Hillman Ferry — Hotel in Benton

Unfortunately, it was a dark and stormy night when we arrived. We had a few mishaps on the road on the way to the campground that put us in about 3 hours later than we had hoped. I called ahead to let them know we’d be late, so on the window of the check-in booth, they placed a map outlining the route to our site. Even with the route highlighted, it was a slow drive to figure out where we were headed in the dark. The campground is huge and has several areas. The roads are narrow and rough with potholes and speed bumps in high frequency.||The campsite itself (90 in Area C) is very spacious. Where the camper sat, there was no room for our vehicle, instead there was a second lower level for us to park in. This was great; however, in the dark on the first night, we didn’t even know it was there, so we just parked by our camper. This site was probably the worst to pull into in the dark of any site, at any campground, we’ve ever had. After the day we had, it seemed to go right along with the perilous journey theme we were experiencing.|The sites themselves are tucked in every way imaginable, and most weren’t level. Some sites we weren’t even sure how people could get their campers level. At one site, folks had to use about 4 chunks of wood to get to the right level. There were lots of seasonal or long-term sites as well.||The campground is beautiful. We had very few mosquitoes even with the lake so close. Since we were here in the fall, not all of the sites were full. It was nice that it wasn’t completely packed. There was a bunch of wildlife for us to see as well. When we woke up, the day after we pulled in and walked down to the lake, we saw a heron and an egret. A deer family made its way passed in the evening. We saw an armadillo, a skunk, lots of squirrels, and various birds. We also saw a young coyote out in the park.||I’d say it would be a 5 star for us, if only the sites and roads were easier to maneuver.||Be sure to drop off your window ticket when...

Absolutely a National Treasure!!!!! We stopped at one of the campgrounds, within the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, because we needed a campsite on our way home from Florida. We picked this location because we believed that it would be a nice place for the parents to stay and a great thing for my grandchildren to see. On arrival the staff at the check in building were absolutely wonderful; kind, helpful, caring, just salt of the earth good people. As for the campsite and campground, immediately after setting up our camper my wife, daughter, and son in law all agreed that no matter how tight our schedules were, we couldn't in good conscience leave the next morning as planned, so we immediately booked another night, so as to get at least one full day in the national recreation area. The day was magical, you know, just one of those days where everything comes together to make it a perfect day. We started at their visitors center, and watched a short video on the history of this national site; it was extremely helpful as it made us understand that often these national parks come at great cost (nope, not going to tell you, so you'll have to visit the place yourself:). We then visited the Red Wolf Nature Station, where they rehabilitate injured animals, and maintain them if there is little hope of them surviving in the wild. Specifically they have a mating pair of Red Wolves, which are very close to becoming extinct (estimate that only 30 to 40 left in the wild, in the world). They also had a bald eagle, snakes, turkeys, everything you can imagine that would be in the wild. Our grandchildren simply loved it. We then went back to the campground where our grandchildren spent hours playing on their swings, slides, and other equipment made for just hanging out. I could go on and on and on, but suffice it to say that the staff, activities, and location make this place simply magical. We'll be back! Joseph E. Czarnik, COL,...

This was my first time at Land Between the Lakes, I went solo camping with my dog. The campground overall is quite clean and the employees are friendly, but it was busy! This campground is certainly more appealing to families looking for a summer adventure versus solo campers looking for peace in nature. The campground also seems to offer season-long rental spaces, and there were lots of golf carts, so keep that in mind! Nonetheless, my visit was nice-- I had an entire family of redheaded woodpeckers living in the trees above my site that were entertaining to watch, and I saw deer everyday. I heard coyotes calling at night, and I even had a skunk visit my site on the last night of my stay-- it walked within 20 feet of my site without caring!! My site was a two-minute walk up a steep hill for the bath house and water pump, and a five minute walk to the shower house. The showers were pretty clean, though I recommend shower shoes, and they were individual rooms rather than stalls. Dumpsters were a five-minute walk away. I was at Site 17 of Area B-2. The sites are gravel rather than sand, so I recommend extra padding if you want to be inside your tent without having shoes on. The site was lakeside but, according to a local I met, the lake water levels gets lowered after Labor day weekend, so my cove was half-drained. Nonetheless, the view was still rather nice after I adjusted to it, and I saw egrets and other waterfowl every day. The bugs at the campground are bad though-- so bad that they could bite through long-layers and repellant! I even got a tick without leaving the campground at all that day....keep that in mind if you visit LBL, in general. The sites in my section were moderately-spaced apart- it would've been a little crowded if every site had been reserved. If visiting the area, I recommend visiting the Elk & Bison...