Lake Barkley State Resort Park

Nice

Nice place. Not 5 star but ok. Pads are on steep slopes.

We camped in off-season and the place was quite empty. Camp host told us it was always pretty quiet. Sites are close together, most with a pitch. We had a water view- a finger of Barkley Lake. The park has a restaurant, stables & marina (unsure if both were closed due to covid, or off-season). There are tight turns and two way traffic. Even the dump is on an incline.

The campground is well layed out. Each site has a paved parking pad, some overlooking the lake. Camp host and staff are super friendly.

Over all a nice place but could be better. Pads are not level. Saw a class A that had front wheels 10" off the ground and a TT with the hitch on the ground. Many sites had drop offs on the door side of the pad so you could not use all the awning space. We fell off the pad several times walking to the fire pit.

If you’ve seen the movie you will have a better understanding. There is a lodge, camping, stables, beach, marina, and a whole lot more. This is the ideal campground if you have kids and are looking for a lot to do in a weekend. Huge lake offers great fishing.

The campground is not huge but does offer water and sewer hookups. They have 2 shower houses located for a 5 min walk from any site. Hiking and a boat ramp within the campground make it easily accessible. Sites are narrow and I do mean narrow but long. If you have a small group easy to reserve a couple sites. Amongst all the state closures this campground was open and that is how we came upon it.

We have stayed in the cabins and they have two or three bedrooms and fireplaces so if you have someone in the family that doesn’t like the outdoors they can be in a cabin or go to the lodge.

Campground host was amazing helping us out. The sites along the water are narrow but come with a very nice view. The sites on the interior are a bit bigger bc of their “backyard”. Really there isn’t a bad spot in this campground.

The shower houses also have laundry which is a nice luxury.

We've camped and stayed in the lodge and both are not horrible but....This place is a diamond in the rough, and you should focus on the rough aspect. When we pulled up to the lodge it was awe inspiring. We registered in a lovely lobby, and drove to the parking lot by our room. This is where things changed. We carried our bags to the rustic covered walkway, and fought our way through swarms of nats to get to our room. The woodwork is in poor shape, and the metal brackets are rusting. Spider webs and mud dauber nests are all over. We stayed in a ground level room. There is no elevator, so we carried our bags down the stairs. The room is late 60s decor, and kinda funky, but a little worn, furthermore, it was not particularly clean. We called the front desk, and the desk clerk came down personally to vacuum the room, and was as pleasant as can be when she did. The adjoining room next door can be heard through the wall. The dining room is somewhat better cared for, and the food was good. Every staff member has been pleasant and engaging, and the views are amazing. With a good housekeeping manager, a good grounds crew, some maintenance catch up, and spraying for bugs this lodge would be simply fantastic. As it is, it is a tolerable, interesting place to stay with a very nice group of people in contact with the customer. If you choose to stay here, opt for the second floor room and preferably the marina side. It seems less buggy.

Pros:

Secluded campground

Beautiful area

Cons:

You're camping basically in a ravine.

No fire pit

We had site 15 and my in-laws had site 16 over Labor Day weekend 2018.

It took us over an hour to try and level our pop-up camper because the site was so steep. Our neighbors had the same problem. We took the advice of a fellow camper on here and brought an extension cord and we were so glad we did, I think my in-laws ended up needing it.

When we arrived I was disappointed to find that we didn't have a firepit, only an old grill that had a hole in the bottom, rendering it useless. Luckily my in-laws had a firepit so we had our fires over there. We do most of our cooking in cast iron over the fire, so a fire pit is a huge requirement for us. Our site was so steep it was hard for our two young children to walk and play on our site (4yo and 1.5yo) so we spent most of the time at their site anyway. The campsite we were on just wasn't that great for small children, but wouldn't be bad if you were in a tent without small children. Site 16 was great though.

Saturday night, we could hear a drunken group of about 20 with their speakers blasting music across the campground, so loud we couldn't hear each other talking around the campfire. I'm not normally one to complain about music at a campground, but this was overkill and was well into after quiet hours. Every so often you could tell that they were told to turn it down, but it only lasted a few minutes before it was cranked up again. It shut down probably around mid-night, but with two small kids it made for a long night.

The bathrooms were decent, one toilet would shoot water out of the top when you flushed. I didn't use the showers but they looked clean for a campground shower.

The LBL area is what made the trip worth it. We basically used the campground as a base camp to explore the area, which is a beautiful. We saw several deer within the park. The bison and elk prarie is a must see, the kids loved it. We drove to the Golden Pond visitors center and spent several hours at the Homeplace Living history village. Since it was Labor Day weekend they had a lot of events going on. We're now planning another trip back to the LBL area, just not at the same campground.

Absolutely the best

The shower house was always clean. Campsites are paved but hardly any are level, so bring leveling materials and most paved drives have a drop-off to the picnic table Electricity and water are shared between sites so be sure to have an extension cord with you. Campground personnel were very friendly and informative. Nearby is the Bison and Elk Park. When a dog was missing, the whole campground got involved in the search and this was very touching and the dog returned.

the staff was helpful and friendly. the park had a great beach area. make sure you have extension cords and hoses as the utilities are positioned in between two sites. i only gave it 4 stars because of how shaded it was and how unlevel a lot of the sites were. the shade is actually pretty great as it even kept a pretty steady rain off of us but i just prefer a bit more sunlight. my review was given based on my preferences, certainly not a knock on the campground as it was a delightful place.

Lake Barkley State Park offers so many activities and is right on the edge of Land Between The Lakes that I have been going to both for years and still not gotten to all of the sites available.

Quiet at the campground here. Well-maintained area with camp host. Sites are not too close together. Two bath houses in the camping area. Camping area has its own a boat ramp and no day use allowed. Water sports galore and some good trails.

love the water and getting to kayak

love the quiet

Although this is a remote campground, it is situated in a State RESORT park, so it is more like glamping. The resort amenities and features are all accessible through short hikes via well marked and maintained trails, or by vehicle roads. The resort sponsors many amenities, such as an indoor pool, family activities, gym, tennis courts, hiking trails, horseback riding, golf... it is a resort, after all. Within 10 miles of Cadiz, which hosts grocery stores, general merchandise stores, restaurants, small businesses and family activities.

Like everything, know what you're getting into. I would give this site 3 stars for me personally because I thought it would be a typical state park experience but it is way more built up and resort-like (well, it is in the name!). A fantastic place to go with kids or people who aren't as into tent camping. Tons to do in the park and the quaint towns nearby. Campsites are nice, shady, not too close together but not a ton of privacy. Lovely lake surrounds the site. If you want sometime more rustic there are lots of other choices, but for more modern or upscale camping this is the place for you!