The U.S. Forest Service runs a Nature Station at Land Between the Lakes. When we were camping at Hillman Ferry, the Nature Station was one of the attractions we visited.
The Nature Station consists of indoor exhibits (similar to what you might see in a museum of natural history) and an outdoor area with plants and animals indigienous to the area. When we were there in mid-to-late May, many of the flowers were in full bloom and the backyard area was beautiful and tranquil.
We arrived shortly after the center opened at 10am and were able to see the bobcat being fed as well as the groundhog. The groundhog was found by a woman when it was a baby and she thought she would try to keep it as a pet - not a great idea. Same with the bobcat.
As a result, both have no natural fear of humans but do associate humans with food, which can be dangerous.
The groundhog's enclosure goes 3-ft underground so that the groundhog can dig tunnels, as is its nature without popping up somewhere outside of its pen, like the bobcat enclosure.
We found this attraction to be very informative and relaxing. We enjoyed it immensely.
The Land Between the Lakes area in Tennessee and Kentucky is rich with history. One of the places we visited while camping at Hillman Ferry, was The Homeplace.
The Homeplace is an 1850's working farm which acts as a living history of what farm-life was like in this area prior to the Civil War. We found the self-guided tour to be very interesting and thought-provoking as we thought about what life was like for people who would have lived back then.
A big plus for us was that we could bring our dog on this tour. Be aware that there is a farm cat, ducks, and chickens that run loose on the farm as well as oxen, horses and pigs that are enclosed. All dogs must be secured on a leash no
longer than 6-ft long. Our little chihuahua-terrier mix was very interested in the chickens and ducks!
In addition to the "one-pen" house, which would have been a starter home, there is a "two-pen" house which is a 2-story traditional dog-trot style cabin.
Typical of farms in the hot and humid south, there are individual buildings for the various livestock, a tool barn, tobacco drying barn, corn cribs and spring house.
If you enjoy history, this is a must-see attraction in the LBL. During the busy summer months, there are several different special events held at The Homeplace.
Hillman Ferry Campground Review
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
Grand Rivers, Kentucky
Visited: May 15-22, 2015
Hillman Ferry Campground is one of 4 developed campgrounds in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL). It is the northernmost campground, fairly close to the north entrance. Hillman Ferry is a very large campground. It is the largest campground in LBL with 374 camping sites. Most have electric and water hookups, some have only electric, a couple of loops have sewer hookups as well and the rest are basic sites with no hookups. Some of the basic sites can accommodate fairly large campers and some are walk-up tent sites. There are a good number of waterfront sites. We stayed in site 66 in loop C-3.
Here are some of the pros and cons of this campground.
First, the cons -
Most of the sites are not level. We saw some precarious balancing acts at some sites in order to get the campers level. They are all grey rock sites, except for the handicap spots which are concrete and level.
Many of the spots take some manuvering and gritting of teeth to access. Because there are no pictures of these sites on-line, you just have to see what you got when you get there. Our site had a fairly steep descent from the roadway to reach the actual "camping pad". The descent area had a couple of significant ruts in it where the rainwater washes because of the topography. In order to get un-hitched and hitched back up when we left, we had to extend the front legs of the 5th wheel up very high, much higher than we have ever had to before.
Our camping pad was shorter than we thought it would be. I think they must measure the "camping pad" starting at the road even though that would include the descent area mentioned above.
Now, the pros (which outnumber the cons) -
The campground is laid out pretty well for such a large number of sites. There is really no way to describe it unless you see it for yourself. Some of the sites don't have much privacy between them, but a good number of them do.
The bathhouse that I used was clean and everything worked great. Even though we used our camper shower most of the time, we did use the bathhouse a couple of times so we would not have to empty our grey tank so much. There are several different styles of bathhouses in the campground, some with no roofs! Those were mainly in the full hookup sections (I guess they figure if you have sewer hookups, you won't be using a bathhouse so much) and in the basic "primitive" camping loops. Most of the bathhouses are your typical USFS bathhouse with private showers that have a "dressing area" and shower area separated by a shower curtain. Some of the bathhouses also have a washer/dryer.
If you love the outdoors, and like to walk, hike and bike when you go camping, then you will love Hillman Ferry. There are many, many miles of trails (both paved and unpaved) that run throughout the campground and beyond. There is a premier biking trail which has paved and unpaved portions. Of course, the campground is so large, there is ample opportunity to walk and bike even if you just stay on the main roads. We biked a short paved loop near the pavilion and spotted this deer who was curious, but apparently unafraid of us.
Hillman Ferry has a well-stocked campstore with ice, camping supplies, food and many other items. They don't price-gouge either. There are several playgrounds withing the campground as well as a swim beach. There are also several boat launches within the campground. Hillman Ferry also has an Archery Target Practice area.
All in all, we really enjoyed our stay here. If I had it to do over, I would probably pick a site in the "C" section that had full hookups. The elec/water/sewer sites in the "C" loop are up on a hill which benefits from the lake breezes without having the full-on stiff lake winds. The sites in this loop also have fairly good privacy between the sites.
