Best Tent Camping near Laurel River Lake, KY

This was my first time to the Niagara of the South. My husband and I left our dog back in Louisville for this trip which was originally an attempt to see the moon bow at Cumberland Falls. 

We looked at the tent site map on the state resort park map and nothing looked GREAT except for Clifty Campground spots 050, 048, and 049 they all look isolated from any of the other sites with 050 being a site that you have to traverse a grassy/rocky area from your car to set up. 

We opted for spot 047 because, on the map, it looked set back from the campground road… and it was… sorta. Nothing at this campsite is going to be private. The majority of the sites do not have so much as a weed between them although the sites themselves are very roomy for car camping. Your vehicle will be a presence at the site, which have electric hookups so if, like me, you have an electric car… it's nice to be able to simply plug the car in. This site did not get a lot of shade except for where we had the tent set up, and still… that would've received sun had it not been raining. 

Our site had a good picnic bench, a sturdy wooden post for hanging trash etc and the fire pit seemed pretty new. The grill wasn't bent at all, which was a 1st in my years of camping. The view from this site was pretty cool… we set out tent up at the furthest out spot on the small cliff as we could before it turned to mostly rock and faced the door out over the trails. We hung our rain tarp because, instead of a moon bow, we endured a nearly 24 hour torrential downpour. The tarp, which is small, and having the tent faced appropriately gave us a semblance of privacy although we had a camper van family next to us. Site has a lot of gravel so it was reasonably muddy but not dried out quick. 

There are a lot of raccoons that visit the dumpster area so expect it to be a little messy if your fellow campers aren't shutting the dumpster lids. Shower facilities reminded me of middle school camp… kind of mildewed… and well… rustic. Everything functioned and it wasn't "gross" just old. Water was hot. Toilet stalls (ladies) were small. I weight 130 and at 5 foot 2 it was a tight squeeze for me. 

We hiked the WIldflower Loop Trail (1.5 miles) in a drizzle and although wet it was safe. When the rain stopped we hiked Eagle Falls Trail and it was very muddy but the views were worth it. 

Would love to go back but if camping in a tent it's a must to get one of the two more private spots, or at the very least

We stayed at site RV33. We have a 25ft travel trailer and it was perfect. There were two tent sites very close to us, but we had more than enough room. If we were to go again, we would pull straight into the site (this would have put our slide towards the road). The tent sites looked to be the best tent sites I’ve seen. The bath house was very clean. The staff was very helpful. There were trails from the campground to Cumberland Falls. We hiked to see Cumberland Falls (from the lodge) and Eagle Falls. After a short drive, we hiked Natural Arch and Yahoo Falls.

A nice quiet campground on Lake Cumberland in the Burnside area.  Nice RV sites and tent sites

Good tent camping sites. Lots of trees; level sites; fire pit; picnic table. Very clean & well supplied restrooms. Great individual private room showers with plenty of good hot water.

We tent camped in August. The campground area was huge and perfect for tent camping or an RV. We were next to the restroom building which also served as a storm shelter. The restrooms were air conditioned and very clean! The only negative thing I have to say about the site is the fire ring needed to be cleaned out. The Rowena Landing restaurant had a good buffet and excellent catfish! The pool was closed for repairs and that was disappointing. The country store was very close and offered a small selection of foods, but most everything you would need for your campsite. The mini golf was fun, but there was a little flooding on the course due to a crazy storm the day before. Everyone was very nice and this felt like a safe place to be. The lake was crazy beautiful and worth going out on to see.

A couple of the tent sites are waterfront and ideal for a tenter like me. The rest seem a little packed together, though some offer a little bit of seclusion. Decent facilities and easy access to Devil’s Backbone section of Cumberland trail.

I have tent camped here a couple of times in the past few years. The campground is clean and neat, and some sites offer great views of the lake and surrounding cliffs. It's a beautiful place to hang out at during sunset or sunrise. The shower and restrooms are clean, and the general store is nice and convenient. The laundry facilities are a nice place to get things cleaned up while you're on the road. The biggest problem I see with this area is the noise. A lot of the Wahweap workers live in an area of mobile homes above the campground, and they definitely like to party at night. A group of motorcyclists also thought it was a good idea to rev their Harleys up at 6 am one day. I am sure camping in and RV would isolate you from the noise, or maybe camping during a weekday would be better. Either way, I would stay here again. As for tent camping, some of the sites have zero shade, so be prepared with your own shelters. Just make sure you anchor them down; afternoons can bring some strong winds to the area.

