Piney Campground

We came here in mid November 2021 and stayed for a week. I was disappointed with the campground. The bathrooms were clean, but are in bad need of updates, as are the shower facilities. Showers were luke warm, some had non-functioning heaters in them, and a lot of rust and broken shelving. The sites are level, but are not picked up routinely; we had to clean our site of discarded bottle caps, hygiene items, etc. when we arrived. The laundry facilities are outside- and some machines didn’t work. At one point (probably due to seasonal reasons) they removed all the washing machines. No notice posted. The views are nice, but the lake/river effect wind coming in during winter is punishing and forces you inside most of the time anyway. Trails on the property are overgrown, and the one loop by the ranger station has two bridges that look like they have been destroyed for years- no one is doing any maintenance on them. I expected to do some route finding due to fall, but this was really bad. The surrounding area makes up for it, nice things to see, lots of history, nice trails and mountain bike spots. But you have to drive about 40 minutes minimum from the campground to get to the MTB trails, and about the same to get to a town (Murray, Ky) that has everything. The USFS runs this place, and they seemed helpful, but they need to step it up in the maintenance department here. The playground for kids is missing swings, the trash in some receptacles is full. Furthermore; they have some long-term residents that have sites that look like they are running a swap meet out of them. I don’t think that should be allowed in a park like this.

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.

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.

We spent seven nights at site 41 and it was spectacular. The lakeside sites have electrical hookups but no water but there are potable water sites throughout the park. We simply filled up our water tanks before setting up and everything was great. The staff was so friendly and helpful and knowledgeable about Land Between the Lakes which is HUGE. The showers need to be updated - clean but old with chipped tile and corroded metal fixtures. The toilets and showers are on separate sides of the building so it is a little inconvenient but such a minor one compared to all the positives. We laundry facilities are in perfect working condition. We were glad to see the many safe areas for children - swimming, bike riding, baseball, playgrounds, etc. Every site was clean and beautiful. There is truly something for everyone. I was able to kayak every morning practically right from our doorstep.

Don't even get me started on Land Between the Lakes. Seven days was not enough time to do and see everything - the Homeplace, planetarium, wildlife refuge, visitors center, Fort Donelson & much more. This is a magical place and I can't wait to return.

My family and I really enjoyed staying at the Piney Campground. Here are some things we really liked about camping here:

1. Easy to locate- nothing is worse than printing off direction or using your phone to navigate and you still cant find the campground. This campground was easy to find, right of the road, and great signage.
2. Big spaces- My family and I love when the campsite spaces are big enough for 2 tents, the table, fire ring and car. I loved that the spaces were big, and each campsite was separated by large bushes and trees.
3. Hikes nearby- this is something we always look forward to doing when we camp. We do our research ahead of time to find the best hikes for us. The hikes were great, and so much greenery and flowers! See pictures attached. Great views as well.
4. The park attendants were super helpful and nice. They directed us to our spot, and helped us with the hikes and where to go.

There was only 1 thing we didn't like, and that was there was only 1 bathroom and it was a porta-poty ty . It didn't smell very good, but what porta potties do?

Overall we loved our stay, and would definitely come back!

Took the kids, had fun. Lots of stuff to do in LBL. Campground was almost full, but we were able to switch our reservation to a walk up only, ie no reservations, site right on the water when we arrived. Gravel site was for the most part clean. No large trash, but various cig butts and small food wrappers buried in the gravel. Kids had fun. Water was warm and calm being off the main lake. Piney cove is pretty shallow and we could walk out into the water a good 30-40ft before getting too deep. Bottom is soft mud. Fishing was OK from the shore. There is a fishing pier people were talking about but we didnt try it. For the most part it was quite. One group got loud kinda late, but we were far enough away that it wasnt too much of a bother. Check in/out times are good 430pm in 330pm out. Bathrooms and showers were reasonably clean. Centrally located n several spots And cleaned daily. Staff was friendly, helpful, and did a good job. General store on site for forgoten item, but as usual you pay a premium.

One great thing about here is the beautiful lake nearby! My family and I spent our entire day here and had an absolute blast. The lake front views are incredible. You have the option to camp right next to the lake and have the best view ever. They also have spots for RVs for electrical hookups. The sites are amazing because they are orettt big. We fit my dads big truck and all our tents in the campsite we had. There is a small beach area, bike trail which was a lot of fun, an archery range, theater, and great hiking trails. The campfire theater was amazing! You honestly can’t beat that. Some other things we enjoyed were:

• boat ramp
• cabins available- although we didn’t stay here
• fishing
• area to play basketball, and big grass areas for other activities.
• Everything was in walking distance

I would definitely call and make reservations beforehand. It wasn’t very busy. The cost is pretty cheap too. For a basic, tent campsite it was $12. More expensive if you use the electrical hookup areas. When we went it was pretty Smokey. There were some fires nearby and the smoke just settled in. That was the only downside of our trip.