KY State Parks

08/25/14

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One of the goals we set for ourselves is to try and Camp at as many of the Kentucky State Parks as we can. So far, we've managed to hit a few of them and have found them to be very enjoyable.

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Barren River State Park
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Labor Day of 2012 was our first trip to Barren River. It was also our first trip out in our new Jayco 27.5BHS. The campground in this park was only just ok compared to some of the other state parks. The sites seemed a little small and close together. A good portion of the sites were not very level and the hookups seemed to be in odd locations. Abbey says that if you eat at the lodge's dining room buffet, to eat the crepes. They are really good. While we were there, we took a ride down the road to Baileys Point which is a Corps of Engineers campground. This place looked much nicer, was much bigger, and had a lot of sites right on the water. Next time we're in the area, we'll stay here for sure.

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Blue Licks Battle Field
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We went to Blue Licks Battle field in August of 2008. This is a smaller campground in a smaller park. The campground has about 50 sites with water and electric. The park has a pioneer museum and some hiking trails. Not as entertaining as Carter Caves, but it was interesting to see for a weekend. My biggest complaint about this place was the drinking water. It stunk so bad that you couldn't stand to run the faucet, let alone actually drink the stuff. A quick trip to the store for some bottled water and we were in business.

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General Burnside State Park
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We went to General Burnside State park over the 2010 Labor Day weekend. This was our first trip to this park as well as the first time we had been able to convince my In-laws to camp with us. The Campground was one of the nicer State Park Campgrounds that we've been to so far, but unless you had a boat for the lake, there wasn't much else to do. The park pretty much has a Campground, a Golf Course, and the lake.. And that's it. No gift shop or hiking trails or other activities to speak of. That being said, I would definitely stay here again as we had a good time and my In-laws seemed to really enjoy their first camping trip. They've already begun making plans for where they want to go next. This was also the first camping trip that required a hospital trip for poor Abbey. She fell and split her forehead open on a rock.  A few stitches later and she was good as new. Tough kid that she is, she was right back out playing the next morning.

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General Butler State Park
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We went to General Butler State park in June of 2013. This was our first trip to this park as well as the first time we had been camping with my dad since he bought his new 5er. The Campground seemed a little older then some of the other state parks, but it was clean and well kept. The was one loop that has a few pull-thru sites which is where we stayed. That also happens to be the only loop that doesn't have sewer hook ups. I'll also say that even the pull-thru sites were a little tight and they could stand to do some tree trimming around those sites. We rode around the park some, ate dinner in the lodge restaurant and sat around the campfire.

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Carter Caves.
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Carter Caves State Park is in eastern Kentucky and is one of the state parks with a campground that's open year round. The campground here is not as nice as some of the other state parks I've seen, but it gets the job done. Water and electric hookups is all you'll get here as is the case at all the state parks I've been to. The cave tours are interesting though and I'd recommend a weekend here.

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We recently stayed here again and had a chance to see some more things. We went on a tour of Cascade cave and got to see quite a few bats in there that were preparing to hibernate for winter. We did some hiking and got to see some of the natural bridges and rock formations. This park has the only natural rock bridge in the state with a paved road going over the top of it. We drove past the cottages for rent in the park and they looked like they were rather nice. Had dinner at the lodge one night and spent quite a bit of time just lounging around the campsite. A place right down the road had fire wood for 8 dollars a rick, which I thought was a great price. Every single time we ever left our site, we saw plenty of deer around and even a few turkeys.  We plan to try to get back to this park again pretty soon. This campground seems like it's not very crowded after Labor day and this was a good time to go.

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Cumberland Falls.
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We stayed here once many moons ago in our popup and I really don't remember that much about it other than the place was completely full and they had campers in the middle of the roads and on the hillsides.

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We went back to this park for another visit and this is without a doubt, the most run down and dirty campground I have ever seen in a Kentucky state park. The sites are barely big enough for a popup and there is no way I would ever try to get my fifth wheel in there. I'm crossing this one off of my list of places I'll be back to.

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Dale Hollow State Resort Park
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We went down here for Spring Break of 2014 and had a very enjoyable time. This campground is laid out unlike any other state park that we've stayed in before. The sites are all in loops of about 6 or 8 sites each. the place was very clean and a few of the loops even had full hookups. There seemed to be plenty of space between sites, but we realized that as a loop gets full, it still begins to get crowded. None of the sites were deep enough for a trailer and a tow vehicle and everybody ended up parking their trucks in the center of the loop. This park is right on the lake and has a full service Marina as well as a golf course. If you want to leave the park for any supplies or shopping, be prepared for a trip. The closest two towns are a good 20 miles away in either direction and both of them are very small and don't have much. that said, I enjoyed my visit and would stay here again.

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Fort Boonesborough
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July the 7th of 2012 (Abbeys Birthday) was our first trip to Fort Boonesborough. This park is only about 15 minutes from our house, so I'd never had much motivation to want to stay there. The campground seemed nice enough. It was a lot bigger then I had remembered it being on previous drive through's. Some sites were small and tight and some seemed to have plenty of space. This campground does have a few sites with sewer hookups, but most are just water and electric. They have built what is absolutely the nicest camp store I have ever seen in a KY state park here. I would surely recommend this for a place to stay. The actual Fort which is not in the campground and a short drive down the road is an interesting place to visit. They have character actors dressed in period clothing performing some of the tasks that you would have seen at the time. This was the first time that Abbey had invited one of her friends along with her on a camping trip. I think they mostly had a good time with maybe the exception of the oppressive heat that weekend. The air conditioner in the camper could barely maintain 85 degrees.

