Kendall is a United States Army Corp of Engineers campground. USACE campgrounds are most often built as a recreation feature upon completion of a flood project such as the building of a reservoir, dam and/or hydroelectric powerhouse facility. Such is the case here. Kendall campground is laid out immediately adjacent to Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery (and Visitor Center) and just a few hundred feet downstream of the Wolf Creek Dam.
There are actually two campgrounds here, Kendall and the Kendall Annex. Kendall has 77 electric only sites laid out in two heavily wooded loops with 2 bathhouses and 2 dump stations. The sites are packed gravel, mostly 50-60 feet long, and level. There are a few pull through sites but the vast majority are back-in sites.
The annex loop is about a half mile to the north (you will pass the road to the annex when you come to the main camp entrance or the Visitor Center). The annex has 40 electric only sites, a dump station, a bath house, and a free laundry facility.
The video below shows water being released through the sluice. Even though the lake level is down, they release water that subsequently hits the concrete wall and forces the water up into the air. This aerated water is then sent downstream to keep the fish healthy.
From the main Kendall camp it’s a short walk to the dam, splash pad, the snack bar, the hatchery, and the Visitor Center.
The pictures below show us enjoying our walk to the snack bar.
We’ve stayed here twice (once in 2020 and now in September of ’23) and appreciate the calm quiet. Now that school is back in session, campers here are mostly “senior citizen” fishermen (and women). However, when Thursday afternoon came around, the families with all their little ones came in and “took over”! The rest of the weekend was filled with kids on bicycles (w/ training wheels), tricycles, skateboards. And dogs along with Mom & Dad riding their golf carts all over. The lesson learned is … don’t go camping on a weekend!
And remember, all the Army Corp campgrounds qualify for the “America the Beautiful” Senior Interagency Lifetime 50% discount. This park, and the next one we are going to camp at (Defeated Creek TN) cost us only $18/night vs the standard $36 nightly fee while Maumelle in Little Rock is only $12/night with the Senior Interagency Lifetime Pass.
Seniors can buy the lifetime discount pass for only $80. When we bought ours a few years ago, the cost was only $10, but they’ve since raised it to $80. If you think you MIGHT camp a couple nights in a National park, US Forest Service park, or other national inter-agency park, you’d better buy your pass now before they raise the price again. Here’s the discount pass link again.
Here at Jamestown, there’s the Wolf Creek Dam that holds back the water that forms the man-made resevoir Lake Cumberland. Not only does Lake Cumberland provide miles and miles of recreation water, but also flood control and electric power for the area provided by the six hydro-electric generators. Although the powerhouse is only open on a very limited basis for pre-arranged tours, you can drive across the top of the dam on U.S. Route 127 and get a pretty good view of the dam from either side. Continuing on down south on 127 will get you to a couple different routes to Dale Hollow Lake State Park at Burkesville KY where we volunteer camp hosted spring of 2021.
Here’s the link to the Wikipedia link about Wolf Creek Dam and some pictures of the dam from the overlook on the south side.
Here’s a link to The Visitor Center and National Fish Hatchery. They have some nice interactive displays inside not only about the hatchery, but also about wildlife in the area and a little about the dam & powerhouse. Here’s a few pictures from inside. Click on any of the pictures to get a larger view.
And lastly, if you’d like to get more of any idea of the layout and the sites at Kendall, go ahead and watch this short video shot by the dashcam as we head to the dump station.
That’s all for now. Until next time, be good to one another and to yourself.
