Yatesville Lake in Eastern Kentucky

My favorite place to camp in Kentucky. It is about 2 hrs from Lexington, KY.

Directions:

I-64 East to 23 South to KY 32

Turn right on 32 and follow it 4.7 miles to KY 3215.

Turn right on 3215 and follow 2 miles to the campground.

Stop at the entrance and tell them you would like a boat camping site. They will provide you with a map--my favorites are B1, B7-11

To get your stuff to the site you have three options:

1) Gate to ranger/staff road access. You can't drive on this but you can walk your stuff in--about 3/10 of a mile.

2) Ask for directions to the primitive camping sites--at the back of each is a trail that goes down a hill to the campsites (B1 to the left--B7-B11 to the right). This is much closer than the gate, but involves a small hill (which is steep--but kids go up and down it all the time)

if you are doing either of those options you might want to completely load up on ice after you have gotten your coolers to the campsite

3) You can rent little Johnson motor boats at the Marina (last year they were 30 dollars a day) and boat your stuff out to the sites (they are only 10-30 feet from the water). When you get to the sites look for the blue paint marks on the trees which mark each site. The sites you hit first will be the higher numbers, so work your way to the one you have reserved. It is not quite as important that you get the lower numbers in this case because you are not worried about walking distance. If you have your own boat there is a launch site (with parking for your vehicle) right next to the camp sites.

Yatesville's boat camping sites are an under-used and under-appreciated camping spot. One of the best things about them is that they are nowhere near RVs (sorry my RV friends, they are convenient, but they are an intrusion on the setting and some are quite loud with their various generators). Be prepared for beautiful camp sites, with postcard-picture views and clean swimming waters right in front of your campsite (the campsites are in a no-wake zone and loud, annoying jet-boats are not permitted on the lake). There is good fishing and the lake is huge. I have never had a hassle there and the people there are generally friendly (the ones I talk to in the primitive/boat camps--RV folk seem somewhat cut off from that type of interaction.

It costs 12 dollars a day for one campsite (you can have up to six adults in a campsite and umpteen kiddies--last time we got two sites for 5 adults and three kids)