Dawson Springs, KY is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Kentucky camping adventure.
$12 - $40 / night
"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."
"First of all, the drive to Dawson Springs is GORGEOUS. Rolling hills, farmland, trees, really gets you in the mood!"
$17 - $25 / night
"Huge lake offers great fishing.
The campground is not huge but does offer water and sewer hookups. They have 2 shower houses located for a 5 min walk from any site."
"Bring quite a bit of leveling materials as the sites are very unlevel. 1 dump station and an older but usable bath house. The road to come in was narrow but we'll marked."
"Water, electric, nice bath facilities, waterfront, boat ramp, trash, firewood availability, well kept. You name it. I live that it's inside LBL with all of these."
"Each loop has its own restroom/shower house and all are near the lake( some closer then others) canoe rental or bring your own, basketball court and playground as well as swimming area."
$33 - $999 / night
"Extremely friendly staff. Clean campsites with a great view of the lake. Nice pool as well!"
"The site is on the lake with cabins as well. They have full hookups and they were in good condition. We were in and out. Will will be back through for sure to check the place out during the day. "
$20 - $256 / night
"Grand Rivers KY Canal Campground at Barkley Lake COE Site 111 This is a great COE campground located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, with views of the Barkley Dam."
"Right on Lake Barkley where it joins Kentucky Lake. Over 200,000 acres of lake. We had sites 76 and 77. The roads to the sites have a lot of curves be careful not to clip your trailer on a tree."
"The success of the event weekends is largely due to the amazing staff at Prizer, as they accommodate a lot of last minute pleas for changes and help! "
"Prizer Point KOA and Marina is your basic camp away from home with all those modern conveniences.
Water all around (peninsula) so water sports of course."
"If your coming from the Kentucky side first there is Amish country to visit. Check in Marion for what’s available and where (fill your gas tank up!)
Next there is the ferry ride across."
"It can be a bit of a walk to the bathroom. It does have a restaurant and small store on site. Can spend a large portion of the day hike to the cave and other little trails."
"Energy Lake campground is well planned, the staff are amazing, and with a little planning, the best option for affordable camping that puts you on a small natural preserve lake perfect for kayaking and"
"Access to the lake is great. Electric and fire ring at each site. The first night we were here a family set up nearby and let their dog run loose and their kids were screaming the entire time."
"Over 300 campsites from primitive, electric w/ water and full hook ups in each area along with campstore, modern restrooms and shower houses and so many things to do: swimming, fishing, boating, boat ramps"
"And, after driving through the entire campground the next day, we decided it was the best site in the whole park for our size rig!"
$10 / night
"This place is very close to where you need to be. Outpost in between sells food, firewood, ice etc. Very basic campsite for drive up. People were very respectful, very dog friendly."
"We arrived on a Thursday and there were plenty of open spots. Friday they open some of the other loops up for more people to stay and it did fill up for the weekend. "
LegendPennyrile 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)
ScoutFirst 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!
GuidePros:
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.
GuideYOU HAVE TO GO TO THE VISITOR CENTER TO PAY FOR A CAMPING PERMIT AND OHV USE!
For the Turkey Bay OHV area each site is just a picnic table and a fire pit and the sites are not numbered- it’s more a first come first serve. The sites though are close to the entrance and you park right next to the site. This site also is for RVs and tent camping but there is no water or electric access but is within walking distance of the gatehouse. The gatehouse has ice and sodas for sale to each camper.
OHVs for rent at the visitor center (just about 2 miles down the road) and trails marked specifically for them, also a couple hiking trails nearby! Bathrooms and trash onsite!
There is a dump station and potable water about a mile or so up the road near the Hunters Check Station and it’s only about 2 miles out from the Golden Pond planetarium and trails! Great area!
LegendEnergy Lake campground is well planned, the staff are amazing, and with a little planning, the best option for affordable camping that puts you on a small natural preserve lake perfect for kayaking and SUP boarding. Most difficult thing is remembering to fill the fresh water tank (if you are RV'ing) before you set up!! Electricity is on almost every site (there are a couple sites in a few areas that do not have electric & therefor have a reduced rental rate). Each area has "city" water available at hose bibs located in central locations in each area. Some sites have waterfront "views" with trails going down to the lake, others have waterfront walk in availability. You can also drive to the beach (it's got imported sand deposited there every new season!), and there are several areas to launch NONMOTORIZED watercraft. There are restrictions on this lake due to the wildlife refuge and preserve in the back of the lake - no motorized watercraft of any sort. There is camp fire wood, propane and a very small selection of necessities available at the entry gate/check-in. Closest retail store, gas station and alcohol is approximately 10-12 miles from the campground. This campground attracts a lot of tent & car campers as well as small RV's, and there are almost always smaller walk up sites available if the reservation system says there are no available positions. You will want to call before you haul though, because a few of those walk ups are less than 20 feet in length.
AREA B is only cabins... and the cabins are basically one room cabins, with bunks and a queen or full sized bed, with electric and AC. You still have to treck to the bath house for toilet, shower and the hose bib for water. The cabin basically just provides sleeping shelter.
TravelerHad a great 3 day 2 night stay here. All you need to camp here is a camping permit from Land Between the Lakes which is 30 dollars online. If you have a Kentucky resident sportsmans licence this permit is included in that! Each site has a 2 foot across firepit with a grill plate that is hinged so you can flip it on or off the fire. Some of the sites are about 10 to 15 yards from the water while others are a good ways from it. There is no electricity at any of the sites however there is a central dumpster for trash and a composting toilet as well as a boat ramp. The sites are gravel pads with a fire pit and a concrete picnic table. Easily fit my 3 person tent with a 9 x 12ft tarp as a foot print and two vehicles with still room to walk around easily in the site.
LegendGrand Rivers KY Canal Campground at Barkley Lake COE Site 111 This is a great COE campground located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, with views of the Barkley Dam. The canal connects them and you can see boats and occasionally barges passing through. There are over 100 campsites are available, many with water views. We had a spacious site with a river view. Other loops are closer together and no view. Sites offer electric and/or water hookups, tables and fire ring. Other amenities include clean old style bathhouses, a dump station, laundry facilities, a playground, and picnic pavilions. We saw several deer roaming the grounds. There's a great pizza place in town Papa Z.
TravelerOn your honor payment $10 per night for up to 8 people per campsite. Site number 1 had lots of trees right at the site perfect for hammocks. There were lots of sites with trees for hammocks but we had 7 people and that one was perfect. A little close to the gravel road had a couple of cars drive by over night making a small racket but bearable. No running water and I did not see any bathrooms, but that was fine exactly what I expected. Kind of funny a camper way down from us was playing some loud Rap so another camper closer to us decided to counter with some even louder Bluegrass music. It was quite irritating at the time because we came to escape the loud noises but funny to think of now. I wish people would just remember some people come out to these places for the peace and quiet. Camp ground has a great access to the lake very shallow at this point but wide open access to the main lake.
TravelerWell kept, no sewer hookup on sites, bath house clean, electric far from pads - bring extension cord
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Dawson Springs, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Dawson Springs, KY is Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park with a 4-star rating from 19 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Dawson Springs, KY?
TheDyrt.com has all 26 glamping camping locations near Dawson Springs, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
Keep Exploring
