Land Between the Lakes – “LBL” to the people who love it – is a 170,000-acre national recreation area filling the long peninsula between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in western Kentucky and Tennessee. One of the largest blocks of public land in the eastern United States, it turns the twin lakes into a single sprawling destination of fishing, boating, camping, wildlife and history. This guide covers what to do there; it’s part of our growing Kentucky Lakes Database.
The two lakes
LBL exists because of the dams. The TVA’s Kentucky Lake (1944) on the Tennessee River and the Corps’ Lake Barkley (1966) on the Cumberland run side by side here, joined by a canal, leaving the wooded ridge between them as public land. Together they offer roughly 220,000 acres of water and some of the best crappie and bass fishing in America – see our Kentucky fishing guide.
The Elk & Bison Prairie
The signature attraction is the Elk & Bison Prairie, a restored native grassland where you can drive a loop among free-roaming bison and elk – a genuine taste of the pre-settlement landscape, and a hit with families.
Nature Station, planetarium & the Homeplace
LBL packs in attractions: the Woodlands Nature Station (live native wildlife), the Golden Pond Planetarium and observatory, and The Homeplace – a living-history 1850s farm where costumed interpreters work the land with period tools. Add an outdoor amphitheater and seasonal events, and there’s a week’s worth of things to do.
Camping, trails and the outdoors
Beyond the headline sites, LBL is a vast outdoor playground: lakeside campgrounds on both shores, hundreds of miles of hiking, horse and mountain-bike trails, the Canal Loop and North-South Trail, an OHV area, hunting, and quiet bays for paddling. Cherokee and other lakeside areas offer beaches and day use. It’s the natural base for a Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkley vacation.
Getting there and what’s nearby
Land Between the Lakes lies between the two lakes off Interstate 24 in far western Kentucky, about 45 minutes east of Paducah and 2 hours from Nashville. The Golden Pond Visitor Center, off US-68/KY-80, is the place to start.
Plan your trip with our best lakes in Kentucky roundup and the full guides to Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, or head back to the Kentucky Lakes Database.
