Best Tent Camping near Bowling Green, KY

Love this campground. It's one of the few in the state where you can camp near the water and keep your kayaks or boat within a quick stroll. It also has welcome shade in almost every sIte which helps during the hot humid days of summer. A beautiful park during the fall with all the changing colors on the numerous trees, too. Barren River Lake is peaceful and serene to camp alongside. Facilities are well kept including bathhouses, park areas, laundry, roads and sites. Pet friendly. Online reservations are convenient. A favorite place just an hour from Bowling Green, KY.

This campground is a favorite spot of ours that is close to home. it is only a 40 minute drive from Bowling Green. it has nice bathroom and shower facilities. Great access to the lake and a variety of shaded campsites. The campground host are always gracious and helpful.

We camp with a teardrop, so every site we have stayed at is spacious and accommodating.

There is access to a boat ramp and a few miles of trails that connect to a picnic area. there is also a playground, volleyball court and ample opportunities to enjoy the lake.

Be sure to check out Paradise Point and The Landing at Port Oliver while you are there!

Pros: very well maintained facilities, toddlers enjoyed playground, able to walk along lake shore, could hear small waterfall behind our campsite, within 20 minutes of Mammoth Cave NP via Green River Ferry Con: sites nothing special for tent camping (probably great if in RV). Very sunny, out in open so windy. But nice to have electric and water when camping with toddlers so worth it. Would agree with previous review that the 1 tent site among all the electric sites looked beautiful- right on the water. If you don’t need electric, go with that one!

Been several times at different times of the year. The summer months fill up quick. Great place to visit on its own or with day trips to Mammoth Cave. Water slide, 2 pools, and other things for the kids to do during the hot summers. Karaoke, and games at night at the shelter. Food in the lodge is acceptable snacks for the pool but dont expect 4 star club food. Cabin Rentals, RV Site and Tent sites. All have a fire ring. Cabin came with a golf cart. Cabins are decent. group showers and restrooms are not that great. If I had one down side. If tent camping on the weekend bring earplugs. Durring the summer the adult beverages flow in the evening and into the night and the gas powered golf carts at 2am get annoying. Over all a great place in the summer for a close family retreat.

I was tent camping with my family Thursday-Saturday while visiting Mammoth Cave.

The good: the tent campground has spacious, level sites. The sites are located in a grove of pine trees, which makes for well shaded sites with a pleasant surface of soft pine straw to pitch your tents. A few sites had trees suitable for hanging hammocks if you enjoy that. There are toilets and sinks in the park office near the primitive campsites. There is a swimming beach and boat ramp on Nolin Lake nearby. Convenient to Mammoth Cave NP and fishing and hiking opportunities abound.

The bad: the shower house is in the RV campground and too far away to be a convenient walk. You have to drive there which is a pain with kids. There were few shower stalls and they were not kept clean. The park staff were very friendly but just overworked. Thursday night we were kept awake by loud campers and campground staff weren’t around to enforce quiet hours. Quiet hours do not start until 11 PM which is not ideal for campers with young children. The park started filling up on Friday and Saturday and was obviously very crowded on the weekend. Seems like a "party spot" for locals. 

We might return here but perhaps would choose to camp during the week or during a less busy time of year.

My brother visits KOA’s all the time for camping. Me, not so much. I have a hard time paying $40 for a tent site when I can camp for free or under $20. The Bowling Green KOA, Ky is located on the outskirts of Bowling Green near the I65 and Natcher interchange. You can actually see the back end of the campground from the ramp that connects the two. My first thought when considering a stay.
I spoke with two of the very friendly and helpful ladies in the office and got a plethora of information. So much so that I’m sure I’ll forget some of it, but here goes;) So first with your fee you recieve (you and all your group) a free game of Minature Golf a day. Next there is wifi and cable available. There is a swimming pool on site and two pay lakes with paddle boats. A dog park and short trail. Depending on the month you visit there are also special incentives to stay an extra night. In May some of your fee is donated to Camp. With a KOA card there are special incentives too and you earn points with every stay. So, all that being said I did purchase a KOA card. Though this is not my favorite type of camping it will come in handy on an upcoming trip and when I camp with my brother ;) I was pleasantly surprised that the interstate noise was mostly not noticiple. There are plenty of trees that help block the noise and offer a lot of shade. We were in a busier site at the end of Abby Dr but it was an easy walk to the two small “lakes“( more like ponds ) and the dog park and showerhouse (with dogwash station) were a short walk away. Not much else to do but a fun enough spot for younger kids. ( no “bears“ to take photos with) and not as many special activities as some other theme campgrounds. This is a nice older campground, worth a night or two visit to get away from the grind for a bit.

We went during Wet N Wild week and the kids absolutely loved all of the activities there were... The excitement of the Witbit the first day left us sore for a couple days after... ALOT to do at the campground and around... However this is not geared for tent camping... there are minimal shade spots and 95% of the sites are gravel...water and electric are setup for campers not tents... also the whole not being able to squirt water from or too the golf carts is a bummer and killed the excitement. we will definitely be back if a better suited area for tent camping is developed...