North Fork (KY)
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 79All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
North Fork Campground is located on the shore of Rough River Lake in south central Kentucky. The 5,100-acre lake is a hometown paradise for visitors who love the outdoors, and more than two million visitors camp, picnic, fish, swim, boat and relax on the lake shore each year. Keep reading
Recreation
A wide variety of recreational activities and facilities are provided at the lake, including ample opportunities for boating and fishing. The most sought after fish are bass, crappie and catfish, and bass tournaments occur at the lake throughout the year. Additionally, pontoon, johnboat and jet ski rentals are available at the nearby marinas.
Facilities
North Fork Campground offers 81 sites, 50 of which have electric hookups. Several campsites are on the waterfront, while others are just a short walk away. Additional amenities include a dump station, playground, public beach, showers, two group shelters, boat ramp, basketball court, fishing pier and a day use picnic area. Wi-fi is available from an outside source at an additional fee.
Natural Features
The rolling, forested hills of rural south central Kentucky offer an extraordinary setting for those who visit the lake. Rough River Lake provides views of ancient sandstone, shale and limestone cliffs. An abundance of water in the area, both surface and underground, has carved through limestone to create a myriad of sinks and caverns. The lake itself is home to numerous species of wildlife, including migratory songbirds and waterfowl. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (270) 257-8139.
Nearby Attractions
The historic Green Farm is adjacent to the lake. It consists of about 3,000 acres, a large ancestral home, an old water-powered mill and store and a golf course. George Washington once owned part of the land. Mammoth Cave National Park, which boasts the longest cave system in the world with more than 240 miles of mapped passageways, is about a one-hour drive away. Other nearby attractions also include the historic Holt House in Hardinsburg, the Jack Thomas House in Leitchfield, and the new Aquatic Center in Leitchfield.
Charges & Cancellations
Once a reservation has been created, there will be a $10 fee to cancel your reservation, change sites, or change dates. Cancellations made the day before you are scheduled to arrive through the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first night's use fee. No-show's are charged a $20 fee plus the first night's use fee. If your reservation is for only 1 night, and you have been charged the first night's use fee, there is no $10 or $20 service fee charged.
What the agency tells you
Off-road vehicles are not permitted
Park Attendant can be reached while on duty at 270-257-8139. If no answer, contact the Rough River Lake U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office at 270-257-2061.
$5 per day boat ramp fee or $40 for an annual boat ramp pass. Purchase at the Fee Station near the boat ramp.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Reservations will not be marked in advance at the campsite. Do not set up at any campsite without reserving the site first.
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. Generators and other noise-producing devices must be turned off during this time.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 79
- Hookups
- 47 electric, 47 water
- Longest rig
- 95 ft
- Paved pads
- 28 of 79
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 70 of 76 sites
Facilities
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Additional amenities include a dump station, playground, public beach, showers, two group shelters, boat ramp, basketball court, fishing pier and a day use picnic area.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Night sky · 29th darkest of 60 in KY
- Bortle 4
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
“Once a reservation has been created, there will be a $10 fee to cancel your reservation, change sites, or change dates. No-show's are charged a $20 fee plus the first night's 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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
81 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 81 mapped sitesAll 81 records
| A | A001 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 55 ft | 330 ft | |
| A | A002 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 48 ft | 408 ft | |
| A | A003 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 345 ft | |
| A | A004 | standard electric | 28 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 421 ft | |
| A | A005 | standard electric | 54 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 343 ft | |
| A | A006 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 352 ft | |
| A | A007 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 363 ft | |
| A | A008 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 36 ft | 396 ft | |
| A | A009 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 45 ft | 457 ft | |
| A | A010 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 430 ft | |
| A | A011 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 465 ft | |
| A | A012 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 529 ft | |
| A | A013 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 501 ft | |
| A | A014 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 569 ft | |
| B | B015 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 62 ft | 529 ft | |
| B | B016 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 106 ft | 607 ft | |
| B | B017 | standard electric | 32 ft | 50 amp | 58 ft | 682 ft | |
| B | B018 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 51 ft | 663 ft | |
| B | B019 | standard electric | 32 ft | 50 amp | 49 ft | 642 ft | |
| B | B020 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 49 ft | 597 ft | |
