Looking for the ultimate pet-friendly camping experience near Columbia? The Dyrt can help you find the best campsites for you and your dog. These scenic and easy-to-reach Columbia campsites are perfect for camping with dogs.
Mammoth Cave Campground puts campers in a prime spot to explore the depths and overland treasures of Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is an underground passageway containing more than 400 miles of naturally sculpted limestone and sandstone. It is the longest recorded cave system in the world. The grand-scale chambers and long, winding passageways were the inspiration behind the park's name. The campground doubles as an entry point to 14 miles of hiking and biking trails. It's also a five minute walk to the visitor center, where cave tours begin.
A must-do activity in the park is exploring Mammoth Cave. Walking tours of the caverns leave from the visitor center daily. There are also miles of bike trails and hiking trails within the park.
The campground is tucked inside Mammoth Cave National Park, which boasts scenic valleys along the Green River. The river is within walking distance of the camp, and the hilly Kentucky countryside expands beyond the valley. Deer and turkeys commonly stroll around the campground, so visitors are likely to see them grazing in the early morning and at dusk.
Nearly 30 miles of the Green and Nolin rivers offer canoeing and boating through the park. Commercial outfitters outside the park rent canoes, kayaks and safety equipment.Most trails north of the Green River are open for horseback riding. Commercial liveries outside the park rent horses and some may provide organized excursions.
For local information, please call (270) 758-2424 or call (270) 758-2180 for general information.
For rules and reservation policies please follow the link below: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
$50 / night
Kendall Campground is located at 80 Kendall Road, south of Jamestown, Kentucky, just below Wolf Creek Dam, which forms beautiful Lake Cumberland. Click here for the Lake Cumberland virtual tour.
Lake Cumberland is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River. Its large surface acreage and over 1,200 miles of shoreline provide a myriad of recreational activities. Kendall Campground offers visitors convenient access to a cold water trout stream, making it a popular fishing destination. The stream is well-stocked with rainbow, brook and brown trout. Whispering Pines Trail, located within the campground, is a non-strenuous trail approximately half a mile long.
The campground overlooks the river, offering sweeping scenic views. Dense stands of mature hardwoods forest the site, offering scenic views, pleasant shade and wildlife habitat. Because of the temperate climate and relatively long recreation season, the lake provides varied outdoor recreational opportunities for millions of visitors each year.
Wolf Creek Dam National Fish Hatchery is within walking distance of the campground. It is open year-round and offers free tours to the public and an excellent Environmental Education Center. Click here for more information. Lake Cumberland State Park is just 6.5 miles from the campground. This beautiful park offers fishing, hiking, horseback riding, mini golf, disc golf and boat rentals. Birders enjoy the park for its exceptional viewing prospects of raptors, songbirds and waterfowl. Grider Hill Marina and Resort is 25 minutes away, with boat rentals, a restaurant and general store. Jamestown Marina & Resort is 25 minutes away, with boat rentals, a restaurant and general store. State Dock Marina is 8 miles away, with boat rentals, snack bar and general store.
$60 / night
Situated along Kentucky's Highland Rim, Smith Ridge Campground is surrounded by forested tracks, rolling meadows and the pristine banks of Green River Lake. Click here for the Green River Lake Virtual Tour.
With 8,000 surface acres of water, the lake is an ideal place for boating. With ten boat ramps located around the shoreline, guests have plenty of room for fishing, jet skiing, wake boarding and more. Three full-service marinas are also located around the lake. Fishing is a popular activity at Green River Lake. Walleye, crappie, white bass, channel catfish, muskie and bluegill are all found in abundance. Hunters enjoy the surrounding land, with various habitats supporting deer, turkey, rabbit, quail, squirrel, dove and waterfowl. There are also miles of trails that wind around the lake and along the shore, affording some of the most scenic views in the region.
Green River Lake encompasses a total of some 32,000 acres in the central portion of Kentucky, creating countless recreational activities for visitors.
The Corps of Engineers Visitor Center and the Historical Civil War Atkinson-Griffin Log Cabin are located only a short 13.5 miles from Smith Ridge near the Green River Lake Dam . Several historical attractions and National Parks are located within an hour of Green River Lake, including the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and Mammoth Cave National Park.
Between 05/12/2023 and 09/10/2023 this location is staffed. Please call (270) 789-2743 to speak with local staff. From 12/15/2022 to 05/11/2023 this location is unstaffed. Please call (270) 465-4463 for general information.
Customers who change their dates outside the original reservation date (i.e., different week or month) will incur a $10 change fee. No-Shows are charged a $20.00 plus the first nights use fee.
$32 - $36 / night
Situated along Kentucky's Highland Rim, Holmes Bend Campground is surrounded by forested tracks, rolling meadows and the pristine banks of Green River Lake. Click here for the Green River Lake Virtual Tour.
