Dale Hollow Lake State Park Camping: The Complete 2026 Guide

Dale Hollow Lake State Park camping is one of the best-value lake weekends on the Kentucky–Tennessee line, and one of the most misunderstood. The park's full name is Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park, it sits in Burkesville, Kentucky, and it wraps a lodge, a golf course, a marina and a 144-site campground around the north shore of a clear, 27,700-acre Army Corps reservoir. Most of the lake, however, is in Tennessee, and so are most of the other campgrounds you'll see when you search "Dale Hollow Lake campground."

This guide covers the state park campground in detail, then the Corps campgrounds on the Tennessee side, so you book the right one.

Dale Hollow Lake State Park Camping: The Basics

• Address: 5970 State Park Rd., Burkesville, KY 42717. Park phone: 270-433-7431.
• Operator: Kentucky State Parks, not Tennessee, and not the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Campground: 144 campsites. ReserveAmerica lists 151 bookable units in total: 121 standard electric sites, 24 equestrian sites, and 6 camping cabins.
• Time zone: Central. It catches people driving in from eastern Kentucky or Knoxville.
• 2026 season: the campground is open through Sunday, November 15, 2026, and reopens March 15, 2027. It's a seasonal campground, not a year-round one.
• Wi-Fi: not available in the campground.

Kentucky State Parks books through its own ReserveAmerica site. The window is 12 months ahead, and you have to book at least one day before arrival. Nightly rates change by season (peak runs roughly mid-May through Labor Day, plus October), so check the current price at checkout instead of trusting an old listing.

The Campground: Loops, Sites and the Map

Download the Dale Hollow State Park campground map before you pick a site. The loops are lettered, and the reservation system groups them like this:

• Loops A–E and G. Standard electric sites. Many list 41-foot back-in pads.
• Loops F and H–O. More standard electric sites.
• Loops P–R. The far end of the campground. Bathhouse #3 is at Loop P, and the Eagle Point Trail starts near Loop R.
• CC 1–6. The camping cabins: bunk beds and air conditioning, for people without a tent or RV.

One thing the listing says outright, and most review sites leave out: the campground is not on the water or in view of the lake. Lake access is at the marina, about 2 miles from the campground entrance. If you want a lakefront tent site, look at the Corps campgrounds below.

Other campground rules worth knowing:

• Up to 8 people per site, with 4 adults included in the base rate. Each extra adult is $5 a night, paid on arrival.
• Two units per site maximum: one RV plus one tent, or two tents.
• Weekend minimum: Friday or Saturday arrivals must stay two nights, and holiday weekends require more.
• Golf carts need a permit: $25 a week or $100 for the year, good at every Kentucky state park campground.
• Firewood from outside Kentucky is prohibited (emerald ash borer). Buy it at the campground.
• Water in freezing months isn't guaranteed. Call before a March or November trip.

Horse Camping at Dale Hollow

Twenty-four of the sites are equestrian sites, and they connect to more than 12 miles of multi-purpose trail open to hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. Bring your Coggins certificate number, because the reservation asks for it. Most trails follow old logging roads out to the tips of ridges above the lake and end there, so plan on riding back the way you came.

Lodge, Cabins, Dining and Golf

If the campground is full, the Dale Hollow Lake State Park lodge is the fallback. It's the Mary Ray Oaken Lodge: 60 rooms with balconies or patios, set on a bluff over the lake, with a few pet-friendly rooms. From April through October the lodge and cabins are open seven days a week. From November through March the lodge rents only Friday and Saturday nights.

• Island View Restaurant serves three meals a day from April through October, with reduced weekend-only hours in winter.
• Dale Hollow Lake State Park Golf Course is an 18-hole course with a pro shop and driving range, open year-round.
• Campground pool is open Memorial Day through Labor Day. The lodge pool is for lodge guests only.
• Mini golf is $6 for adults and $4 for kids ages 5–11.

Things to Do: Marina, Trails and Cindy Cave

• The marina has close to 200 slips, a fuel dock, a ship's store and daily boat rentals (270-433-6600). The concrete ramp has two trailer lots.
• Fishing: Dale Hollow produced the world-record smallmouth bass. You need a Kentucky license on this side of the line. The lodge desk runs a free fishing-gear loaner program.
• Eagle Point Overlook is the hike to do. The trail is 3 miles from Loop R, 2.4 miles from the campground store, or 0.8 miles from the connector trailhead on the lodge road. December through February is the season for bald eagles.
• Cindy Cave wild cave tours run Memorial Day through Labor Day: $10 for adults, $8 for kids 9 and under, with helmets and lights provided.

Dale Hollow Lake Campgrounds in Tennessee (Army Corps)

If you searched "Dale Hollow Lake campground" or "Dale Hollow campground TN," you may be looking for the Corps side. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Dale Hollow Dam on the Obey River in 1943. It runs several campgrounds of its own, all booked on Recreation.gov rather than ReserveAmerica:

• Dale Hollow Dam Campground, just below the dam near Celina, TN, on the Obey River tailwater. This is the name behind the "Dale Hollow Damsite" searches, and it has a boat ramp.
• Obey River Park, the biggest camping area on the lake, with the busiest swimming beach.
• Willow Grove, Lillydale, Pleasant Grove and Cove Creek recreation areas.
• Primitive camping at dozens of designated shoreline sites, bookable year-round.

These are true waterfront campgrounds. The trade-off is fewer resort extras: no lodge, no golf, no restaurant.

Recommended Gear

A few items that help at Dale Hollow:

• Coleman Sundome Camping Tent. A dependable tent for the standard electric sites. Its rainfly handles the summer thunderstorms that roll across the Cumberland Plateau.
• Wise Owl Outfitters Camping Hammock. The campground is heavily wooded, which makes it good hammock country.
• Black Diamond Spot 400-R Headlamp. The loops are dark at night, and you'll want a headlamp for the walk to the bathhouse or a late return from Eagle Point.

Nearby Trips

Dale Hollow pairs well with other Tennessee lake and mountain trips. It's the sister reservoir trip to Tims Ford State Park camping. Head east for Fall Creek Falls State Park camping or the Great Smoky Mountains National Park campgrounds. Bringing the dog? Read camping with dogs before you go.