| B | B021 | standard electric | 46 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 537 ft | |
| B | B022 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 70 ft | 588 ft | |
| B | B023 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 492 ft | |
| B | B024/025 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 452 ft | |
| C | C026 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 63 ft | 503 ft | |
| C | C027 | standard electric | 35 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 565 ft | |
| C | C028 | standard electric | 33 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 608 ft | |
| C | C029 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 54 ft | 640 ft | |
| C | C030 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 54 ft | 613 ft | |
| C | C031 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 539 ft | |
| C | C032 | standard electric | 46 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 497 ft | |
| C | C033 | standard electric | 24 ft | 50 amp | 61 ft | 451 ft | |
| D | D034 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 520 ft | |
| D | D035 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 63 ft | 567 ft | |
| D | D036 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 590 ft | |
| D | D037 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 504 ft | |
| D | D038 | standard electric | 85 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 638 ft | |
| D | D039 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 579 ft | |
| D | D040 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 57 ft | 517 ft | |
| D | D041 | standard electric | 80 ft | 50 amp | 72 ft | 508 ft | |
| D | D042 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 72 ft | 436 ft | |
| D | D043 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 421 ft | |
| D | D044 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 76 ft | 360 ft | |
| D | D045 | standard electric | 58 ft | 50 amp | 84 ft | 289 ft | |
| D | D046 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 91 ft | 316 ft | |
| D | D047/048 | standard electric | 72 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 396 ft | |
| E | E049 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 105 ft | 304 ft | ||
| E | E050 | standard nonelectric | 80 ft | 105 ft | 200 ft | ||
| E | E051 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 75 ft | 235 ft | ||
| E | E052 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 61 ft | 308 ft | ||
| E | E053 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 73 ft | 135 ft | ||
| E | E054 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | 53 ft | 126 ft | ||
| E | E055 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 53 ft | 110 ft | ||
| E | E056 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 59 ft | 124 ft | ||
| E | E057 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | 58 ft | 133 ft | ||
| E | E058 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | 58 ft | 115 ft | ||
| E | E059 | standard nonelectric | 80 ft | 54 ft | 122 ft | ||
| E | E060 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 49 ft | 117 ft | ||
| E | E061 | standard nonelectric | 75 ft | 49 ft | 129 ft | ||
| E | E062 | standard nonelectric | 95 ft | 46 ft | 98 ft | ||
| E | E063 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 73 ft | ||
| E | E064 | standard nonelectric | 48 ft | 93 ft | 49 ft | ||
| E | E065 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 51 ft | 37 ft | ||
| E | E066 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 51 ft | 66 ft | ||
| E | E067 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 93 ft | 141 ft | ||
| E | E068 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 78 ft | 191 ft | ||
| F | F069 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 78 ft | 232 ft | ||
| F | F070 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | 92 ft | 291 ft | ||
| F | F071 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | 71 ft | 264 ft | ||
| F | F072 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | 64 ft | 233 ft | ||
| F | F073 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 64 ft | 278 ft | ||
| F | F074 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 56 ft | 325 ft | ||
| F | F075 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 56 ft | 365 ft | ||
| F | F076 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | 67 ft | 327 ft | ||
| F | F077 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 67 ft | 343 ft | ||
| F | F078 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | 97 ft | 445 ft | ||
| F | F079 | standard nonelectric | 76 ft | 38 ft | 499 ft | ||
| F | F080 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 38 ft | 494 ft | ||
| F | F081 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | yes | 88 ft | 422 ft |
| NFOR | S1 | day use | 15 amp | yes | 317 ft | 299 ft | |
| NFOR | S2 | day use | 15 amp | yes | 488 ft | 171 ft |
The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 81 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Axtel1.0 mi
Laurel Branch1.8 mi
Cave Creek5.0 mi
German Ridge CampgroundHoosier National Forest · 24 mi
Moutardier24 mi
WAX26 miBegin at ramp onto I-64 West toward New Albany/St. Louis, traveling 22.3 miles. Take the IN-135, Exit Number 105, toward Palmyra/Corydon, onto IN-135 South toward Corydon, traveling 16.7 miles. Continue on Bypass Road KY-79 for 2.1 miles. Turn right onto KY-79, traveling 10.1 miles. Continue on 1st Avenue, KY-79S for 495 feet. Turn a slight right onto US-60, traveling 11.8 miles. Turn left onto KY-259/KY-79, traveling 9.1 miles. End at 9077 South Highway 259, McDaniels, KY. Distance is approximately 72 miles with an approximate travel time of 1 hour, 15 minutes.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hardinsburg, KY
Typical weather
Typical October night 44°F, day 72°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
North Fork (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 →