With 8,000 surface acres of water, the lake is an ideal place for boating. With ten boat ramps located around the shoreline, guests have plenty of room for fishing, jet skiing, wake boarding and more. Three full-service marinas are also located around the lake. Fishing is a popular activity at Green River Lake: Walleye, crappie, white bass, channel catfish, muskie and bluegill are all found in abundance. Hunters enjoy the surrounding land, with various habitats supporting deer, turkey, rabbit, quail, squirrel, dove and waterfowl. There are also miles of trails that wind around the lake and along the shore, affording some of the most scenic views in the region.
Green River Lake area encompasses a total of some 32,000 acres in the central portion of Kentucky, creating countless recreational activities for visitors on the water and on land.
Between 04/21/2023 and 10/22/2023 this location is staffed. Please call (270) 384-4623 to speak with local staff. From 12/15/2022 to 04/20/2023 this location is unstaffed. Please call (270) 465-4463 for general information.
The Corps of Engineers Visitor Center and the Historical Civil War Atkinson-Griffin Log Cabin are located only a short 10 miles northwest from Holmes Bend . Several historical attractions and National Parks are located within an hour of Green River Lake, including the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and Mammoth Cave National Park.
Customers who change their dates outside the original reservation date (i.e., different week or month) will incur a $10 change fee. No-shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee.
$32 - $36 / night
Bailey's Point campground is the largest of the Army Corps of Engineers' campgrounds on Barren River Lake. This campground offers several waterfront campsites with scenic views of the lake. Though the campground is one of the largest, you won't know it. There is room to roam, five camping loops with diverse scenery, and private coves for swimming or mooring your boat. You are sure to find a site that's your escape to nature and relaxation. View a virtual tour of Barren River Lake.
Baileys Point has a boat ramp for access to prime fishing, water skiing and boating. Several islands in proximity to the campground are great for a quick picnic getaway by boat. Birding is also a popular activity with a variety of species including kestrels, indigo buntings, bald eagles and at night you can hear the calls of barred owls. Hikers can explore the C.E. Rager Nature Trail and the Robert Foster Hiking Trail. Robert Foster Hiking Trail gives you the opportunity to see the diversity of trees Kentucky has to offer and the C.E. Rager Nature trail is a nice short stroll along the shoreline of the lake. Great for poking around and possibly seeing the resident white squirrel of Baileys Point!
The 10,000-acre lake is hugged by wooded hillsides in south-central Kentucky. With scenic views from almost every campsite, it's sure to make for a memorable camping experience.
Across the lake from Baileys Point is the Barren River Lake State Resort Park, host of the Glasgow Highland Games. Other ramps and marinas close by are Port Oliver, Peninsula, and The Narrows. Not far away are other attractions such as the National Corvette Museum, Kentucky Down Under, Diamond Caverns, and many other day trips within reach. Visitors can explore Mammoth Cave National Park, an hour north of the campground.
Once your reservation has been created, there will be a $10.00 fee to cancel and a $10.00 fee to change your sites or dates. Cancellations made the day before, or up to the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first nights use fee. No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee. If your reservation is for 1 night, and you have been charged the first nights use fee, there is no $10.00 service fee.
$50 / night
$25 / night
Situated along Kentucky's Highland Rim, Pikes Ridge Campground is surrounded by forested tracks, rolling meadows and the pristine banks of Green River Lake. Click here for the Green River Lake Virtual Tour.
With 8,000 surface acres of water, the lake is an ideal place for boating. With ten boat ramps located around the shoreline, guests have plenty of room for fishing, jet skiing, wake boarding and more. Three full-service marinas are also located around the lake. Fishing is a popular activity at Green River Lake. Walleye, crappie, white bass, channel catfish, muskie and bluegill are all found in abundance. Hunters enjoy the surrounding land, with various habitats supporting deer, turkey, rabbit, quail, squirrel, dove and waterfowl. There are also miles of trails that wind around the lake and along the shore, affording some of the most scenic views in the region.
Green River Lake area encompasses a total of some 32,000 acres in the central portion of Kentucky, creating countless recreational activities for visitors on water and on land.
Between 05/12/2023 and 09/24/2023 this location is staffed. Please call (270) 465-6488 to speak with local staff. From 12/15/2022 to 05/11/2023 this location is unstaffed. Please call (270) 465-4463 for general information.
The Corps of Engineers Visitor Center and the Historical Civil War Atkinson-Griffin Log Cabin are located about 24 miles from Pikes Ridge, near the Green River Lake Dam. Several historical attractions and National Parks are located within an hour of Green River Lake, including the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and Mammoth Cave National Park.
Customers who change their dates outside the original reservation date (i.e, different week or month) will incur a $10 change fee. No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee.
