Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Fort Thomas, KY

the campground is seriously in need of some tlc and they have gotten rid of the deer exhibit and replaced it with a dog park which is sad because my family spent a few hours each trip just petting and feeding the deer before. also the nature center isn’t what it used to be. bathrooms are always nasty. it’s sad because this used to be our go to campground.

I’ve been camping here every summer since I was a child. There is always a lot to do for all age groups. They’ve also added in a dog park which is perfect for my fur babies! There’s plenty of trails for hiking and adventuring. Archery range, plenty of spots to fish and keep everyone occupied! Love this campground and will continue to come back for many years to come!

We love camping here! Whether it's tent camping, group camping, RV, cabin, or lodge accommodations they can fill all your needs. Very large park with playgrounds, fishing, swimming, creek access, dog park, archery practice area or walk over to the damn. The bathrooms could use a little better cleaning but all in all it's a great park! We come often and camp at least once a year! Highly recommended.

Generous sized campsites, a lot of them are wooded which we prefer, with around 400 sites there are plenty to choose from! Bathroom/shower facilities are updated and usually well maintained. There is a large public beach but it's on the other side of the park so you have to drive all the way around to get to it, no short cuts. They have a camp ground beach but it's been closed the last 2 years. Lots of hiking trails, bridal trails and a bike path. Wish list for this park: Boat rental, dog park, dog beach/water access. Overall a beautiful park.

This is the best campground we have stayed at. We have been here all summer and we’ve had no complaints. The owners are great people who are always here working and interacting with the campers. Splash pad, pavilion, playground, Gaga pit, and dog park are a few of the great amenities. Each lot has a fire pit and the lots are large. They do activities for the kids every weekend and also have bands! It’s a fun place.

This is newly opened and a lot of work still needs to be done. Currently there is no dog park, hiking trails or bathhouses like it states. Many of the spots aren’t even finished yet.

When looking at the camp map don’t plan on having access to the creek or river. Your lucky if you can even view it.

The ground is all sand. So while if it rains you won’t get muddy, but the sand is a pain and gets everywhere.

It’s a KOA, but even for a KOA this one was sub-par. Granted, we visited in late March, and they may not have been at peak season form. But... The entry road is one lane. If you meet another vehicle someone has to back up. That’s just poor design. The roads in the campground need grading. Lots of holes and ruts. The site we were given wasn’t level, and it took a bit of maneuvering to get level. The “dog park” was a mud hole. The internet was extremely slow. And, like all KOAs, sites are very close together! However, on the plus side, the showers, bathrooms and laundry were Done all clean and neat. They have a pool (not open when we visited). Also a large playground, jumping pad and a small store. There was also grass between sites, instead of gravel, which is unusual for a KOA.

Dangerous animals on site! My child was bit by a cat at the playground. The cat had been hanging out around the office and at the play ground for a few days while we were there. We asked the office to trap and monitor the cat per health department sugestion after ER visit following bite. The camp manager has given us several different stories about having trapped the cat and then not having the cat then her husband taking the cat to his siatera house. When animal control and Kentucky dpt of health talked to them they gave them all different stories too. Bottom line is they are dishonest people and have a dangerous animal on their property. Beware BEWARE!!! Especially if you have children!

Private campsites, nice big lake for swimming, fishing and boating, pets allowed. Perfect for all seasons! Horseback riding available as well!

Nice sites. Diverse group of campers. Anything from people with full size house refrigerators in bed of pickup truck to people with their pet rabbits

Short hike to the lake. Great beach area and shower facilities. Pet friendly, horse trails, camp store. Liberty is a short drive and has all essentials plus J’s Dairy Inn 🤤

This was our first time camping here and it was a large park. There was several miles of bike trails , bridle trails and hiking trails. There is also a beach and marina for campers away from the main beach and marina for those just visiting the park for the day.

The nature center offered movies in the evening for guest.

The park was very clean and maintained. Trails were well marked and the camp hosts were very friendly.

We were there over Labor Day weekend and it was a quiet park except for the occasional golf cart late at night going by.

I did see a few dogs off leash which is always a pet peeve of mine.

Verizon cell coverage was good.

Beautiful park and camping if you like a parking lot for RVs. Lots of families and pets. Not great for tents but theres a couple ok spots. Not secluded. Very little shade but lots to do at the park and its very clean.

We love camping @ Cowen Lake State park! There are organized activities on the lake and through the nature center. You can also do your own thing. There are plenty of shady campsites, sunny ones, electric, primitive, pet-friendly, handicapped, and pull-thoughs. We love camping in the shady tree-lined areas where we have big sites for family gatherings. We've been camping here for over 10 years and love it!

