Madisonville, KY is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Discover secluded campsites where you can reconnect with nature. Or maybe you like to bring your family and friends along. Either way, there are Madisonville campgrounds just for you. Find the best campgrounds near Madisonville, KY. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
The park is situated in the middle of 14,000 plus acres of forest. We have a 56 acre lake with pedal boats and row boats. There are miles of hiking trails that meander through the forest. It is a great place to get back to nature. We also have an 18 hole golf course, tennis and basketball court, and a lodge with a full service dinning room.
Equine Camping: Pennyrile Forest offers 8 pull-through campsites specifically designed for horse owners. These sites feature electric, water and sewer hook-ups. Each site has its own corresponding hitching posts for up to four horses, picnic table, lantern hanger & fire ring/grill combo. Horse campers have access to all campground amenities, which include bathhouses, laundry area and playgrounds. A new 1.25 mile horse trail near the campground connects horseback riders to the 40+ miles of horse trails on the adjacent Pennyrile State Forest.
This recreation area is part of Barkley Lake
$10 / night
Situated along a peninsula between the lush shorelines of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, Canal Campground offers modern camping and provides the ideal setting to enjoy nature at its best with family and friends. Visitors can enjoy a stunning view of the Barkley Dam and boats traveling through the canal from the comfort of their campsite. The campground faces Barkley Lake, and the shore of Kentucky Lake is a brisk one-mile walk across the canal.
From water sports to wildlife viewing to hiking and biking, Canal Campground is the perfect setting for outdoor activities. Eagle nests can be spotted throughout the grounds, and its not unlikely for visitors to encounter deer and other wildlife. A short hiking trail allows campers to enjoy the outdoor scenery at their leisure. Fishing is also a popular pastime, and during warm months bass and catfish are plentiful in both lakes.
From water sports to wildlife viewing to hiking and biking, Canal Campground is the perfect setting for outdoor activities. Eagle nests can be spotted throughout the grounds, and its not unlikely for visitors to encounter deer and other wildlife. A short hiking trail allows campers to enjoy the outdoor scenery at their leisure. Fishing is also a popular pastime, and during warm months bass and catfish are plentiful in both lakes.
Lake Barkley, as part of a dam project at the Cumberland River, spans 134 miles along the Kentucky landscape, offering countless recreational activities to visitors. The canal connects Lake Barley with Kentucky Lake, forming one of the greatest freshwater recreational complexes in the country.
Grand Rivers, a short drive from the campground, has several restaurants and two public marinas.
$240 / night
$10 / night
This recreation area is part of Barkley Lake
Holiday Hills Resort is your premier resort location in western Kentucky. We have lake side lodging units with everything included for your stay. Full kitchen, gas grill, stove, microwave and much more. All you need to bring is your food and clothes. We have a brand new 50,000-gallon swimming pool, 2 playgrounds, a beach, game room and activities throughout the year. We offer water and electric camps sites that can handle anything from a tent to a 36’ camper. Our lake side lodging can fit groups from 4 to 60 people. Call now to book your family get-away
$40 - $999 / night
The campground is located at the edge of the Environment Education Waterfowl Refuge on Taylor Bay of Lake Barkley. Called a "back country" campground, it is primarily used by hunters and anglers and features great waterfowl watching. Boats can be tied up at some of the lakefront sites.
The campground has two sections. One section is to the right of campground's entrance and features very shady sites tucked into a heavy stand of mixed hardwood trees stretching up the hillside. The second section is to the left and has more open sites scattered around a loop. These sites are along the shore and have a view of Taylor Bay.
Seasonal camp site leases are available for some sites through an annual, open-to-the-public, lottery. Contact LBL for more information.
Possible day trips are the North and South Welcome Stations, Golden Pond Visitor Center, the Planetarium, Elk and Bison Prairie, Woodlands Nature Station, and The Homeplace.
$10 / night
This is lakefront with a vault toilet and no running water. On a Wednesday night everything was quiet and peaceful. It is a self serve campground.