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Grayson Lake
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We went to Grayson Lake in June of 2011 for the first time. We had a nice time there and enjoyed the campground very much. While the campground was nicer then some of the other state parks we've been to, about half of the sites would have been too small to get our trailer into, so we need to be very careful about choosing which site we want on future trips. We got one of the 2 pull-through sites in the entire place and it was a good choice as it faced the woods. My biggest complaint would be that it required 125' of hose to reach our water hookup and naturally I didn't have 125' of hose with me. A quick Wally mart run fixed that and all was well for the rest of the weekend. There is a boat ramp for access to the lake and a golf course both within the park, but pretty much the only activity for those of us that don't golf or have a boat is gonna be the hiking trails. I was also a little disappointed that this park didn't have a store as we like to collect refrigerator magnets from all the state parks we've visited.

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Greenbo Lake.
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Greenbo Lake is in Greenup County, KY. I really enjoyed our stay here and plan to go back at some point. This camp ground has the biggest sites of any of the state parks that I've been to. We were able to back our trailer into the site and then turn it sideways in the site so that we were facing the creek that runs behind the row of sites. Even turned sideways, our neighbors on either side of us were still 100-150 feet away. Long extension cords and water hoses are a must have for sure at this place. You can also leave your cell phone at home as it won't work here. I was really amazed at the amount of deer that we saw in this park. We rented a motorboat and rode around the lake. got to see plenty of deer down at the waters edge. We went and checked out the lodge and it looked to be pretty nice, but there are no cottages for rent at this park. They do have a very nice, large amphitheater and I suspect that there will be some good bluegrass shows there. The campground is closing down this winter for a 5 month remodel of the entire place. It'll be interesting to see what they do with it.

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John James Audubon State Park
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We went to John James Audubon State Park in June of 2014 so that Abbey could attend a Comic Convention in Owensboro. I found the campground to be quite old, but well kept. The campground borders a 4 lane highway and there was some traffic noise but not enough to really bother me. I'm not sure that I would rush back to this place as I just didn't get that "In the Woods" feeling that I get in most of the eastern parks. Probably just knowing that the whole city of Henderson was only 30 feet away is what did it. The Museum and visitors center within the park were both very nice places and I enjoyed them.

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Kentucky Horse Park
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We went to Kentucky Horse Park in May of 2013. This was our first trip to this park, even though it's really close to home. We've been to the park many times and had just never been to camp before. The sites are a little on the small side compared to some of the other state parks, but it was clean and well kept. All sites here are water and electric only. There's like 300 plus sites here, and the place seems to stay busy. This park is owned by the state, but administered separately from the other state parks.

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Kincaid Lake.
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Kincaid Lake is in northern Kentucky and we've only been able to visit here once so far. I did not find it to be as nice as either Carter Caves or Natural Bridge, But it's close to where my parents live, so they were able to come visit us there.

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Levi Jackson
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Levi Jackson State Park is in southern Kentucky just outside of London. This was our first trip there and I rather enjoyed it. This is the biggest Campground I have seen in a KY state park so far. They have primitive sites, water & electric sites, and Full Hookup sites. Some of the areas farther back in the campground have a lot of shade and a fair amount of space to them. The sites closer to the front are the full hookups and they seem to be tighter with not as much shade. There is a small camp store, basketball and volleyball courts, and mini golf. Outside of the campground, the park has an old grist mill with a collection of mill stones and a pioneer village with log cabins and such that is setup as a museum. The cabins are filled with pioneer era furniture and tools. It was a pretty interesting way to kill a few hours exploring. Date stayed: May 2012

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Natural Bridge.
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Natural Bridge is a little bigger and a little busier than Carter Caves is. Still no Full hookups though, just water and electric. The campground is nice enough for a weekend and the hiking offers some beautiful scenery. I've been visiting this park for many years now both with and without our camper.

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Paintsville Lake.
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We went to Paintsville Lake State park for the first time during Spring Break of 2013. This is a small campground, only about 30 sites and we were in site #8. This is a full hookup camp with water, electric, and sewer at every site. Something we are not used to seeing at KY state parks. There is a Marina there for the boaters and not much else in the campground. We did find the place to be very clean, well kept, and enjoyable. A few of the things we did were to ride up to Butcher Holler, The childhood home of Loretta Lynn to see the cabin she grew up in and we went to visit The Mountain Homeplace which is a recreation of a working 1800's farm.

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Taylorsville Lake
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July of 2013, so it was hot! The campground was nice with some of the biggest sites I've seen in a KY state park to date. Lots of spacing between neighbors too. Biggest problem I found in the heat was no shade anywhere. Our AC unit struggled to cool the camper during the afternoon but was fine once the sun started dropping. Not a whole lot to do for activities here unless you have a boat or a horse. That said, we enjoyed a quiet weekend here and would go back, especially in cooler weather.

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This site was last updated 06/29/14