Fair takes place at several booths located along these routes listed below.

South-Central Kentucky (Leg 1)