Was the only one there $ 20 with Electricity, what a Deal Steve is a great Host Also had free Music….. Cicadas
We had so much fun at Energy Lake Campground. We were only able to stay one night but it was the reset we needed. Our pups loved it too! Bathrooms were clean, electricity worked great and the view was STELLAR! Super easy check in and check out.
We usually start camping in November since the campgrounds are usually getting closer to empty. This place was packed with people hunting and fishing. The camp sites are so close together that you can hear the people talking at their campsite next to you even when they are talking at a very calm conversational level. People were letting their kids run wild until about 10pm then you could hear a pin drop it got so quiet. However, by 3 am the place starts hopping. People getting in and out of their cars, doors closing and cars driving off in the gravel, RV doors opening and closing, gravel crunching under foot as people walk to and from the bathroom. Two women stood outside our tent (but at their camp site) at 5am chatting it up and opening and closing and opening and closing the car doors for over half an hour. If you can function on 5 hours of sleep and don't mind hearing everything everyone around you says in clear detail it isn't a bad place. The bathrooms are clean and warm in the winter.
Good spot to car camp or park next to your tent. Bathrooms have vault toilets, but were clean. Nice stargazing.
This is such a beautiful park. The rooms are dated but very clean. The views here are breathtaking. Hiking trails, paddle boating, canoeing and kayaking and geocaching.
Prizer Point is where I hostess a (Usually) large-ish group of women campers for a looong weekend of festivities. Our weekend themes have been simple (this year I taught Geocaching) to full blown festival (last year was Pirate's in the Cove). 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! The pools were (and usually are not) open when the women and I come to camp on our "week-end" (every September), and the lake was already at winter pool this year, but that makes it quite easy to launch a kayak, or SUP. During this stay we were in the "cove" area where Hurricane creek opens into Lake Barkley, on the original side of the park, where there is only water and electric hook ups. Prizer has a "honey wagon" that comes and pumps your waste water tanks every other day or as needed. (The new lagoon area has full hook up so you don't need the honey wagon.) This side is closer to the larger bath houses, with the community room and swimming pools centrally located. When we were on this side, we hosted a Pirate's Themed weekend, with over 35 women participating. One of our participants couldn't attend, as she lost her battle with illness just a week before the event, and the staff at Prizer "memorialized" her campsite for us during the weekend.
Extremely friendly staff. Clean campsites with a great view of the lake. Nice pool as well!
I've stayed at Energy several times, and thought this would be a good time to update the review. Energy Lake is in Land Between the Lakes (LBL) and is ideal for nature viewing, hiking, swimming and hanging out by the camp fire. There are four loops, with A being the newest camping loop, B has been converted to all single room cabins, C & D remain unchanged, but are well kept and maintained. The staff at this campground is AMAZING, and very knowledgeable about LBL and the two small towns on either side of LBL (Aurora and Cadiz). The lake itself is man made, and motorized water craft are not permitted being there is a nature sanctuary in the back creek end of the lake, which makes for great swimming, and my favorite lake to kayak through with all three dogs on board. There are multiple access points to the lake with roads leading to the lake from both sides for launching, or you can paddle across. There are NO WATER or SEWER hookups at any of the sites, and the sites in A & B are compacted gravel, designed for either RV or tent, loop D's sites are all paved and preferred by RV's.
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.
There are about 25 sites. No reservations, all sites are first come first serve. There are about 8-10 lake front. There is also about 8-10 in the woods. There is a block bathroom. There are fire rings and picnic tables at each site. There is a boat dock. There are no shower houses, no water, and no electricity.
Taylor Bay is a self service campground in Land Between the Lakes. All the campsites are first come, first served. There are no amenities except a vault toilet and a boat ramp. The roads leading back to Taylor Bay are all paved, and each site has a fire ring, and is usually compacted gravel. When you arrive, you find your site, stake your claim, and then go back to the "iron ranger" to fill out your camping registration, pay your fees and drop the envelope into the "iron ranger". Generators are allowed, but there are posted quiet times. I have AT&T cell service and could pick up three bars on an android.
