Best Glamping near Prospect, KY

This state park could use a little TLC. The acreage is good, nice views of the lake, and it does offer good campsites, however some are smaller than possibly described so use your best judgment. There is a lodge, trails, and fishing. Tennis courts are down by the Butler-Turpin State Historic House. Mini-golf and a gift shop are also available. It looks at one time there was a golf course but it is absolutely overgrown. There was some road construction during our visit so check the Kentucky State Park site before visiting.

Having lived 62 years in Kentucky, less than twenty minutes from the Jeff. Forest, leaving to explore USA, then returning to my home state allows me a unique point of view. The seclusion here and the closeness to nature is a grand slam! Due to fall, the sites seem much closer than they are due to the thinning foliage. Friendly neighbors, standard picnic table/fire pit/port-a-potties/potable water. Roomy campsite and room for my son to visit in his car with my van parked inside the campsite. Lots of trees for hammocking. Lots of downed wood for easy collecting, lots of trails ranging from 1.5 to 13.0 miles through gorgeous mixed forest of old and new growth deciduous and coniferous hardwoods.

Honestly, I would give this campground 5 stars but we had a big safety issue at our site. At site 11 and a few others, they had no backstops at the back of the blacktop pad. If the site was level, it wouldn’t have been as bad. Upon setting up our 16’ camper, it began to slip backwards down toward the woods. Our wheel blocks were probably placed, but the grade was just too much. We ended up pulling the camper higher up on the blacktop almost in the road and had no issue. No other RV sites were available to move to. Other than that, the campground was very nice. Trails were very well kept, playground equipment looked new and safe, workers were friendly, and bathrooms were clean. The golf course wasn’t operational (exept mini golf was neat and working) and there were a lot of tree stumps left from all the cut Ash Trees that were affected by the emerald ash borer beetle. The State Park did have informational signs explaining the effect on trees in the area. They have many cabins of various sizes and in great shape. Workers were seen cleaning everyday. The Butler Mansion was well taken care of though we didn’t make it there when it was open. Our campsite was nice. We lucked out that our neighbors were tent campers because our two sites were so close together. Heads up to check the map and Google Earth when booking. Some sites have a lot of room and others are super close to neighboring sites. The Kentucky Speedway is about 15 minutes away. Louisville an hour. And if you want to checkout a cute little town, stop in La Grange, KY (30min drive) See the “Trains on Main”, drink at La Grange Coffee Roasters, antiques, local artist shops, and eat BBQ at Big R’s & Shannon’s Bar-B-Q.

Charlestown State Park is known for its great hiking trails, particularly the Rose Island “trail.” The short, paved Rose Island trail is family friendly as long as you are prepared to take on the steep hill on the way. Once you cross over the beautiful new bridge, you are on your way to a self-guided tour of the ruins of the historical theme park that includes a gravel pathway and river views. I have been on all of the trails and they are all beautiful and great for a day trip.

The campground itself was also very nice. Our group camped in tents but we were outnumbered by camping vehicles. The bathroom facilities were incredibly clean and fairly new. We enjoyed a trailhead on our very own camping spot!

Highly recommend!

This is one of the quietest campgrounds I have stayed at so far. The sites are large with many options for shade or open. They have great hiking trails, a creek off of the Ohio river to fish, and a boat ramp to the river. We did hiking trail 3 and 7 visiting Rose Island. I am only giving it 4 stars because the bathrooms could have used a good cleaning. They weren’t disgusting by any means but I have been to campgrounds with cleaner.

Clean and quiet. Very nice park. Clean restrooms and showers.

1st time campers with our travel trailer. Enjoyed rose island trail lots of cool history to learn. Also enjoyed trail 6 with the waterfalls.

This place is nice a quiet. Many sites had natural grasses between them. Lots of room on the sites. Bathrooms were clean and very kept up. The only downside was the trail to rose island. It was over 400 feet drop in elevation. Be prepared for a climb back up it.

