Best Glamping near Mammoth Cave, KY

Great first camping experience! We got 2 sites and each site was very spacious, with tables and fire pits. It was extremely humid and hot when we went so make sure to bring bug spray! We were about a 5 min drive from Mammoth Cave so it was very convenient. There were clean shower and bathroom facilities but you had to pay to use the shower (back in 2015 at least). I found a faucet right next to the showers and I just bathed there in my bathing suit. Because it was so hot, we wanted to go swimming. The closest body of water we found was a river (definitely was not clean) and it helped cool us down, but we saw a water snake so we all jumped out (yup, we're city folks!). We found a little pond by a residents area so we paid a fishing fee and went fishing. Local small shops were very cool too!

I was tent camping with my family Thursday-Saturday while visiting Mammoth Cave.

The good: the tent campground has spacious, level sites. The sites are located in a grove of pine trees, which makes for well shaded sites with a pleasant surface of soft pine straw to pitch your tents. A few sites had trees suitable for hanging hammocks if you enjoy that. There are toilets and sinks in the park office near the primitive campsites. There is a swimming beach and boat ramp on Nolin Lake nearby. Convenient to Mammoth Cave NP and fishing and hiking opportunities abound.

The bad: the shower house is in the RV campground and too far away to be a convenient walk. You have to drive there which is a pain with kids. There were few shower stalls and they were not kept clean. The park staff were very friendly but just overworked. Thursday night we were kept awake by loud campers and campground staff weren’t around to enforce quiet hours. Quiet hours do not start until 11 PM which is not ideal for campers with young children. The park started filling up on Friday and Saturday and was obviously very crowded on the weekend. Seems like a "party spot" for locals. 

We might return here but perhaps would choose to camp during the week or during a less busy time of year.

First the bad news: the sites are not perfectly level. That is it.

Now the good news: Management is a joy to communicate with. Bathrooms & showers are spacious, CLEAN, and they are air conditioned!

There are seasonal campers here for sure, but that wasn't a negative. The campground is quiet and well maintained. Hookups were excellent. The pool was the perfect size for this campground and was never crowded. The dumpster is centrally located and easy to find. On arrival, you get a map and good information. Across the street from Diamond Caverns! Which is more appealing to the eye than Mammoth Cave due to being a wet cave which forms stalactites and stalagmites - which you will see very little of in Mammoth Cave. They have a miniature golf course, but it was so hot in late July we passed.

Clean. Friendly. Affordable. Nice pool. Nice sites. Nice spacing between sites. We loved our stay and decided to stay an extra night. Plenty of open space to walk the dogs! We're not a member, but we would absolutely stay here again! I called the office to get an extra night and they said they didn't have any availability, so I went on the website and booked it;-)

We really enjoyed the four days we spent at the Mammoth Caves Campground, right in the national park. I have to correct some information on this listing, though. There are no electric hookups. There is water available at spots throughout the campground, but not at the sites. There is one difficult to use dump station. Also, internet connections are terrible. You need to rely on the WiFi at the visitor center and lodge.

Setting that aside, it’s a beautiful, wooded campground with large and generally level sites. You’re right in the middle of the park, with all it has to offer. Its about a ten-twelve minute walk to the Visitor Center, which is where all the cave tours and many of the hiking trails start. The Visitor Center also has a great exhibit explaining the geology and history of the park and area. It is connected by a pedestrian bridge to the park lodge, which has several restaurants. Both buildings are wonderfully air conditioned, which helped a lot in the August heat.

Also helping with the heat are the caves themselves, which are spectacular and not to be missed. Other activities right in the park are lots of hiking opportunities and canoe and kayak rental.

There are modern and very clean bathrooms throughout the campground. It’s a mystery why they didn’t include showers when they built those bathrooms. Instead there are paid showers in the building housing the camp store. You insert six quarters and get a decent amount of time. For me, this was the only real downside of the campground, one I could put up with given all the other advantages.

Site 35B was a great site and was next to a small field, giving us extra space and privacy.

What can I say, but Bailey's is our happy little piece of paradise! I've camped here since I was in my early 20s in tents, to camping in a camper in my 40s. Most sites have electric and water. Many sites have incredible views of Barren River Lake and some are downright on the banks. Bath houses are climate controlled and CLEAN. Bailey's is a large campground but it's not usually crowded with loud, obnoxious people. There's nearly a camaraderie here between the campers and while everyone is friendly, they tend to keep to themselves. We like loops B and C the best for a combo of waterfront views and shade trees. Something about watching the moonlight sparkle on the lake with a warm, crackling fire nearby. Bailey's is it!

We stayed here one night. It's a small campground about 35 mins from Louisville and has about 40ish sites for RVs with electric and water, some with sewage. Our site was fairly small and pretty close to other sites but it was easy enough to get into and fit our 12ft pop up without issue. They have 2 bathrooms(the one by the laundry/store is very nice!), a catch and release pond(small, but there are small bluegill and some bass), a nice playground, clean pool, store on site, and overall we had a great time. There are also several connections for wifi, and cable(we didn't try it). The staff seemed very nice. Our site without sewage was $30 plus tax, they also offer tent sites and small cabins($40-50 with air conditioning) if that's your thing. Our site was nice and shaded. We were disturbed a few times by trains in the middle of the night- otherwise it was pretty peaceful and quiet.