Grayson Lake State Park Campground

This place is very beautiful first and foremost. You can fish, rent boats and kayaks. Also the hiking isn’t to bad! They even have tennis courts and a small water park.

This is a small campground situated next to a golf course. There are several nice sites but others are not ideal. Our site (13) was ok, other than the scattered broken glass and trash. The main issue was lack of oversight from staff. The site next to us was completely packed with their fifth wheel, a large tent, pop up canopy, four vehicles, a kayak trailer, and a boat that was in the corner of our site. They did not leash their dogs and did not pick up after them. We didn’t complain about them encroaching on our site but felt that the campground should enforce their own rules. Another site nearby setup a construction light at night that lit up the entire campground like a stadium and stayed on late into the night. Basically, campers are left to do as they please regardless of whether it is inconsiderate of other campers. The positive is the location is only a few minutes from the boat ramp for the most popular kayaking spot.

Big park with a beautiful golf course, boat ramp and more. Many spots slant down and cannot level. Beautiful lake.

We stayed here in May 2023.  My family had two sites #3 & #5.  We had room to back my RV (37ft with 50 amp hookups) in with just enough room to park a medium SUV in front.  We ended up parking my boat and truck in the grass beside the campsite when we saw other people in the grass.  Campers were coming in and turning crossways of the the sites behind the site blacktop in the grass.  We didn't use the bathhouse. Water was available, but shared with another site. I used a 50 ft. hose with plenty of slack to reach.  Very walkable and bike friendly.  It has 2 playgrounds and plenty of grassy area for kids to play.  Some sites are shaded, while some of the inner circle ones were in the sun.  Only one dump station so we had to wait a while.  Coming into the campground, there is no signs that say campground.  It just looks like the turn in for the golf course and you may think you are lost until you get past the golf course entrance.  Some sites look very sloped so be prepared.  Both of my sites were pretty flat.  Will definitely return. No AT&T service at all and no WIFI.

My husband and I stopped here on our camping road trip through Kentucky. We were supposed to spend the night, but after arriving and seeing how small and cramped all the campsites were we decided to forfeit our reservation money and keep going. We are tent campers and there was barely even a spot to put up our tent the area was so small and the area that was there was very sloped. To top it off the campsite was pretty overpriced. $33 after taxes. The big attraction there is to kayak but unfortunately the closest place that rents kayaks isn’t allowed to drop off kayaks for people due to the army corps not giving them a permit. Personally would skip it altogether and go to a better quality site.

Spent 2 nights at the Grayson Lake state park campground. The sites were not private but they were spread out nicely so we had plenty of room set up. The hiking trails around the lake were easy to moderate with great views of the lake. It would have been nice to have easier access to the lake, but overall it is a very good location.

This state park was easy to find and we followed our RV GPS and the multiple signage to the golf course and campground(CG) area. Check in was a breeze at the gate and we headed in to find back-in site 30 with electric(50/30 AMP) and water. We were in a small cul de sac that we had to go through a tight spot with trees to get to, but had no issues getting our 39’ 5th wheel through. Once in the cul de sac, it was wide open and we easily backed into the 48’ asphalt pad(per reservation info on site lengths that seemed accurate). As we have a F450, we had to disconnect to get out of the road but the CG had no issues with you parking on the grass. We noticed that multiple campers didn’t even park on the asphalt site pad and instead moved their rigs onto the grass using the pad like a driveway. There are no FHUs. The electric was placed towards the center of the pad and worked well. The water spigots for 30 and 31 were located together and were on our door side so I needed to run about 35’ of hose going under the rig to connect. Water pressure was pretty good at around 42 psi. We got 4 bars on Verizon and a handful of OTA channels, but no major networks. We had a clear shot to the southern sky, as did the other cul de sac sites, for satellite but did not use our dish. The main CG has more tree cover so satellite service could be iffy depending on your site selection. Not all sites in this park are level with some having steep slopes. As far as bigger rigs, being able to back past the asphalt pad is a plus. The longest site in the park seemed to be pull through 50, which was also spacious but with some slope. Our site was spacious out the back and utilities side with 31 being nearby. During the weekend we got foot traffic directly through our site versus using the cut grass path on the back of our site that leads to the water. Sadly it was a mix of kids and grownups. There was about 1/2 mix of RV and tent campers. The partiers were up near the bathhouse and playground but were respectful of quiet hours. We did enjoy walking our dogs around the CG and trails. On one hike, we went down the cut grass swath behind us to the trail along the water and went right. This steep little winding trail brought us right back up to our area of the CG about 150 yards away. That trail is not one of the park’s formal trails but at the end linked to the Heritage trail where it ends near our loop. So we went up by the gate where the formal trails, Lick Falls and Heritage start as they are better trails. The dump station sits where the road coming into and out of the CG intersect, so when we got in line to dump around 11:00 AM vehicles were trying to get around the dumpers. If you plan to depart or leave or come back into the CG on Sunday, plan accordingly. We really enjoyed our 3 day stay and plan to come back during the week to kayak and again play the golf course.

