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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
| 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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