Best Glamping near Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area

Campsite Review

I wound up staying at five different campsites within the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and this was my favorite. That largely is due to them having showers and canoe and kayak rentals, but hey – when you’re here in the summer, that’s what you want! Actually, Energy Lakes has the most amenities of all the campgrounds – including ice and firewood to buy and some additional common areas like a designated swim area (no lifeguard, but I imagine this makes it easier to keep an eye on kids) and basketball and volleyball courts. The only downside to this place is the lack of boat ramps, which is also surprising considering more primitive sites in the area offer those. I guess that’s the trade off – showers for no boat ramp. Luckily there are ample spots around the rec area in the park if you need to launch your boat. I would highly recommend a reservation here given it’s the most popular campsite in the park and only a few spots will get you truly “lakeside”. It is $10/hr for the boat rentals.

Product Review

As a Ranger for TheDyrt, I am given products to test from time to time. Today I was testing out the Showers Pass Waterproof Socks. You can watch the video review here. I didn't think there was any way someone could make a sock waterproof. I thought it would be more like a dry sack shrunk to mini proportions with some fitting elastic and it would be called a 'sock'. But here's Showers Pass, this Pacific Northwest-based company (I heard it rains there a lot) making this coolmax inner lined comfortable foot shield. Like, how?

I did a few bike rides in these, and the coolmax liner is definitely necessary since the socks are thicker to give you that water protection and in summer heat (it was about 90 degrees most of the days I was in this campground park) I was sweating everywhere. Energy Lakes has canoe rentals so I left my shoes in my car and dragged out a boat into the water and went for a paddle around the lake. It's a super cool feeling to walk into water just wearing socks and not get wet. It's like a wet-suit for your feet.

I did try to soak my feet, see if there was a "breaking point" for these guys. No surprise really, but if you walk into water that goes above the sock line on your leg, water is going to seep in since you've now completely submerged your sock and the elastic holding them against your leg really shouldn't be designed to be airtight, since then you'd have all kinds of other issues going on with the comfort and breathability of this sock. I imagine the majority of people using these aren't canoeing, they're bike riding and so unless you're trying to pedal through a waist deep puddle, I think you're going to be ok.

I do canoe a lot and these are my new favorite accessory. What I think is really promising about their performance too is since these socks were designed for activity, portages would still be enough for these socks to handle. Seriously Showers Pass how did you make these so freaking comfy and waterproof!?

Pros:

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.

YOU 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!

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 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.

Being close to water is always nice, and our family always looks for this when we are traveling away from home to camp. Kentucky Lake is nearby, and we spent most of our day here. We towed our small boat from home because we wanted to be able to enjoy being on the water (and my dad wanted to fish). There is running water and showers available on site, although I just jumped in the lake and shampooed my hair in their :) Very large campground, which was nice. Lots of room between campsites. Always a plus for us. The campground itself was really nice, we were actually very impressed. The campsites were well marked and had a picnic table, fire ring and a hanging rack which was super nice! We hung our wet suits from being in the lake all day. Great hiking nearby too. We would hike in the morning, and play in the water the rest of the day. The attendants/rangers were awesome, and directed us in the right place for hiking. You can see from my pictures attached that we hiked almost everyday. We would definitely stay here again next time we are in the area.

Had 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.

This is a really nice campground that has sites you can reserve along with first come first serve sites. If you are staying near the end of October I would definitely call to see if they have any availability because they do a Halloween weekend where they give out prizes for decorating your campsite and for a decorated golf cart parade (see video). It was a nice little surprise but we got lucky, they only had 2 available sites left!  We were lucky enough to get a site that does not have water or electric but were able to move after the big weekend to a spot with those amenities. 

The bathrooms were nice and kept clean. There are 4 shower rooms on the opposite side of the bathhouse that were nice enough and kept pretty clean. They also have laundry at 3 of the bathhouses. They only take quarters, the shop and the front don't keep a ton of quarters so I would suggest you bring some with you. 

The area has plenty of outdoor activities to do and is also pretty close to Fort Donelson, a drive through experience of the battle during the Civil War.