Dog Creek (KY)
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 1 of the next 5 nights read 16:20 UTC
- A night
- $18–$32Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 7068 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dog Creek Campground sits on the shores of Nolin River Lake in the rolling landscape of southern Kentucky. The large lake and surrounding greenery create a recreational oasis for outdoor enthusiasts. Click here to take a tour of our lake. Keep reading
Recreation
Known for its unique blue/green water, Nolin Lake is one of the top lakes in Kentucky for catfish, bass, crappie and walleye fishing. Visitors can enjoy scenic canoe and boat trips along the river, part of which is located within Mammoth Cave National Park. Boat ramps are provided around the lake for campers' convenience. The Moutardier, Ponderosa and Wax Marinas are located around the lake and offer pontoon and john boat rentals, as well as boat slips and groceries, bait, gas and more. Several hiking trails also wind along the shoreline and into the surrounding forest. Shady Creek Trail, located in the Moutardier Recreation Area, is known for its array of wildflowers and greenery.
Facilities
Dog Creek Campground offers 70 reservable campsites, complete with modern amenities like electric hookups and flush toilets. Campsites are located along the shoreline, allowing easy access to the lake and beaches for visitors.
Natural Features
Nolin Dam creates a 5,795-acre lake that draws more than two million visitors each year to enjoy water sports and camping in the surrounding expanse of rolling forest. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (270) 286-4511.
Nearby Attractions
Mammoth Cave National Park is located a short drive or ferry ride away from the campground, and several golf courses and riding stables are located around the lake. Charges & Cancellations *Once your reservation has been created, there will be a $10.00 fee to cancel and a $10.00 fee to change your site or dates. * Cancellations made the day before, or up to the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first nights use fee. * No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee. * If your reservation is for 1 night, and you have been charged the first nights use fee, there is no $10.00 service fee.
What the agency tells you
Dog Creek campground is managed with Volunteers (located on A21, A24, and entrance site). When you arrive at campground proceed to your reserved site. The reserved tag and vehicle tags will be on your site post marker. Leave the reserved tag (white) on the site post marker and place vehicle tags (yellow) in your vehicle. If you need to modify your reservation (date change, site change-, etc..) , log on to your account on www.recreation.gov and make changes to your reservation or call the reservation service at 877-444-6777. For campground management issues call the Nolin Lake office at 270-286-4511.
Reservations are required for camping. Camping is permitted at designated camping areas with not more than six (6) people or the members of one family unit at any one site. A family is considered to be parent(s) and unmarried children living in the same household.
Title 36 Rules & Regulations will be enforced.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Camping passes for vehicles are placed on the campsite's numbered post for two vehicles and must be displayed upon arrival. The vehicle hang tag must be returned to the tollhouse when departing. Checkout time is 4:30 p.m. on the day the permit expires.
Visitor must leave by 9:30 p.m.
Gear, equipment, trash and debris shall be completely removed from the area/campsite upon departure.
Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. The operation or use of any noise-producing devices that unreasonably disturb others at any time is prohibited. The use of properly muffled generators is permitted between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10 p.m. Individuals who are boisterus, rowdy, disorderly, or otherwise disturb the peace at any time may be requested to leave the campground and forfeit all camping fees paid.
Vehicles will not be placed on the grass at sites with a defined border. Vehicles must be parked within the borders surrounding each campsite and not on or over the ties. Empty and loaded boat trailers may be placed on the grass. Tents are allowed to be palced on the grass as long as they are not encroaching on another campsite and are located in the immediate vicinity of the rented campsite.
Fires may be built only in the fireplaces or grills. A responsible person must attend to all fires. Hang lanterns on metal holders provided at campsites. No burning of trash, treated lumber, or wood containing metal is allowed.
Any loaded projectile fire device, ammunition, and explosives of any kind are prohibited in the area except when in the possession of a Government employee, law enforcement officer on official duty, or person who authorized by the written permission of the District Commander. The possession or use of fireworks is prohibited.
Pets shall be kept on a leash not over 6 feet long or under physical control at all times. Pets shall not be left unattended. Pet owners are responsible for the proper removal and disposal of any waste produced by their pets.
The destruction, injury, defacement, removal, or alteration of Government property, vegetation, rocks, or minerals is prohibited. Only the gathering of dead wood on the ground for use in designated recreation areas as firewood is permitted.
Motor vehicles, including mopeds and golf carts, must conform to state licensing laws and their use will be confined to developed roadways by a licensed operator (16 years or older). Constant circling or "joy riding" is not permitted. The speed limit in the campgrounds is 15 M.P.H and all directional arrows must be observed. Motorized or battery-operated toys are not allowed on the roadways or sidewalks. Golf carts must remain on gravel or paved surfaces at all times. Golf carts will not be allowed to drive outside the campgrounds on public roadways.
