Hoptown Chronicle has pulled together some tips for celebrating New Year’s Eve in Hopkinsville. You’ll find ideas here ranging from a walk in the woods to rib-sticking take-home meals or a high-end dinner. And if you aren’t sure you’ll be awake at midnight to ring in 2026, check out the New Beer’s Eve party at Hopkinsville Brewing Co.
Pick a path
Anyone looking for a quiet and leisurely daytime activity on New Year’s Eve has two good options for a walk in town.
The Jeffers Bend Environmental Center and Botanical Gardens has 41 acres of woodland, a small lake and 3 miles of walking trails along Little River.
Look for the little Wildlife Observatory near the Jeffers Bend lake, where you can sit for a while and watch birds feeding.
Jeffers Bend, at 1170 Metcalfe Lane, is open dawn to dusk.
Another option for walkers, runners and bicyclists is the Hopkinsville Greenway, which begins at the Riverwalk near the public library and runs along the rail-trail to Pardue Lane and then to Foston Chapel Road.
The rail-trail is currently just shy of 5 miles long, and plans are pending to extend the rail-trail to the area of Tie Breaker Park.
Get your comfort food
WB Express, downtown Hopkinsville’s carry-out eatery that specializes in hearty comfort food, will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (But patrons know it’s best to arrive by 5 p.m. in case demand has been great.)
Wednesday’s specials are a meatloaf plate or pork chops smothered in gravy. Each comes with a choice of two sides (cabbage, white beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, potato salad and cole slaw).
Popular menu items available daily include the club sandwich, a turkey wrap, bologna and cheese, chef salad and loaded baked potato. They also have desserts.
The restaurant is at 411 S. Main St. across from Hopkinsville Brewing Co.
Popcorn in the dark
The Showbox, behind the former mall on Fort Campbell Boulevard at the Pennyrile Parkway, is currently showing six movies — “Anaconda,” “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants,” “The Housemaid,” “David,” “Avatar Fire and Ash” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.”
Showtimes on New Year’s Eve range from 10 a.m. until 6:45 p.m.
Lace up
If you are ready to finish 2025 on a healthy note, you can join runners — and walkers — of all levels and paces when they hit the streets with the Hopkinsville Brewing Co.’s Running Club at 5:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve.
No experience is required. Strollers and leashed pets are welcome, too.
Burger down
Camo Caravan is reopening at 6 p.m. New Year’s Eve in its newly decorated downtown spot at 11th and Main streets.
Known for their creative burgers, the restaurant’s crew is also introducing “signature cocktails” on Wednesday.
One of Camo Caravan’s downtown neighbors, The Book & Bottle Shop, will be on hand to run a champagne bar and charcuterie station. A live DJ will start playing at 9 p.m.
Four course
The Mixer restaurant is serving a four-course dinner, including Filet Medallion with Crab Oscar, with seatings available at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.
The price is $78 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are required. Check availability here.
Jump start the New Year
Hoptown Brewing Co. — home of the “earliest, smallest and only mirrored ball drop” in town — will ring in the New Year at its version of midnight, which is actually 8 p.m. local time Wednesday.
This tradition of ringing in the New Year a little early gives patrons “plenty of time to either head off to bed or get to your next party,” the brewery says in a Facebook post.
HBC’s 10th annual New Beer’s Eve party starts at 2 p.m. with the release of this year’s Winter Warmer. It’s followed by a special edition of karaoke at 5 p.m.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