Indian Lakes Campground is 10 minutes east of downtown Batesville, an hour to the east of Indianapolis and an hour to the west of Cincinnati. With over 1000 sites they offer a KOA section, year round leased sites, Thousand Trails sites and individual sites. We’re a married couple in our forties traveling with two dogs and a cat in our 37 foot motorhome and members of Thousand Trails. We arrived on April 3rd, the day prior to Indiana Covid-19 stay at home restrictions. The property owners were gracious enough to allow us to extend our stay beyond the normal 14 day limit for our personal safety. We were assigned a 50 amp site with water and sewer in loop 4B. This is an open loop with very few trees for shade. Immediately across from our site is a large field about the length of a football field. We can see the lake in the distance past the recreation and pool areas. During our stay we did not access the restroom, laundry, recreation or store areas as we were practicing social distancing. We plan to make many return trips to this campground in the future. Because we were the first to stay in our site since the campground closed for the winter season we had a little site maintenance/pickup to perform but nothing too out of the norm. The noise from the highway can only be heard about once a week. On weekends there’s an increase in golf-cart users and most neighbors are respectful during quiet hours.

General: Huge state park with over 400 sites. All are pet-friendly and electric. About 20 are FHU. While tent camping is permitted, certain sites are not recommended for it as there would be no place to pitch a tent. One loop is for equestrian camping but when we were there, I only saw one horse trailer, and the rest were occupied by RV campers. 

Site Quality: All camper pads are paved and most appeared level or just very slightly sloped. A picnic table and fire ring complete the site. Some sites have more trees to provide privacy while others are closer together with little separation.

Bath/Shower House: Not all loops have their own bath house and the I loop where we stayed was one of them. We used the one in the H Loop. The bathhouses were clean, and the shower had nice hot water, however, it doesn’t seem like there were sufficient facilities for how large the campground was (H Loop had two showers, two toilets, and three sinks). Hooks or shelves would have been appreciated.

Activities/Amenities: Many activities can be enjoyed here including mini golf (small nine-hole course), soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, corn hole, boating, and bicycling. Playgrounds are in several loops (I saw them in C and G). Rentals are available but most are only in season (ended September 30). There is a nature center and several hiking or paved biking/walking trails. There is also a camper beach for boating and swimming.

When we reserved months earlier, we knew that our first night (a Saturday) was 100% full as we got the very last site. What we did not know is that there was a HUGE Halloween celebration complete with 30-40 decorated golf carts parading through the campground. The road was closed until 6:45 pm (we arrived around 7 pm) and cars lined both sides of the approximately two-mile road! If that's your thing, great but it wasn't necessarily ours!

I appreciate that this park encourages so much outdoor activity, but it is not very pedestrian-friendly. I walked the road from one end to the other and there was no shoulder and, in many spots, no place to safely step off into the grass. I’m guessing it is assumed you will either have a car or golf cart to get around. 

One final note: for a park so close to a large city (Cincinnati), I was surprised the cell service was so lacking (on Verizon). We eked out one and occasionally two bars of 4G.

First time at 2Rivers; cannot give this place enough stars! From the public bathrooms/showers that were immensely clean (and emailed password protected), to the connecting trails right from your back door to both the Kentucky and Ohio river, there is an activity for everyone. It takes someone who has has a sloped slab to truly appreciate a fully concrete level slab with…INDIVIDUAL HOOKUPS! Yes, this was incredible! No community water, each site has their own water, sewer, and electric hookup. We brought our two dogs and they loved swimming in the rivers and running on the acres of freshly mowed park grass. Within minutes of a courthouse town with a great sporting good store! If the August heat would have been slightly less dramatic, this would have been the perfect weekend! Highly recommend

General Butler State Park had a lot to do on site and wasn't too far from the town's nearest amenities like a grocery store and a few places to dine out. 

Things to do: Scenic overlook- great view- as a short person I couldn’t see a ton though as the trees were impeding on my view. Hiked the Butler Lake Trail with dogs this was a fun trail We tried to hike the Woodland Trail- unfortunately it had just rained for the few days before that and it was too sloppy for us and our dogs General Butler State Park

Laundry Facilities- Only two washers and dryers that I could find at the entire park. Luckily no one was there when I went to do laundry but several came after me that had to wait.

Pool- There was a pool available for free to any of the campers- we did not get a chance to check this out.

Showers/Bathrooms- Showers and bathrooms were good, generally clean two shower houses at the park. The one I tried worked well.

Two Parks for kids to play at and a lot of room to walk just around the campgrounds on the cement for our dogs with ample available grass area for our dogs to go potty.

Really beautiful park overall.

Our family camped for 3 nights at site 268 and 269 . The sites are spacious with plenty of room for cornhole games . Showers were nice and hot and bathrooms were clean. Had a good time at the beach and caught a few fish at a couple different fishing spots. Overall good times, except the raccoons stole our hot dog buns we had sitting on the picnic table for literally 5 minutes while we cooked our hot dogs. It was a little too busy for my liking on Friday night , but Wednesday and Thursday we basically had the loop to ourselves!