August 2023
Land Between The Lakes
Summer on the Kentucky side
As many times as we have been coming to LBL, we had never been during the summer, EVER. We had found out about the annual Hummingbird Festival held there each year at the Woodland Nature Station a few years back, but had never thought to visit during the summer. It was an amazing time as usual, plenty of water around to keep cool! Granted, it was mostly too hot to hike during the day except morning and later in the evening but we still got several hours of hiking in. We stuck by the lake and poolside during the hottest parts of the day. Benny and Briscoe thoroughly enjoyed this trip as they hadn’t gotten to do much traveling with us since May.
Canal Loop Trail
Canal Loop Trail system map HERE
In the mornings before it got too hot, we hiked the Canal Loop trails. These trails are located at the top of the north side at the Northern Welcome Station, just as you enter into LBL from the top. Easy to moderate trails, not much incline. You can get a lot of lake views on these. It was a really nice change to get to see so many wildflowers, vegetation and critters on the trails that are otherwise less active during the colder months.
Woodlands Nature Station
The Woodlands Nature Station is an environmental education center located within LBL, on the Lake Barkley side of the northern half. It’s very similar to Salato Wildlife Center located in Frankfort, if you’ve ever been. There are several hiking trails around the station and inside hosts several native plants and animals. There are always experts available to speak with when the station is open, and typically there are always scheduled events that can be participated in.
The month of August is Hummingbird month at the Nature Station, throughout the month they will have special programs themed around hummingbirds. 3-4 special events will be pre scheduled, to include a key speaker and buffet style meal arranged so that the meal is taken outside amongst the hundreds of hummingbirds buzzing around the many feeders. The day that we had purchased tickets for, the speaker was a bird bander and orthinologist, we were seated amongst the gardens just inside the Nature Station and the food was delicious! It was also a pretty relaxing experience, after being outside in the heat with the dogs (they did not come with us, left behind at the motel), they even had a live classical guitar player! We do plan on going to one of these events again next year, but will be sure to get there extra early, we had to take a table that was more so on the perimeter of the goings ons. Disappointed we did not get better footage!
Kentucky Lake
Part of our time was spent around the Eggner Ferry bridge (crosses Kentucky Lake), and the Fenton Campground area which is located on the west side of the lake. This proved to be a great spot to hang out during the hottest part of the day, to let the dogs get in the water and cool off. Also a great spot to hang, chill and watch the sunset. A lot of folks were out fishing and boating this area, if we had thought to bring our poles, we may have joined them.
Long Creek WMA
Long Creek WMA is a small wildlife refuge area that is near Devil’s Elbow Day Use area, located on the Lake Barkley side inside LBL. It has a small sign to the entrance off the main drag (highway 68), so its easy to miss. Basically it’s just a straight, gravel road that’s maybe 1.5-2 miles at best, that eventually runs into other service roads on the map, the end of the road is marked by more signage. If there is hunting going on nearby, we try to avoid this area if we have the dogs. In the morning up until almost noon, the gravel path is in the shade. We have hiked this spot many time in the colder months, it was also another nice change to see it green and full of new life.
Early American Motel
The Early American Motel is a long standing, family owned establishment that we have stayed at several times when visiting LBL. They have kitchenette rooms which are perfect for when we stay with the dogs for a few days. This was also the first time we got to sample their pool! The Early American is located on the west side of Kentucky Lake, very close to Kenlake State Park and the middle entrance to LBL.
