Kenlake State Resort Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kenlake State Resort Park |
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Kentucky Lake, Kenlake State Resort Park, April 2013
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| Type | Kentucky state park |
| Location | Calloway and Marshall Counties, Kentucky, USA |
| Nearest city | Hardin, Kentucky |
| Area | 162,095 acres (65,598 ha) |
| Established | March 13, 1948 |
| Operated by | Kentucky Department of Parks |
Kenlake State Resort Park is a fun place to visit on the western side of Kentucky Lake. It's mostly in Marshall County, but also reaches into Calloway County. The park's address is Hardin, Kentucky, but it's actually closer to a small community called Aurora, Kentucky. The closest big town is Murray. This park covers a huge area of land and water, and it even has indoor tennis courts! It was the very first "state resort park" in Kentucky. Kenlake is part of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which was created a long time ago by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to help people during tough economic times.
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Park History
In 1946, the state of Kentucky started talking with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). They wanted to rent a piece of land called Aurora Landing. This land was on the western shore of Kentucky Lake, near the Eggner's Ferry Bridge. Kentucky Lake had just opened in 1944 after the Kentucky Dam was finished. This new lake, made by the dam on the Tennessee River, had more beach area than any other man-made lake in the world.
Kentucky wanted to use the rented land as a state park for recreation. The TVA first rented 1,146 acres to Kentucky. On March 13, 1948, the land transfer was completed. The new park at Aurora Landing was named Kentucky Lake State Park. It joined Kentucky's system of state parks. By the 1970s, people often called the park "Kenlake State Park" for short.
Kenlake Hotel and Lodging
In 1950, fifteen vacation cottages opened at Kentucky Lake State Park. Soon after, plans were made to build a hotel inside the park. The Kenlake Hotel was built for $600,000. It opened in the spring of 1952. The hotel first had 60 guest rooms, each with two beds and its own bathroom.
Today, the Kenlake Hotel has 48 rooms. It is one of the few Kentucky State Parks with inside room doors. The park also has 34 cottages. Some of these cottages originally came from the nearby Cherokee State Park, which is no longer open. A large camping area with 90 sites is also available for people who want to stay overnight.
Cherokee State Park's Legacy
Kenlake State Resort Park includes an area that was once known as Cherokee State Park. This park was special because it was the first state park in Kentucky, and in the Southern United States, that was only for African Americans. It was the third such park in the entire United States.
Cherokee State Park opened in 1951. It was meant to be a "companion" park to the whites-only Kentucky Lake State Park. It was advertised as "the finest colored vacation site in the South." The park was originally 300 acres. It had a beach, cottages, boat and fishing docks, a picnic area, a bathhouse, and a dining hall that could seat 200 people. It was designed to offer the same quality as Kentucky Lake State Park. This was part of a policy at the time called "separate but equal," which meant different facilities for different races.
Cherokee State Park closed by 1964. This happened after Governor Bert T. Combs signed an order in 1963 that ended segregation, which was the separation of people by race. The land was then given to Kentucky Lake State Park.
The area of the former Cherokee State Park was left empty for many years. Later, it was cleaned up and used by the Murray State University rowing team. The university rented the park area and used some of the old buildings. They made a boathouse and a trophy room when Murray State started NCAA level rowing in 1998. The university later stopped its rowing program in 2008. In 2009, the former park and its remaining buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The old Cherokee State Park dining hall was fixed up and reopened in the fall of 2010. It is now used for meetings and events and is called the Richard H. Lewis Lodge.
Park Activities and Fun
There are many fun things to do at Kenlake State Resort Park. Fishing is a very popular activity. The most common fish caught here are crappie. You can also find bluegill, catfish, sauger, and different types of bass.
The park has two hiking trails, named Chickasaw and Cherokee. Together, these trails are about 1.7 miles long. Kenlake is also known as the best place in Kentucky for sailing large boats.
Hot August Blues Festival
Since 1989, Kenlake State Resort Park has hosted the Hot August Blues Festival every summer. This blues festival started thanks to Gloria Hargrove, who was a sales manager at Kenlake at the time. The festival takes place at the Kenlake Amphitheater.
Famous blues musician Junior Wells played at the very first festival in 1989. Other great artists who have performed include KoKo Taylor, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lew Jetton, and Chris Cain. In 2007, the Kentucky Tourism Council named the Hot August Blues Festival one of Kentucky's top ten summer events.
