Lake Barkley State Resort Park
Nichole M.
Reviewed Dec. 14, 2018

Good basecamp for surrounding activity, not the best for camping with kids

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.

Site15
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018
  • Review photo of Lake Barkley State Resort Park by Nichole M., December 14, 2018