Best Cabin Camping near Dawson Springs, KY

Pennyrile Forest State Park off Ky69 outside Dawson Springs, Ky. A newer trail Pennyrile Nature Trail is 13.5 mile long hiking trail, from Dawson Springs to the park. There is also a site for the Pennyrile Trail which is a 75 mile driving loop connecting several Kentucky parks.

The park is multi-leveled with the views and some cool rock formations. The beach has some confusing parking signs, but we figured it off. It was busy and had some loud visitors with loud vehicles and loud vehicles. Not surprising considering the neighborhood it is located in.

The campground has some interesting sites all along the roadway. The campground and horse campground are connected. Several of the sites can be challenging due to not being level or being shallow, but they are workable.

I'm not sure if biking would be great due to the hills but it would be challenging. Hiking and backpacking definitely and of course swimming and horseback riding( on your own horse)

First of all, the drive to Dawson Springs is GORGEOUS. Rolling hills, farmland, trees, really gets you in the mood! Upon arrival, the camp store worker was very friendly, gave us a campground map and hiking map and answered all of our questions. We stayed in the regular campground but they also have a campground for people with horses/horse trailers, as the park has horse trails to go on as well! We didn’t swim in the lake, but it did look beautiful and looked to be a nice place to swim and kayak and paddle boat (which they have for rental as well). The hiking trails are gorgeous and vary in length and intensity. The spot that we were at had plenty of room to spread out and relax. One side had the picnic table and fire pit, and the other side was a grassy area with trees where we hung our hammock. It was stunning! We will definitely be back!

A friend and I and our 4 kids stayed in a camper cabin here in September. We normally tent camp but it was a weekend with record heat. I love this campground as an alternative to Hillman Ferry, where we have often stayed. The cabins were clean and comfortable with cold AC, the hosts were friendly and the no-wake lake and canoe rentals were fun. I would advise checking with the hosts about canoe and kayak rentals upon check in, there is limited availability when camp is full and hot weather can also affect. This campground is also in a good location to explore all LBL has to offer when compared to Hillman, it's closer to the Elk and Bison Prairie and Wranglers Campground, as well as the Nature Station, which is great for us since we like to trail ride and hike. Downfall is the beach is muddy and rocky and the playground is old with just a metal slide and swings. We didn't want to swim here so maybe plan on doing that elsewhere at the lakes. Next time we will camp, likely on loop D, which had some nice lakeview sites. You can't see the water from the cabin loop. There is spotty cell service throughout the campground.

We were very disappointed to find the bicycle trail in unusable condition. It should have been repaved many years ago. The restroom in the C loop had 2 unusable showers and a 3rd with a broken screen so it was filled with bugs. In the toilet side the windows were closed so it was hot and stinky. Campsites here are not cheap so I think hand soap should be included. There are a lot of semipermanent rigs set up; it's probably packed on weekends. We had a small water view site with a cement picnic table where we could watch a family of very bold squirrels. The store had ice cream, firewood and a few essentials. There was reasonable WiFi outside but the area was dirty and never cleaned. Perhaps if we had a boat or jet ski this place would be a better fit but as it was we left early and won't return,