Barren River Lake State Resort Park

The staff were very friendly and helpful. We were happy to find a site at the last minute. Beaver Creek, recreation area, the Narrows and Tailwater were closed until May 6 so we were out of options for the area. Only 40 sites occupied out of 99 at Barren River State Resort. (Now we know why) We paid for two nights and left after one impossible night of road noise. Semi trucks were driving over the rumble strips and other continuous road noise continued throughout the night. If you’re inside an RV this probably won’t bother you, but if you are a tent camper, find another place to stay. Seriously!

I made 3 campsite reservations online for our group. Very simple and fast check in with our group. The grounds are very clean along with the bathhouses. Just was noisy all night from the trucks engine breaking on the road that runs along the campground.

Full Time travelers. 

Our stay here was October 20-27/2021 in site 22A. 

We didn't know this before arriving, but the weekend we were there, it was one of their biggest weekends of the year with Halloween festivities.  We joined in with the pumpkin carving and costume contests. They also had a contest for decorations on campers.  All winners received an award sheet in a plastic frame.  

This campground is fairly decent, with great views of the river/lake at some sites.  Only one section has full hookups, sites 1-9.  

Our site was mostly level, however, a lot of the sites (excluding full hookup sites) were very unlevel.  The pull through sites are hills.  So, be prepared for that. 

The grounds were okay.  Lots of trash from the weekend before us was still lying around.  The bathhouse closest to our site was decent.  One big issue I found with the restrooms was on the day most people left that weekend (on Sunday).  I went in to the restroom and the smell made me gag.  I had to leave and come back later to even use the facility.  The reason for the smell...the dump station is directly behind the bathhouse.  With everyone dumping at the same time, the odors flooded the restrooms.  It was horrid.  

The firepits in our area were awkwardly situated, the one for our site was up on the hill under a tree and on the site beside us, the firepit was right next to our site under a tree.  A fire hazard being under trees and awkward for guests beside us to have to be all but on our site to use theirs. 

The staff were friendly and kind.  Timothy is one of the staff that works around the grounds, he's a very hard worker and always polite anytime we interacted with him.  He was even very helpful to the other staff.  I want to recognize him for his hard work and dedication to his job.  

Overall this was an okay stay, but I would steer away from this campground if you aren't particularly skilled at leveling your rig and you can't get one of the more level sites.  The most level sites are 1-23.

The view from our site was gorgeous...! It truly didn't matter what time of day it was, the view was always beautiful!
Being able to park your boat within walking distance of your camper, load up and go when you please, we loved that!
The park was clean and the neighborhood of the campground was very friendly!
The little "general store" was the perfect compliment to our stay! It offers ice, firewood, games and toys for the kids for purchase! All the basics u might need and save u a lot of time!
We LOVE coming back year after year and maybe y'all will too!

Bathrooms were clean and convenient. Sites were a bit dirty from previous campers, and there wasn’t much room to park a car- the host told us to just park in another camp site because you could t park at your site without blocking the road.

We loving camping at Barren River! Plenty of playgrounds and trails for our kid. Clean bathhouses if you need them. It can get pretty crowded in the summer months so book early and try to get a spot near the boat ramp if you plan to bring your boat. Beautiful lake and great bluegill and cat fishing. If you can, go get a hot dog for lunch and breakfast at Paradise Point down the road! It’s definitely an experience. And whether you’re from out of state or not, order a Hot Brown from the state park restaurant if you go! They have a great golf course as well. Definitely recommend this campground if you’re getting away with the family.

Sites are huge. Not level in the least. Need to have long sewer hose because sewer is at back of site - not a problem with rear hookups. Water spigot is dual site - meaning it could be on awning side if you get the wrong site. This site 002 the water is on the backside of camper so no long water hose. Site is long enough to park 31 ft camper, truck directly inline with plenty of room to spare. Along with Harley and bicycles parked inline as well directly behind camper. HUGE.

Our site was so small I could barely fit my pop-up and compact pickup on it. Arrived after dark and fell down a 2-3 foot drop-off at the edge of asphalt. Picnic table was in the grass at about a 30 degree tilt. Fire pit was 30 feet away in the bottom of a wash.

Nice campground. Looked like some sites are smaller, but we were in site 99 it was a level pull through site. Only drawback was the road noise from a nearby busy road.

You can tell this park had a hayday, but it has passed and the maintenance has not been done. Our site was very narrow and had a huge drop off, we were told the neighbors beside us about flipped theirs trying to back in. The site was not level and the water was on the opposite side of our camper (more annoying than anything), and they didn’t take time to prepare it before our arrival (so many leaves and pine needles you can’t tell where the deck began and the gravel began and the parking pad began). The laundry was also out of order. We didn’t have enough room to park at our campsite, (the drop off was too much for the truck) but the people across from us were kind offered us to park in their site. If you stay here, I recommend only doing pull through sites. They were spaced out enough and did include water and electric hookup.

Barren River State Resort Park

Barren River State Resort Park is small but it offers a lot of options.

The campground is off by itself, quiet , with separate areas and pull through options. I like the back in sites with shade and a small patio to set up on. The campground is older but well maintained, the showerhouses are also not new, but they are kept up. If you are a biker you have some hills to climb in the park. There is a walk/bike trail around the golfing greens, with a dirt trail off the backside. The stable is closed currently due to no contract with a wrangler. With the beach, golf course and other attractions you can easily stay in the park and keep busy. Two cool events to check out are the Highland Games, ( men in skirts throwing things)and the Bourbonfest a newer event.

Not very many shaded spots

Have visited this campground twice and love it! It is one of the cleanest we've been to. the restrooms are spotless and dont smell at all but they do tend to get stuffy when it's hot out because no ac or fan in them. One thing I love is that they have plenty of drive through spaces which makes it so much easier to park. The spaces are close together though. They have a beautiful beach which is why we came back here but unfortunately it was closed due to all the rain and high waters. If they have wifi here I was not aware of it. Cell service is horrible, which can be ok because it made me unplug for a couple days. We will be back love this campground

Ranked one of better places!

Great place to camp. Clean friendky reasonably quiet. Great shore fishing. Not a lot else to do around.

My family of 6 (me, my wife, and four boys 9yrs and under) camped here for a week. We had a great time. We were a little further from Mammoth cave than we wanted to be, but the campground was fun. It is pretty spread out, so biking with the family was a little challenging. And their bike loop was really pretty, but SUPER bumpy and hilly. Pretty hard for the younger ones. The lake was awesome. We swam at the beach, and in eary september, we had the place to ourselves. Campsites were a but small / crammed (we have a pop-up camper). But overall, we really enjoyed it.

right next to barren river state park lodge and marina. convenient to several stores and the towns of glasgow , scottsville, and bowling green, ky with excellent fishing and boating and viewing of wildlife.

Kilts to be correct. Excellent times at the Highland Games, an annual event. Nice area, well maintained and nice staff. Pick your site, get comfortable and enjoy the area. Plenty to do.