Negatives: This campground is pretty hilly. Many of the spots don't have a great space for a tent. The flattest spots are in the middle of the circle with an open field behind them (but then you won't have any privacy or tree coverage). Even the RV camping on the inside of the loop across from us had its front tires suspended about a foot in the air to make it level though. Considering the flat spots are very limited, I don't think its a great tent campground and geared more towards RVs. One side of the campground runs against a golf course. If you're tent camping over a weekend, be prepared to have golfers tee-ing off next to you beginning at 7am. On Monday morning, be prepared for them to start mowing at 7am. The opposite side of the campground sits against a tree-line and therefore has much better spots. Many of the picnic tables are in pretty rough shape. The ones that have been replaced were done with the metal style that is dipped in plastic and are much sturdier. Likewise, some of the firepits are in pretty bad shape. I'd recommend having a grill grate with you just in case if you cook over the fire like we do. The firewood that is sold at the campground is kept in a shed but it was very wet, there also aren't any options around for buying wood outside the park. The office is supposed to be open until 6pm but one night it was closed earlier and the camp host wasn't on premises all weekend so we were stuck resorting to finding and burning downfall to get dinner cooked. 

The positives: Its a good location and there are plenty of kayaking spots on Grayson Lake. Going to "The Grotto" aka Clifty Falls is a must (4.5 mile round trip). The same boat ramp has a decent place to get in and swim. Lick Falls Loop hike can be done from the campground and was nice (4.5 miles). We also kayaked the Southern portion of Grayson Lake in Laurel Gorge and that was much quieter than the Clifty Falls area. The campground bathrooms were clean. Most of the campsites were a decent size.

Nice park not too far from the marina and boat ramp for Clifty Creek Grotto. Campground rules not enforced at all, so folks put their campers wherever, not necessarily on the pads. No worries about having a wheel in the grass! Bring all the leveling blocks you own because very few sites are level and most are very sloped. Also bring a very long hose/ hose extensions as the sites are well-spaced with water between them, requiring everyone to have long hoses. Though there aren’t many, there are nice hiking trails.

This campsite was a perfect fit for me, I was passing through on a weeknight and had no problem getting a site without reservation in August. Clean, quiet, and spacious sites, some had great tree cover.

Great place to get into nature, and take a break from the usual stuff. Nice spaces for camping. I Would come back, and love to see more of the area.

Another great week of camping.

This is one of the cleanest campgrounds I’ve ever been to! The bathrooms were immaculate and the grass green and trimmed! Our camping spot didn’t have shade which was challenging since we tent camp, but we learned which spot to try and get next time. We only stayed one night and spent the day at Carter Caves so we didn’t explore how to get to the lake but we could hear boats so it had to be close. There was also a playground and basketball court which I thought was great. The town of Grayson is pretty limited in dining out options so it’s best to plan on making most of your meals at the park.

We camp here every year.

This stunning Eastern Kentucky State Park offers spectacular views of rock formations, tree lined roads, and a stunning lake. Whatever your pleasure may be, fishing, boating or golf, you will have amazing opportunities at this over 1,500-acre Park. Hike the couple of trees and admire the hemlocks, rhododendrons,ferns, and mosses. Stay at one of the 71 sites and enjoy gazing at the stars. There’s a dump station, restrooms, and laundry available. Located in Carter and Elliott counties you will simply fall in love with the hills and terrain.

The Place to Kayak!! there’s no more need be said. oh I guess I forgot, The place to Hike!

The camping is very peaceful and there is a nice lake to explore by Kayak. Not too far from the WV border. There is plenty of hiking to do. The campsite themselves have plenty of room to spread out your tent and belongings.

Nice campground with no cell service what-so-ever. We could truly unplug for this camping trip but still have all of the luxuries of non-primitive camping. Nice showers, electric hookups, and flush toilets! Not a whole lot of shaded sites for the heat of summer.