Backpacking/Camping in Lexington, KY

For those that like aquatic adventures alongside their camping, Beaver Creek Campground is the perfect spot. It’s nestled along Barren River Lake which offers plenty of water-based recreational activities.

Explore the wild Red River Gorge with one of its most adventurous offerings: a literal staircase carved into the sandstone cliffs.

Nestled in history-rich Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Wilderness Road Campground is an ideal adventure base camp.

Mammoth Cave National Park is best known for its namesake cavern. It’s the largest explored cave in the world, after all. But there’s plenty of above-ground exploring to do here, too.

Fenton Campground provides amazing access to explore all that Kentucky’s Land Between the Lakes has to offer.

Barren Lake State Resort Park is picturesque and scenic, with enough boating, swimming and kayaking to keep you on the water. The serene, rustic woodland cottages overlooking the lake shores and grassy hills let you watch the sun set over the water.

Spread over 125,000-acres of the Cumberland Plateau, the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is one of the most underrated parks in the East.

Natural Bridge State Resort Park camping is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts in the heart of the lushly forested Eastern Kentucky mountains, with 87 campsites and ample hiking, plus its iconic Natural Bridge rock arch.

A.J. Jolly Park offers a lakeside camping experience with easy access to hiking, kayaking, and boating. Guests stay in primitive or deluxe sites, enjoying serene views of the lake and surrounding forest.

Dramatic sandstone cliffs, a unique natural rock bridge, great fishing, cool summer swimming, and wooded camping - find all the best Western Kentucky has to offer in one worthwhile package at Lake Malone State Park near Dunmor.

Anyone who wants a quiet woods hike in southwest Kentucky will love this area’s hundreds of miles of trails. Long hikes are possible via the 58-mile North/South Trail, and medium loops can be formed via the Fort Henry Trails System.

Just a few miles from the Kentucky border with West Virginia, Yatesville Lake State Park is the place to go for boat-in camping in the Bluegrass State.

An easy drive from Louisville, camping at Otter Creek Outdoor Recreation Area offers a convenient escape into the Kentucky wilderness.