$32 - $36 / night
Scout
Spent the last 2 weeks of the season here and enjoyed our stay. We had daily deer visitors at our site and went trout fishing too. The walking trails around the brooke and campground were easy enough even for someone with limited mobility. I would ask COE to correct the women's handicap shower. The hand held shower head is missing even though there is a connection port for it. Shower house is not heated and it is extremely uncomfortable....Be prepared to keep pressing a button every 55 seconds to get water. In addition, there is no way to control water temperature for your shower. In my opinion, this is something that needs to be addressed. The washing machine was out of order.... And the ole sayin"treat things as you would your own" comes to mind and it would be our hope that people would see the benefit in keeping things nice for all to use. The camp host made rounds on the golf cart every few hrs....which is appreciated:) UPDATE: Now both washers have been removed from the annex campground....and we have a week left. Kinda of a crappy thing to do to people....with no warning.
Scout
I am a long term camper. This park has all the utilities water, electric, sewer. I haven't had issues with the free wifi and am able to stream movies and TV with no buffering.
They have a community building with restrooms, showers, laundry, kitchen area, and mail pick up. They also have an outdoor community area with a fire pit, lounge chairs, and grill.
They have been having events for the children. Movie night, outdoor games, and a camp fire with smores.
It's quiet and 5 minutes away from town. Door dash delivers.
The manager is a sweetheart and makes sure any issues are taken care of.
Scout
Until midnight there was a loud microphone with drunk people trying to sing karaoke where it was heard around campground. Slurring speech and cursing. No respect to others trying to sleep.
Was booked for the weekend but leaving after night 1.
Legend
Found this campground on the map near Haneys Appledale Farm in Nancy Kentucky. Nice, new, “shiny” campground. The owner was extremely friendly and we spoke briefly about the place. As listed above there’s no showerhouse, so bring your own if you want to visit. There’s also no shade, they are creating their campground in a very nicely tiered field and working on getting a pond going to fish in. Nice size sites with easy access power , water and sewer. Gravel drive and pads, fire ring and picnic table. There is an AWESOME playground and pavilion set back in the trees! My grand loved the ropes course. We stayed in the back of the campground on a full moon night so I can’t say how dark it is on a no moon night, it was very quiet and we enjoyed our visit.
Guide
One picnic table and fire pit. Dispersed camping. We took our portable firepit and sat by the creek for a beautiful evening.
Guide
Great hosts, quiet camping location, 5 minute drive into town. No, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but we don’t need all that stuff. I’d rather pay a cheaper price than to stay at a place with activities going on all the time and so much noise you can’t enjoy the countryside.
Guide
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Ranger
Did a drive around of the campground. Spacing looks great between sites. Sites look clean and level. Some sites are next to the Obey River. Will be camping here in the near future.
Ranger
Wasn’t many people when we went there. It’s close to Dale Hallow Lake which is an awesome area in TN. The RV sites all have slope and not great if you have a large RV it could be tricky get into and leveling. Camp grounds could use some updating for sure. It was very nice only having a few others in the campground. Standingstone lake and Mill Creek is located in the park with hiking trails. We did go on a hike around Pleasant Grove Recreation Area which was very nice plus exploring many Marinas around. Ate at The Quarry Restaurant off of the 53, it sits on top of an old rock quarry with spectacular views of the area.
GuideQuiet campground for smaller campers and vans. Dog friendly. It is on the top of the hill, so prepare to hike to the lake. There are trails along the lake, and shortcut trails through the woods, mostly narrow and washed out. The pool is very busy in the summer. The campground is clean and sites are spacious and shady, most sites require leveling. Beautiful lake and dam, definitely worth the visit!
Legend
We’re staying one night for Mammoth Cave and added a second night thanks to the activities offered. For a family that usually only spends one night that’s a big deal. The kids are super excited to do the lake inflatable course and have already enjoyed the nice playground and bouncing pad. We chose a standard site so I didn’t expect much. For the price it’s great to have all the hookups but it’s not level at all. I parked at an angle, propped up the front and our full slide gives it a wonky tilt so got it pretty good. It could probably use another level of blocks at the front. Just wonky sites. But nice and wide
Scout
This is a beautiful campground! Very Family oriented. The park attendants are so nice and welcome families and will help you in any way! We love going here and feel so safe because the sheriff department along with the attendants are always coming through. Some of the nicest attendants, always has a smile and willing to help in any way!
GuideWe really enjoyed the four days we spent at the Mammoth Caves Campground, right in the national park. I have to correct some information on this listing, though. There are no electric hookups. There is water available at spots throughout the campground, but not at the sites. There is one difficult to use dump station. Also, internet connections are terrible. You need to rely on the WiFi at the visitor center and lodge.