No bicycles, skateboards, mopeds, or similar equipment are allowed on the sidewalks or steps around showerhouse facilities or other walkways. No bicycles, skateboards, or other similar equipment may be operated after dark. Children may not operate low profile recreational riding toys or vehicles on roadways UNLESS attended by an adult. The possession and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages in recreation areas is prohibited.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 70
- Hookups
- 52 electric, 54 water
- Longest rig
- 105 ft
- Paved pads
- 2 of 70
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 39 of 40 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 2 of 70 campsite records, FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 1 of 70 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- SHOWERS on 1 of 70 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Kayaking
- Marina
- Swimming
- Night sky · 33rd darkest of 60 in KY
- Bortle 4
20 of 136 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:20 UTC
recreation.gov lists 68 of the 70 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBookedClosed
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $18–$32 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking, plus the agency’s published $2 weekend rate on Friday and Saturday. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“*Once your reservation has been created, there will be a $10.00 fee to cancel and a $10.00 fee to change your site or dates. * Cancellations made the day before, or up to the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first nights use fee. * No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee.…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:20 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
70 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 68 mapped sitesAll 70 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 70 of the 70 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 68 of the 70 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| A | A001 | standard electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 107 ft | 295 ft | 434 ft | $32 | |
| A | A002 | standard electric | 78 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 44 ft | 231 ft | 525 ft | $32 | |
| A | A003 | standard electric | 59 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 76 ft | 185 ft | 544 ft | $32 | |
| A | A004 | standard electric | 80 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 69 ft | 182 ft | 593 ft | $32 | |
| A | A005 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 69 ft | 156 ft | 661 ft | $32 | |
| A | A006 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 77 ft | 65 ft | 809 ft | $32 | |
| A | A007 | standard electric | 72 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 77 ft | 138 ft | 760 ft | $32 | |
| A | A008 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 75 ft | 139 ft | 839 ft | $32 | |
| A | A009 | standard electric | 54 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 61 ft | 91 ft | 910 ft | $32 | |
| A | A010 | standard electric | 71 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 61 ft | 150 ft | 908 ft | $32 | |
| A | A011 | standard electric | 45 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 76 ft | 87 ft | 999 ft | $32 | |
| A | A012 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 75 ft | 128 ft | 972 ft | $32 | |
| A | A013 | standard electric | 32 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 78 ft | 68 ft | 1,043 ft | $32 | |
| A | A014 | standard electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 87 ft | 118 ft | 1,002 ft | $32 | |
| A | A015 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 79 ft | 217 ft | 906 ft | $32 | |
| A | A016 | standard electric | 46 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 75 ft | 181 ft | 933 ft | $32 | |
| A | A017 | standard electric | 61 ft | 50 amp | 55 ft | 247 ft | 861 ft | $32 | |
| A | A018 | standard electric | 96 ft | 50 amp | 55 ft | 237 ft | 812 ft | $32 | |
| A | A019 | standard electric | 78 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 236 ft | 730 ft | $32 | |
| A | A020 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | yes | 93 ft | 330 ft | 664 ft | $32 |
| A | A021 - Vol. | type not stated | 51 ft | 50 amp | 313 ft | 599 ft | |||
| A | A022 | standard electric | 88 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 232 ft | 663 ft | $32 | |
| A | A023 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 72 ft | 242 ft | 592 ft | $32 | |
| A | A024 - Vol. | type not stated | 66 ft | 50 amp | 330 ft | 516 ft | |||
| A | A025 | standard electric | 78 ft | 50 amp | 44 ft | 260 ft | 525 ft | $32 | |
| A | A026 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | 50 ft | 408 ft | 365 ft | $18 | ||
| A | A027 | standard nonelectric | 73 ft | 50 ft | 446 ft | 318 ft | $18 | ||
| B | B001 | standard electric | 20 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 77 ft | 323 ft | 331 ft | $32 | |
| B | B002 | standard electric | 20 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 60 ft | 383 ft | 385 ft | $32 | |
| B | B003 | standard electric | 20 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 60 ft | 332 ft | 420 ft | $32 | |
| B | B004 | standard electric | 80 ft | 50 amp | 78 ft | 393 ft | 471 ft | $32 | |
| B | B005 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 373 ft | 561 ft | $32 | |