This is a great campground that offers a lot of amenities, including a bath house, fire rings, picnic tables and offers both RV and tent camping. The people in the campground were respectful and there were trailheads leading directly from the campground to the wilderness. Pickett is a great place to visit because it’s an international dark sky, there are beautiful natural bridges and lots of recreation opportunities.

This place is not for you if you are looking for solitude or silence. It might be your scene if you’re into parties. Tent sites were not all accessible by drive up - some you had to park at the top of the hill and walk down. Bathrooms were clean though, and the staff was friendly. Can’t beat the proximity to the falls either.

Campsites are nice but electric hookups only at certain sites. Its a national campground so its beautiful with nice bathouses but not much activities other than hiking. There are a limited amount of sites that would accommodate a large RV, mostly tent sites. It is first come first serve with no reservations. There is no rv parks close if the campground is full.

We usually camp here at least 3 times every year. They have dedicated tent sites with electric and also a primitive tent area. It's open year around but in the summer season you can take a trail off of loop I that leads to the community pool to cool off. The campground organizes fun activities for the summer holidays like tie dying, camper's only pool party, bingo, best decorated campsite, etc. It always seems to pack out everytime we are there.

This is the favorite campground of local friends. It’s within the Daniel Boone National Forest on Laurel River lake and is not actually an island. It can’t be accessed by car but you can bike in on a dirt service road. Most of the docks are quite small, so plan to visit by small boat or by canoe/kayak, though we did see some larger boats at some of the docks. Great spacious sites, beautiful and wooded. It’s a medium sized campground.

Yay: wonderful atmosphere here, potable water provided, pit toilets.

Nay: no reservations and it apparently fills up on weekends.

Surprise: you can XC ski or snowshoe to the site (3+ miles) in the winter. Great wildlife all year. People go scuba diving in this lake but we haven’t ever tried it. Definitely the can’t miss campground in this area.

Great campground with very friendly and helpful rangers. Was pretty empty the night we were there. Very cool tent camping spots right on the small lake and RV spots all pretty much have a lake view. Full hookups and dump when you exit the campground. They do not have water at the sites in the winter. Bathrooms were clean enough and the showers were hot. Would definitely come back. Many trailheads near the campsite but the weather was bad when we were there. Drone photos courtesy of SweetDroneChicago on Instagram

We went after labor day in September n it was closed from road we put in at boat ramp landed here n late afternoon had sandy beaches like n Florida but hidden n small. U can grill out camp fire n party down.we had no one bother us.We fished for all caught brown n rainbow trout,blue cats,gar,bluegill,striper but caught most from banks. Seen a wild mink n other wildlife. Great for kids or Adults or guys night out we tent camped n used electric outlets to charge phone & plug in boom box.

Visited here in the middle of January with all the snow and I was hot tent camping. You can only set up your tent on the designated tent pad, luckily we had heavy duty stakes that could get through the ground. The entire river was frozen over and ponds were frozen too. There were a few cars that drove through the middle of the night but no issues. We left our site unattended for hours to check out the streams and rivers and nothing was missing. Lots of beer bottles left over and shattered so I have to pick up the trash before letting my dog out. There are more sites down the gravel road but we went with the first one we came to.

I was a little underwhelmed compared to what I was expecting from camping at a national park. The positives are the cheap rates and there are bathroom and shower facilities. If you want old fashion tent camping the park does have some backcountry campsites.

The cons are the lack of actual campsites. They are more like parking spaces. Probably to appeal to the people who use campers. The noise of the highway was constant and annoying.

Overall I enjoyed my time staying here. Wish I could have done more backcountry camping but the weather didn't permit it.

We took a trip here with my older parents and chose to stay in the lodge for the added amenities. We did drive around the campground area though for future reference and were not sad about our choice to stay in the lodge. The campground has 3 separate areas all smaller but the sites are similar throughout- simple, not secluded, and probably better for RV campers than tent camping. The highlight of the park for us was the disc golf course. There were a couple hiking trails that were nice as well. I didn’t choose to horseback ride but the reviews from our family were positive. This is a nice park with tons of little features that make it great for a family with all ages.

We stayed in tent site 19. I think it is definitely the best site in the campground. Sites 19 and 20 are a couple of the only sites with any privacy. Site 19 is a walk in (down) but the site itself is huge and the tent platform is built out on a rock outcrop. Overall the campground is nice but the other sites are very close together. The rangers/camp hosts came by while we were gone to warn us about bear activity in the campground, you do need to be careful with food. We went to see the moonbow so it was fairly busy while we were there. We also took a hike to Eagles Falls where it seems to be clothing optional swimming...lol It didn’t bother us but just an FYI. We had a very relaxing 3 days at Cumberland Falls, would definitely recommend it.