Camping in Penn or Kentucky?

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 02-18-2008, 09:59 PM

We are in Ohio and want to go camping this summer. Within a days drive of us, really about 6 hours since traveling with the kids isn't much fun. Any great places to camp in Pennsylvania or Kentucky? We don't boat or anything, although swimming would be fun. Also what is there to do near these places? Museums or zoos, etc. Thanks!

**Heluvsme** · 02-19-2008, 09:23 AM

I'm in Kentucky and there are some great National Parks here that are a lot of fun to camp at! Natural Bridge is so nice, lots to do there! Lake Cumberland is nice, but would probably be quite a drive for you. The Louisville area also has a lot of nice campgrounds, can't think of the names right now, but if you Google it I'm sure they'd pop up.

Also, it's not here in KY, but just across the border in Indiana is one of my favorite places to camp....Brown County, IN. Now, this place is ideal in my opinion because you have, besides the obvious camping, they have a community pool inside their park grounds which is really nice---clean, kept up well, etc. Also, and this is the clencher for me, right outside the park grounds is the most quant, charming little town called Nashville. It's an artist's town, lots of local craftsmen, etc. So many cute shops to walk in and out of....cute little restaurants, a really sweet little idyllic walking-type town.

Google Brown County, IN camping, see what pops up, it's not that far from the KY and Western OH border, maybe an hour or so west of the border I'd say.

HTH,
Dawn

**Laurie in Bradenton** · 02-19-2008, 10:32 AM

Oh Kentucky has so many things to do.
I'd start with Mammoth Cave now theres a whole weekend gone.
Make sure and take a sweatshirt as the cave IS cold!
Then another several weekends can go to Daniel Boone National Forest which covers a big slice of Kentucky.
The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill is another weekend.
Cumberland Gap National Park is great for hiking. Be sure that young folks are given whistles just incase they get lost or seperated.
Unusual Museums has the following sites
listed:
Bardstown - Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Brush up on your Whiskey Rebellion History
Berea - Berea College Appalachian Museum
Elizabethtown - Schmidt's Coca-Cola Museum
Henderson - John James Audubon Memorial Museum
Frankfort - Rebecca-Ruth Candy Factory Tour
Lexington- American Saddle Horse Museum, International Museum of the Horse
Louisville - Kentucky Derby Museum
Murray - National Scouting Museum of the Boy Scouts of America
Muldraugh- Ptton Museum, U.S. Bullion Depository
Bowling Green - The Covette Museum
Not to mention all the Lincoln and Jeff Davis stuff.

My mom(school librarian) would plan our vacations and have a list of things to tell us about the area we were gonna visit on the drive there. Made the drive less boring. Can still hear her reciting "My Son Abe" in the front seat.

Laurie in Bradenton

**Jerseygirl** · 02-20-2008, 02:35 PM

Check the Penn. state parks web site. We went to Black Moshannon about 10 years ago and loved the modern cabins there, don't know if I would tent camp there because there are lots of bears.
We went after season so I don't know about the swimming, but there were lots of lakes, hiking was easy, it's just outside of Penn. State Univ.

**MirandaK** · 02-20-2008, 04:13 PM

Don't forget the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington as well.

My family owns a cabin adjacent to Cook Forest State Park in PA and that's a really nice area. There are all kinds of kid friendly activities. Horse Back Riding, Go-Carts, Bumper Boats, Canoeing on the Clarion River, Great Hiking...including the fire tower which you can climb to the top of. Check it out... www.cookforest.com (state park site) and www.cookforest.org (Cook forest Vacation Bureau)

www.cookforest.com It's near

**my4littlebuffaloes** · 02-20-2008, 05:01 PM

Thanks everyone! Great ideas for me to look into.

**inneedofhope** · 02-20-2008, 08:36 PM

My fav is Ricketts Glen in PA

**nesta67** · 02-20-2008, 10:55 PM

I have stayed a few times at Spring Gulch Resort Campground in New Holland, PA. It is a fantastic campground with lots of activities and facilities. Also, it is right in Amish country so there is lots to see and do.

**TheRootedNomad** · 02-21-2008, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by Laurie in Bradenton

Oh Kentucky has so many things to do.
I'd start with Mammoth Cave now theres a whole weekend gone.
Make sure and take a sweatshirt as the cave IS cold!
Then another several weekends can go to Daniel Boone National Forest which covers a big slice of Kentucky.
The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill is another weekend.
Cumberland Gap National Park is great for hiking. Be sure that young folks are given whistles just incase they get lost or seperated.
Unusual Museums has the following sites
listed:
Bardstown - Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. Brush up on your Whiskey Rebellion History
Berea - Berea College Appalachian Museum
Elizabethtown - Schmidt's Coca-Cola Museum
Henderson - John James Audubon Memorial Museum
Frankfort - Rebecca-Ruth Candy Factory Tour
Lexington- American Saddle Horse Museum, International Museum of the Horse
Louisville - Kentucky Derby Museum
Murray - National Scouting Museum of the Boy Scouts of America
Muldraugh- Ptton Museum, U.S. Bullion Depository
Bowling Green - The Covette Museum
Not to mention all the Lincoln and Jeff Davis stuff.

My mom(school librarian) would plan our vacations and have a list of things to tell us about the area we were gonna visit on the drive there. Made the drive less boring. Can still hear her reciting "My Son Abe" in the front seat.

Laurie in Bradenton

Holy cow Laurie - I live here and I didn't know all of these!
I would definately suggest the Mammoth Cave area for a camping trip. There are several caves there and other outdoor kinds of things. Yogi Bear campgrounds use to be pretty good if you didn't want to stay on the Mammoth Cave grounds (but I would). There are several other smaller caves in the area and Kentucky Down under which is a zoo like kind of place close by. Lots of "rock" stores and I think Jesse James riding stables are still there.
Don't get lulled by the smaller caves as they are nothing compared to Mammoth (but you need to reserve tickets ahead of time especially for the summer, a few weeks at the minimum fro summer).

In Louisville if you are going with kids make sure you check out the Louisville Science Center, The Louisville Slugger museum and factory, the zoo, and the glass works place (they can actually see glss being blown and shaped). There is a camp ground in Shepherdsville that puts you about 30 minutes from downtown Louisville and an hour or so (I think)from the Mammoth cave area.

Good luck planning your trip!!!!

**firstlove** · 02-24-2008, 05:54 PM

We're planning a trip to Kentucky this spring-plan on going to the Creation Museum, then on down to Mammoth Cave and Natural Bridge-I'm looking forward to it. I live in PA-not too far from Cooks Forest-it's a really nice area-we stayed one year in Clear Creek-which is just a few miles from there-in a small cabin and had a nice time. Cooks Forest is one of my favorite places-and I have lots of memories there from when my kids were young. Make sure you check out the Sawmill and MacBeths-they have a bed and breakfast if your into that sort of thing. Riding down the Clarion river in a canoe is great too.