| B | B006 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 323 ft | 552 ft | $32 | |
| B | B007 | standard electric | 59 ft | 50 amp | 72 ft | 320 ft | 669 ft | $32 | |
| B | B008 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 68 ft | 276 ft | 631 ft | $32 | |
| B | B009 | standard electric | 61 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 246 ft | 699 ft | $32 | |
| B | B010 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50 amp | 85 ft | 299 ft | 771 ft | $32 | |
| B | B011 | standard electric | 62 ft | 50 amp | 58 ft | 233 ft | 825 ft | $32 | |
| B | B012 | standard electric | 43 ft | 50 amp | 77 ft | 273 ft | 864 ft | $32 | |
| B | B013 | standard electric | 84 ft | 50 amp | 58 ft | 225 ft | 880 ft | $32 | |
| B | B014 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 51 ft | 182 ft | 954 ft | $32 | |
| B | B015 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50 amp | 55 ft | 157 ft | 1,017 ft | $32 | |
| B | B016 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50 amp | 51 ft | 132 ft | 998 ft | $32 | |
| B | B017 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 77 ft | 82 ft | 1,068 ft | $32 | |
| B | B018 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 77 ft | 54 ft | 1,122 ft | $32 | |
| B | B019 | standard electric | 105 ft | 50 amp | 55 ft | 123 ft | 1,056 ft | $32 | |
| B | B020 | standard electric | 58 ft | 50 amp | 85 ft | 62 ft | 1,128 ft | $32 | |
| B | B021 | standard electric | 80 ft | 50 amp | 75 ft | 123 ft | 1,045 ft | $32 | |
| B | B022 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50 amp | 75 ft | 59 ft | 1,076 ft | $32 | |
| B | B023 | standard electric | 49 ft | 50 amp | 77 ft | 54 ft | 1,025 ft | $32 | |
| B | B024 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 77 ft | 66 ft | 951 ft | $18 | ||
| B | B025 | standard electric | 84 ft | 50 amp | 93 ft | 147 ft | 965 ft | $32 | |
| B | B026 | standard nonelectric | 97 ft | 102 ft | 65 ft | 805 ft | $18 | ||
| B | B027 | standard electric | 99 ft | 50 amp | 78 ft | 147 ft | 857 ft | $32 | |
| B | B028 | standard nonelectric | 85 ft | 102 ft | 164 ft | 655 ft | $18 | ||
| B | B029 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 202 ft | 710 ft | $32 | |
| B | B030 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 274 ft | 553 ft | $32 | |
| B | B031 | standard electric | 72 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 266 ft | 496 ft | $32 | |
| C | C001 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | 66 ft | 186 ft | 229 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C002 | standard nonelectric | 77 ft | 66 ft | 153 ft | 288 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C003 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 79 ft | 145 ft | 402 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C004 | standard electric | 20 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 77 ft | 247 ft | 368 ft | $32 | |
| C | C005 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 79 ft | 138 ft | 469 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C006 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 75 ft | 162 ft | 543 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C007 | standard nonelectric | 58 ft | 44 ft | 144 ft | 616 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C008 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 43 ft | 127 ft | 660 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C009 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 43 ft | 88 ft | 703 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C010 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 62 ft | 51 ft | 758 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C011 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 62 ft | 38 ft | 765 ft | $18 | ||
| C | C012 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 90 ft | 63 ft | 583 ft | $18 |
25 of 70 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
WAX1.4 mi
Moutardier5.7 mi
Mammoth Cave Backcountry CampingMammoth Cave National Park · 7.8 mi
Maple SpringsMammoth Cave National Park · 7.8 mi
Mammoth Cave CampgroundMammoth Cave National Park · 9.2 mi
Houchin Ferry CampgroundMammoth Cave National Park · 10 miFrom Bowling Green, KY
Follow US 31W North from Bowling Green for approximately 14 miles then turn left onto KY 101. In appriximately 6 miles, Hwy 101 becomes Hwy 259 North. Follow Hwy 259 North for 11 miles before turning right on KY 728. Follow Hwy 728 for 8 miles before turning left on Union Light Road. Stay on Union Light Road for about 5 miles. Turn Left into the Dog Creek Campground. Total driving distance from Bowling Green is about 43 miles; driving time is around 1 hour, 15 minutes.
From Louisville, KY Follow I-65 south to exit 76 and turn west onto Highway 224. Follow Hwy 224 for approximately 10 miles, then turn left onto Highway 479. In approximately 8 miles, turn left on Hwy 88. In about 2 miles turn right on KY 2015/Union Light Road. The campground is on the right about 1 mile down Union Light Road. Total driving distance is about 81 miles; driving time is about 1 hour, 45 minutes.
From Nashville, TN
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Brownsville, KY
Typical weather
Typical October night 44°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Dog Creek (KY) is in Kentucky’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Brett Guthrie (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →