Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Canmer, KY

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.

This KOA was easy to find by following our GPS. We checked in about 45 minutes prior to their 1:00 PM check in time and they didn’t even mention us being early. We decided we didn’t need an escort to our site as it was near the office. We proceeded to deluxe-patio pull-through site H-4 with FHUs. The utilities were nicely placed in the middle of the pad. Water pressure was good at about 50 psi. This site has plenty of shade as does most sites in the campground (CG) due to mature trees, so we did not put out Starlink. We got 4 bars LTE on Verizon and used our MiFi versus Starlink. Site H-4 has a utility box on the yard side, so we had extra space between the adjacent site. They have a decent sized dog park with an agility set up. This KOA has a lot of amenities and lives up to a Holiday KOA rating. The dog park is a nice size. They have a decent laundry room behind the office with 4 washers and 8 dryers. It’s$2.50 to wash and$1.50 to dry. They have 2 fishing ponds. The large one you can keep 2 fish for$20 and the small one is catch and release. There’s some traffic noise from I-65 and surrounding roads. Our main reason to visit the area was to visit the National Corvette Museum. We enjoyed our two night stay.

Moutardier Campground is a fisherman’s paradise. It is located on Nolin River Lake. Our site was lakeside which was beautiful (Site D6). This campsite offered electric/water hookup, fire pit, picnic table, filet table, bathrooms, and showers. There were boat ramps, a marina nearby to rent boats, and also offered a playground. Pets were welcomed (we have a dog and a hiking cat). We also had cell service (Verizon). 

The view of the lake from the teardrop camper was awesome. We kayaked around the lake which was very enjoyable - saw ducks, and birds such as a grey heron. Also lots of fish jumping. There are power boats allowed in the lake. Many people were fishing from their boats, kayaks, or from the shore. 

There is also a two mile hike that is in the campground called Shady Creek Trail. It looked like it had not been hiked in a while but it went through woods, small stream and had a cool rock formation at one part that you would swear is a haven for snakes. Pets enjoyed it but beware if you do not like spiders. This trail was covered in spiders and webs. No exaggeration that we cleared about a hundred spiders out of our path. 

The campground was very well manicured and clean. Many of the sites were right on the lake. They were close together but did not seem it as they were on different levels and angles. Everyone was quiet and courteous. Bathrooms were very clean and well lit. The showers were “dated” - water stains but clean. Great water pressure and hot water. 

There was no store on the campground but 5 minutes away was a great little restaurant called Sherry’s that we had both lunch and breakfast at. Food was delicious (fried dill pickle chips!) and one could buy bags of ice. 

Overall this was a very relaxing campground. We met some wonderful people who have been coming to the campground for years. It is about 30 minutes from Mammoth Caves which was a great place to explore. Overall we gave the campground a 4 - lakeside and if you love to fish - it’s paradise.