Holly Bay

The sites are nice and wooded.  There is plenty of space between sites to give each camp a little privacy.  We were a drive up, no reservation camper.  They only took cash or check on-site.  Camp host was very nice and helpful.

Beautiful Lake. The water is very clean and clear. Trail led right down to water. Staff was very sweet. Lots of poison ivy around campsite.

Amazing quiet campground on a lake, not many find it.

Nice secluded sites. A little hard to get to but peaceful once you settle in. Campsites are spacious.

This is a fantastic campground. Literally the only thing it lacks is sewer hookups but the dump station is convenient. This will be a regular for us. Stayed in A12 and it is level, secluded, completely shaded and very large.

Nice camper spots. Tent spots are in hilly areas so be ready to hike up to the bath houses. Bath houses are old but clean. Overall good place to camp.

I love this campground! The sites are spaced out, large and completely shaded. There are several bathhouses and some include large sinks to wash supplies. There is a boat ramp and parking space for trailers. We will definitely be back here!

Awesome campsite. Large, private and very wooded lots. We got a double lot. G4 are the photos here. Electric and water on site. Clean bathrooms with showers in walking distance. Helpful staff. Stunning views. Great hiking paths. Bring you boats, bikes, kayaks, fishing poles and bathing suits. The water is fantastic! Not a lot around close by to do if your are a tourist. If your here just for the site its Perfect... waterfalls and other tourist sites are 40mins to 2hours away. Also, we did not have one issues with any kind of annoying wildlife. No begging raccoons or skunks (our last site) lol. We'll Be Back!

Really nice campground. The sites are very spacious. We stayed 2 days but definitely would go back for longer! Only a half hour to Cumberland Falls which is also a must see!

We lucked out and stayed in site D5, wow. The view was amazing and the trail down to the lake was so wonderful. Beautiful lake. Campground was clean, staff was friendly.

Part 1, The Bad; The only reason I didn’t give Holly Bay the 5 stars it deserves is because of a reservation mixup due to an employee/host. Booked our double campsite (PRIME RATED, F5) 5 months in advance on June 15th. Due to the Covid pandemic, Holly Bay didn’t open until June 11th and most of the sites were walk-up only. Well someone decided to let a walk-up reserve our campsite from June 11-17th, two days into my reservation. We were upset but the older gentleman in the booth said it wasn’t their fault and was a reservation mix-up due to the reserving website (Recreation.gov). They gave us another double site (G11) and free firewood, that we gracefully accepted, and were still pretty happy with. We are not picky campers at all. We didn’t cause a stink or anything. Two days into camping, the host from F comes and tells us that we HAVE to move back to our original site, that the people that had reserved the one we were on had called corporate and they have ALL RIGHTS to the campsite if it’s reserved in your name. We didn’t know this. No one told us this. So because we didn’t throw a big stink over it, we got screwed anyway. Sometimes being nice just isn’t worth it. 😠 So we packed up 2+ hours of setting up work and went to our other site to re-set up again. Then we came to find out that it wasn’t a mix-up on the website, but an employee had messed up and when he discovered the overlapping reservation, he didn’t want to ask the other campers to leave🤯 We were also told they had to report him to upper management so I hope he doesn’t do that to other people in the future.... The host from F was so nice though, and told is we could have more firewood and she would mail us a voucher for two free nights for future use. So know this, IF IT’S RESERVED IN YOUR NAME, YOU HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO THE CAMPSITE DURING YOUR RESERVATION WINDOW. Kick’em off. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Part 2, The Great; Other than that not so little mix-up, we still had a wonderful time. We hiked, swam, fished, and loved all the views. Arnold’s Grocery has great food and ice cream! Plenty of room between the sites, clean bathrooms, but no laundry facilities though. We will definitely be back again. A great campground far outweighs poor management, imo. Happy Camping!

VERY CLEAN! Easy to get to. Bring your boat. Laurel is the clearest lake in the state. Extremely nice grounds and hosts.

Holly Bay is a great campground in the beautiful, but not very well known Daniel Boone National Forest. The campsites are semi-private with a fire ring, electricity, water (at each campsite), lantern pole, bathrooms and bath house. The campground is also on a lake with several good hiking trails around. I highly recommend it this campground!

Swim next to show, bring your pets, tie up you're boat, be around friendly people or private, primitive to big pull thru, clean, great staff, prettiest lake in KY, best camp sites with poles, shady, level, tables, bear boxes, Crystal cleat water, H Ann's down I can't say enough!! The best!!

Weekend getaway!

There are some short hiking trails along the water and in the woods worth exploring but if you don’t have a boat you will miss out. The nearby marina (not part of the campground) has a little grocery and cafe. The campground is wooded and has basic amenities. We stayed in the tent area.

Yay: lovely simple area.

Nay: lots of boat traffic and noise from some of the campsites.

Surprise: really enjoyed swimming at the dam.