Setting that aside, it’s a beautiful, wooded campground with large and generally level sites. You’re right in the middle of the park, with all it has to offer. Its about a ten-twelve minute walk to the Visitor Center, which is where all the cave tours and many of the hiking trails start. The Visitor Center also has a great exhibit explaining the geology and history of the park and area. It is connected by a pedestrian bridge to the park lodge, which has several restaurants. Both buildings are wonderfully air conditioned, which helped a lot in the August heat.
Also helping with the heat are the caves themselves, which are spectacular and not to be missed. Other activities right in the park are lots of hiking opportunities and canoe and kayak rental.
There are modern and very clean bathrooms throughout the campground. It’s a mystery why they didn’t include showers when they built those bathrooms. Instead there are paid showers in the building housing the camp store. You insert six quarters and get a decent amount of time. For me, this was the only real downside of the campground, one I could put up with given all the other advantages.
Site 35B was a great site and was next to a small field, giving us extra space and privacy.
Guide
I stayed in spot 87 for 4 days. It was a clean camp with all kinds of variety of camping spots. The only reason is not getting 5 stars is bc it's right on the Interstate, and that noise wasn't the most peaceful. There were a ton of things for kids and families to do. There was a pool, playground, pond, etc. There were some really cool wagon tents, teepee's, and actual tree houses.
Guide
This is one of the cleanest campgrounds with excellent water views and you can pull your kayaks or floats into the river from your site..clean river lots of fisherman out ..we are in the C loop C007 and the site is amazing there are many riverside sites but some are primitive so make sure to double check
Scout
This campground is clean and the campsites are decent. However, our campsite had two stumps there were hard to work around when backing up the camper in the dark. If you need to use the showers or bathroom, they never fix anything. One bathroom hasn’t had electric in two years and another women’s bathroom only has hot water in one shower and the hand dryers don’t work.
Guide
We stayed at Singing Hills for three nights while visiting Mammoth Cave NP. Beth was super helpful via email even before our arrival with advice on tour tickets. My wife has mobility issues and she had good suggestions for us.
Eldon checked us in and gave us recommendations for restaurants which were outstanding. I'm quite sure that our truck is now over-gross :-P
The camping was just fine. Grounds are well tended. Spaces are gravel. Water, sewer, and electric all did what they should.
The next time we are in the area, we will definitely return to Singing Hills.
Ranger
We arrived on a Tuesday and left on Friday. This campground has 10 sites on a hill. It is quiet and away from towns. Some sites are close but not bad. The shower/bath house is fairly new and clean. Being on the hill, to get to the lake is a steep walk. They have a set of steps going down the back side of the hill if you want to leave your boat in the water down there. It’s in a hollow off the main lake. The only drawback would be that the dump site was too tight and unlevel for me to feel comfortable trying to dump.
TravelerWe loved our visit here! We stayed two nights with our dog and felt very safe. Campsites appear close at first but actually felt comfortably private. People walk and bike along the roads and it felt very friendly. Bathrooms are clean and cool. There’s a camp store, Caver’s, with food, souvenirs, showers, and bathroom. Super close to the visiting center for tours.
Traveler
We stayed on the island (walk in spot) and it was quiet and had beautiful views right on the water. There are also toilets and water available on the island if needed.
Traveler
This is one of my favorite spots to camp. The host is amazing, provides great amenities, and takes care of his campground very well. If you are looking for a great view with plenty of space for tents and hammocks, look no further. You will not go wrong with booking with this host.
TravelerBit over priced. It went up each night we stayed. We had a fifth wheel on a standard gravel 30/50 amp site. Full hook up. Advertised internet but there wasn’t any in the section we stayed. There was a little shade in our area. The whole place is alternated by cabins and camping sites. There is grass between every site. Plenty of playgrounds, a pool and pond/beach. Golf cart rentals are $55 per day and people run them all day and night. Golf carts were playing music at midnight. This place does not sleep. And if you bring dogs, you must physically show them the rabies tag, they don’t check their email. Even though you pick a spot on their map they will change you to a different spot unless you pay the $35 extra to “lock in” a specific spot.
TravelerLocation was excellent, close to the water. They have a known power issue, 30amp service went out several times at the pole. Their solution was to use less appliances. There are other campgrounds on the lake that I would choose instead of this one for that reason. The site itself was fine, and if not for the power issues we would come back.
Scout
Stayed in cabin 88 - bedbugs. Do not stay here.
RangerReally enjoyed our 3 night stay in Mammoth Cave campground. Level sites, tables, fire rings, running water bathrooms, spigots. Great location walkable to the camp store, lodge, visitor center, and cave tours.
Discovering pet-friendly camping options near Columbia, Kentucky, opens up a world of adventure for you and your furry companions. With a variety of well-reviewed campgrounds, you can enjoy the great outdoors without leaving your pets behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Columbia, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Columbia, KY is Mammoth Cave Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park with a 4.5-star rating from 138 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Columbia, KY?
TheDyrt.com has all 73 dog-friendly camping locations near Columbia, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
