We looked at several campgrounds for our trip to Mammoth Cave. The struggle was finding a tent spot that also had electric. It was a necessity, not a want. Many of the camp grounds didn’t offer it, and the ones that did cost an arm and a leg. We started considering renting a cabin with no air conditioning, because it was cheaper than the camp grounds. Then, we found Horse Cave KOA.
KOA campgrounds are so family friendly. They always have playgrounds, mini golf, and a pool. Horse Cave KOA had this huge jumping bag, a pond that you could fish in, and tons of farm animals. My only complaint is that this campground is right off the highway, and the traffic is so loud at night.
This campground is under renovation. The bathrooms had been redone, and were the prettiest camp bathrooms I’ve ever used! Two of the bathrooms had bath tubs while the rest had step in showers. If tent camping isn’t your thing, they have cabins that you can rent. They have new covered wagon “cabins” that are so pretty.
We had quite the camping experience. We made reservations because we needed the spot with electric. When we got there, they told us we were placed in an RV spot because the usual places were gone. Most of the spots were empty, so they told us we could pick from the empty ones. We found one with a good amount of grass, and set up the tent.
The weather forecast kept getting worse for Sunday, our full day in town, but we were committed. Little did we know that we would get downpours while starting to cook or getting ready to eat. We ended up going out and buying a canopy. There is a Walmart 20 minutes from the campground. There is also a Love’s gas station nearby if you should need any food, drinks, ice, etc.
The campground was clean and had everything any family could want. It wasn’t crowded, and people stuck to the quiet time rules. We all really enjoyed our stay at Horse Cave KOA, but we may stay elsewhere if we go back solely because of the road noise. If interstate noise doesn’t bother you, then definitely go! I think if you stayed in a cabin or have an RV, you wouldn’t hear it.
The tent was new– other than being used in the yard once. It rained on us some that time, so we knew we shouldn’t get wet. It POURED, and everything stayed dry. That is, until I opened the windows after checking the (clear) radar and somehow it still rained. Thankfully, it dried out quickly after that. We LOVE this tent.
Some people like to eat out while they camp. We did not want to go that route since we try to stick to a budget. That budget obviously went out the window having to buy a canopy, but it was still better to invest in that than spending the money on eating out. Dining rooms weren’t open in Kentucky anyway. We used our camp stove and made all of our meals. That’s why we ended up buying a canopy.
I thought I’d share our meal plan in case anyone needs ideas. We ate two meals on the road Saturday and Monday, and the rest we cooked at the camp site.
Saturday:
dinner– hamburgers and hot dogs
Sunday:
breakfast– scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast
lunch– nachos (with pre-cooked taco meat)
dinner– foil pack dinner with smoked sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cob
Monday:
breakfast– cereal/pop tarts
I made pasta salad before our trip, and we ate that with some of the meals. We packed chips, cheese crackers, carrot sticks, milk, and sandwich stuff also.