Pennyrile Forest is ‘really beautiful’ during all different seasons of the year
Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, near Dawson Springs and three hours from Lexington, offers multiple lodging options, a restaurant and a variety of outdoor actives.
“We have a boat dock that people can rent boats at from April all the way through October,” said park naturalist Haley Joesph. “We have an 18-hole golf course that’s open year round. We have a campground that’s open year round with full hookup sites and we have a beautiful beach that’s open Memorial Day through Labor Day that is free to swim at.”
Joseph also leads sunset canoeing and kayak trips as well as guided hiking trips each month.
“We also do just fun stuff as well, like arts and crafts,” she said. “Tie dye is always a really popular thing. And then I have aquatic adventures where we get nets and go and look in the creek and see what kind of little creatures we can find. Maybe some salamanders, some crawdads.”
Trail hikes in the area range from 13 miles to shorter treks for all ages. And there’s plenty of wildlife to see.
“At one point last year and the year before we had a piebald otter,” Joseph said. “It’s just like a river otter, but instead of being all brown, it was mostly white. He had a cute little pink nose and he had some little brown spots on him.”
A white squirrel has also been spotted, along with a diverse mix of butterflies.
“It’s really, really beautiful to come here all different seasons of the year,” Joseph said. “I like hiking in winter, even though that sounds strange because it’s cold, but if you bundle up, you get warm pretty quickly when you’re walking and moving. And that’s really interesting because then when the leaves are down, you can see all the way across the lake.”
While much of Western Kentucky is flat, Pennyrile does have elevation change.
“We’re actually located on a few different fault lines, which is what gives us that elevation change,” Joseph said. “So we have these beautiful bluffs that you can hike and see.”
▪ Pennyrile Forest State Resort park is located at 20781 Pennyrile Lodge Rd., Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