The sites are well spaced apart to still offer some privacy. Most of the sites are shaded, but a few in the center have zero shade. If you plan on using the boat ramp, be sure to check the lake levels...the ramp drops abruptly and during low pool, may not be usable. Taylor Bay is located near Hematite Lake (picnicking & hiking), and the Nature Station on the north side of LBL.
I loved the price and that it even tho cheap still had bathrooms.
I stayed here for 1 night in early April at an RV back-in site#81 on the hill. Water and electric were at the site. There was a dump station, trash and recycling near the campground entrance. The views were spectacular- especially the sunset. I would gladly stay here again!
Quiet campground. Nice shower house. Quick walk to cave in rock or the cave in rock restaurant. Very few campers. Large open grassy areas. Lots of deer…and ticks. Campground host is really nice but the ranger is a pain
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,
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, laundry, basketball courts, archery range, playgrounds, hiking trails plus seasonal events, amphitheater and church. We visited before the busy season so lake was low and fishing sucked however and it was peaceful/quiet. I can definitely see this campground being crazy when sites are booked solid.
It was fun! Nice ad quiet ! We went horse back riding and canoeing!
Lots of different areas. One of my favorite in LBL. Tons of deer, and skunks, but they don’t bother you.
We were getting tired on the road and we called them at 9pm. They picked up and helped us greatly. Its tough with 2 small children. They got me a spot right up front to pull through and even put a flashing light on the site so I could see where I was going. They went over an beyond to help a wherry traveler. 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.
Thank you!
I spent two night at Pine Ridge in early November. Really liked the place. The rustic sites are well spread out so they feel very private. The hookup sites were closer together and did not look as well spaced. There is a 2 mile loop road that goers around the whole campground and down to a beach access point for a gorgeous lake. That was a perfect little g walk with the dog. Spectacular.
Trying out my recently purchased 17’ clipper travel trailer. Loved the area and the campsites are very roomy, especially for a small camper. There were a few other folks camping that weekend but still very quiet. The left loop has power 50/30/20 amp hook ups but no water or sewer on the campsite. Great location for hiking trails and it’s exactly 23 Miles to Walmart. We will definitely stay here again. Fall foliage was kick’n too. And it was only $10 a night!!!
Extremely beautiful area with wonderful small circles of very nice primitive anr Rv campsites, each with a nice picnic table and fire ring. Each circle A-D has a shower house, washer/dryer and bathroom. Golf carts can be rented at $5/day! Peaceful setting on the lake home to many bald eagle. We paid $16 a night for a primitive site. I'll upload a map picture with the view pics. Elk and Bison Prairie is a close by must for only $5 admission card.
This campground area is beautiful! We stayed here 3 nights. 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.
You can get some cell service but only in choice areas (at the front by the water spigot and some of the roads leading down to the lake. We were not able to get any cell service (Verizon, AT&T, or T Mobile) in the electric loop.
This area is a primitive area and is not really set up for RVs. Don't get me wrong... RVs can definitely fit in most of the camping spots but only 1 loop has electricity, there is no sanitary dump station, and the water spigot does not have a way to hook up a hose to fill your tank. If you dump your tanks and fill with fresh water before coming you should be good.
It does have vault toilets... no showers. The toilets were very clean for vault toilets.
The lake area is beautiful with a swimming area, fishing pier, and pavilion to eat or sit under for shade. It looks like they really keep the area cleaned up!
Another little note that we learned is that the park rangers can help you move sites... or even campgrounds if your site is not working for you so you don't loose out on money like we did. This only applies to other Shawnee campgrounds of course but there are quite a few to choose from!
Nice campground in the national recreation area. The roads are a bit steep and narrow but we were able to get a 30’ travel trailer in there without trouble. 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. The second night a bunch of kids had a drunken party at one of the sites. Other than that it was a nice, peaceful place to camp.
Nice
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Madisonville, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Madisonville, KY is Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park with a 4-star rating from 18 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 15 glamping camping locations near Madisonville, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