Campground is OK. Camp hosts came to complain about their jobs when they greeted and met us, which made us uncomfortable enough to not stay here as long as we intended to. Campsites are not at all private, everyone will be sitting outside their tent or rv watching you. Felt like I was on TV. Not much for amenities, and some of the campsites were full of horse or dog poop. Be very careful which site you choose, or your tent will be full of feces and you'll sleep smelling it all night.

Right off the bat we appreciated the layout of the camping spots, while you have neighbors not more than 30’ from you it feels more secluded because of the vegetation growing between sites. We also loved the hiking opportunities, Rose Island is definitely a must see

We loved the campground, it was very luscious and beautiful and even though there was a lot of people (June 2021), it still felt like you had your privacy in your own site. However, only 4 stars because we got there and somebody was parked in our assigned spot, so we called the front desk and they didn't seem to care much or tried to get them out, so eventually we just decided to go to another open site, which worked out fine, however we shouldn't have needed to deal with this considering we paid almost $60 for a one night stay.

Great experience

I love this place, we visit all the time to hike/walk the trails. Very beautiful!!

We live locally and travel nationally.   Who would have believed this great park would be only 30 miles away.  The grounds are very clean and well maintained, the sites are very wide and individual with the landscaping aiding the feeling of "private".  There, of course, are never enough full service sites but enough with good planning.  In Indiana, INDNR, allows for advanced reservations with a maximum stay of 14 days.  $7 at the main gate + camping fees get you access, unless you have membership, into any state park.  Go to the website for full details https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks.  The bath houses are always clean and well maintained.  Importantly, feel safe as the grounds all have a host and are well patrilled.  Charlestown is a model for both public and private camp grounds east of the Mississippi.  Lots of nature trails.  We recently watched two doe's with their 4 young fawns grazing while we ate breakfast.

This was perfect being only 20 minutes from our home. It was quiet and the bathrooms were super clean. The sites were flat and generous.

Charlestown State Park is a great, quiet campground for us to get away in our RV. We love that all of the sites are paved and most of the full-hookup sites offer a lot of privacy.

There is always a bathhouse close by and they are usually very clean. Staff is always super nice.

We prefer Charlestown because the hiking trails are wonderful, there’s lots of paved roads for biking, but the lack of a pool means that there tend to be fewer kids and it’s a lot more quiet than some of the neighboring state parks. There is a great boat ramp for the Ohio River so many campers are there to spend time in the river on their boats.

My husband & I spent 5 nights at Charlestown State Park in mid-September 2020.  Campground was nice with concrete pads and full hookups. Campground was not heavily shaded, but we didn't mind that at all.  We biked throughout the park and hiked 4 of the trails, 3 of which were pretty rugged and all had elevation changes for a good hiking challenge.  From here as a base we also spent half a day in Madison Indiana, (shopping, dining & winery) and biked the Ohio River Greenway path - nice 7 mile one way bike path from Jeffersonville to New Albany and stopped for lunch before turning around to head back.  The bike trail also has a bike/pedestrian bridge across the Ohio River to the trail which runs along the river on the Louisville side.  Would absolutely recommend and would go back again.

Had site 151. Partially shaded, level, not far walk from potable water. Only electric. No water or sewer at my site. No problem though. Had some trails to hike on. Nothing spectacular but a great place to stay a night or 2. Very clean and well kept campground. Sites in “Paw Paw Loop” are much more desirable. Especially sites 143-154. Shaded, private, near potable water 👌🏻

Great park for quiet camping. Picnic table and fire ring at each site. All have electric hookup...others are full service. Many relatively secluded sites. Bath houses clean. Multiple hiking trails which can be mixed and matched for longer hikes..all moderate.

Quiet campground especially off season. Would come again

Went here for a day hike and it was an absolute treat.

Had an okay time at this campground while we were traveling through. It's very flat and open. I noticed there is not much shade, but the park itself is very clean.

The bathrooms not being open was a downer, especially when dry camping in our RV.

No wifi but had decent enough Verizon/AT&T signal, and paid around $20/night.

Electricity was fine though.

We stayed in the off season and it was lovely. Area is clean, outhouses were well maintained. My children loved all the playgrounds around the state park, great trails. Highly recommend.