Suggestions for Daniel Boone National Forest

[Chaplain Kent]

We will be jump starting spring again this year and have chosen Kentucky. This is one of our favorite states and we have camped there many times. We want to try Daniel Boone National Forest and will be staying about 7- 10 days, while exploring the area. Are there any full service sites in the forest? Which is the best campground? Suggestions for day trips? We will be leaving this Saturday, stopping at Frankfort for bourbon at Buffalo Trace.

[cwf]

Dunno.. motorcycled thru there and star-camped... didn't care about RV's at the time... sorry.. surely someone will chime in..

Peace and blessings!

[Airstruck]

I sure would like to know where to camp in this area as well

[Lily&Me]

The AllStays app shows two Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds in Daniel Boone NF, but neither appear to be open yet.


Maggie

[wlanford]

There are two campgrounds with hook-ups (except sewer) at Natural Bridge State Park. There is also a very nice Forest Service campground near there named Koomer Ridge campground, but it does not have hook-ups.

[Alumanati]

If you need a free overnight stay I own the Richwood Flea Mkt in the northern part of the state on I-75. No hookups but plenty of open paved parking lot.

[Hal-Gin]

Just go to forestcamping.com and you will find what you need to know about national forest campgrounds.

[bobmiller1]

We stayed there two years ago in August in our 390 XL, no sewer hook-ups, but 30 amp and water available. We were there in August, had the place to our selfs because the schools start early there. We also found out how value able our Tropic Room enclosure was. The bugs are huge there, they didn't bite but they look like huge bees. Try and stay near the beach it us really nice. We rode our bikes around the whole campground and marked off some of the nicer sites that we would like to stay at in the future. We were there the third week of August, and there were a lot if sites reserved for the Labor Day weekend, almost 90 percent, so you may want to call ahead depending on when you plan to go.

[Air4563]

I second the recommendation of wlanford for Natural Bridge State Park. We had our grandchildrens' rally there last summer and everybody enjoyed it. You are close to the Red River Gorge which is beautiful and has a nice visitor's center and excellent hiking trails. There many trails at Natural Bridge as well as swimming pool,lodge,restaurant,etc.
There are 2 campgrounds at NB. I recommend Middle Fork for your size AS. Whittleon Branch is nice also but harder to get into. Have fun!!!!!

[Rich W]

I live about 60 miles from Cave Run Lake, Twin Knobs CG. It's in the Daniel Boone National Forest near Morehead, KY. There is 20/30/50 amp service but no water hookup. There are shared water spigots so you'll need something to tote water in. You could fill up on the way in and maybe make it through the week.

Restrooms are very nice, clean, modern. There are 2 BRs with 2 showers in each loop. We stayed at a spot (J-11 in the J loop, considered a prime spot, first come basis) that was on an overlook and maybe 60 yards from the waters edge. The CG has it's own boat ramp and parking. That spot was $35 a day, $20 if you get the Senior Pass for National Parks. You can buy it before checking in at the ranger station on the way to the CG. (MUCH cheaper and faster than ordering online.)

My wife and I are runners and there were lots of roads to run on. The Rangers have some activities there. There are some rough basketball courts and horseshoe pits nearby. They have a beach for swimming. The dump station area has 4 dumps, two on each side. Avoid the right front, it clogs or is slow. (Our first dump experience. Ugh!)

We went just after they opened for the season last year for a couple of nights on our shakedown run. It was early April, we had a nice time and would go again when we get the kayak so we can go out on the lake.

[Remax gal]

Wow!! Beautiful! We are looking forward to going hopefully sometime in May! Thank you for all of your information!


Laura & Tom

[Rich W]

Natural Bridge, Red River Gorge (with its natural arches), Cave Run Lake (Twin Knobs and Zilpo campgrounds) and other areas of Daniel Boone are stunning. Senior Pass for camping discounts. Cub and Boy Scouts go there regularly to hike, climb and camp.

Lexington is only about an hour away and has the Keeneland Race Track and the KY Horse Park (RV park too). The bourbon trail, tours of many of the distilleries, and the Georgetown Toyota plants (Camry, Venza, Avalon and soon the Lexus ES350) with 3 tours daily, M-F are well within a day trip from the Daniel Boone Forest. I-64 goes east-west though the center of Kentucky and connects the Daniel Boone Forest with Lexington.

To the east along I-64 is Carter county with Carter Caves, a state park with RV campground. It's really pretty in the fall of the year and there are wild caves and guided cave tours. These caves are what most people think of when they think of caves; small and narrow. They are tight but if you can climb stairs you will be OK on the guided tours. As always, bike riding and running areas with serious hills. They have a 45 acre trophy bass lake and I think the stream that feeds it usually has kids wading in it.

Mammoth Cave is a little further away, to the west, but there is boondock camping there. Not one of the better Federal campgrounds but close to the cave entrance. Lots of places to ride your bikes or run, a place to launch your canoe/kayak. The cave tours fill up fast, plan on making reservations the day before or sooner. Bring a jacket, it's always 54 degrees in the caves and the wind can really whistle through there . If you've never been I suggest you take the two main tours; Historic Tour & Frozen Niagara tour. (Senior Pass gets you a discount for RV and tickets.) The historic tour, for the most part, is through areas where you can walk several people side by side but there are tight spots as well.

Just south of Mammoth Cave in Bowling Green is the Corvette plant. They've pulled all of the Corvettes out of the hole they fell into but the sink hole is still there. I think they've made it part of the tour now.

Bring insect repellent for skeeters and chiggers, use liberally. The forest prohibits most campfire wood unless you buy it close to the forest. (invasive insect species danger to the forest).

Daniel Boone National Forest - Home
Daniel Boone National Forest - Home
Red River Gorge Online
Racing | Keeneland Thoroughbred Racing and Sales
Top State Parks - Find a State Park - Kentucky State Parks
Mammoth Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

[Rich W]

A place my wife enjoyed going to was Shaker Village near Pleasant Hill, KY (next largest town is Harrodsburg). We stayed at the Chimney Rock RV park, which had full hookups and sits very close to Herrington Lake and the Kentucky River. It's an afternoon trip (at least) if you want to see most of everything and take the tour boat along the Kentucky River. It's a peaceful day but the roads are hilly and curvy. It was the second trip in our 23' AS but I had no problems. The roads are good, but hilly, curvy and sometimes narrow. Wear comfy shoes and clothes, there's a lot of walking and Kentucky can get hot and humid in the summer.

Home - Shaker Village