Day 2 of trip north Thursday July 21, 2016

We had crossed into the central time zone going from GA to TN, so Thursday we had an extra early start.  Anxious to keep moving, we packed up and once again took scenic highways to our next stop at the Rough River Lake recreation area.  Although we had our GPS and directions from the website, I doubt if we would have ever found our actual campground if we hadn't stopped at the state park lodge and got a map.  Once situated at our site, we drove around a little to get a feel for the area.  The campsites at this Corps park are not as generous as others we've been to, and had very limited lake sites, all of which had already been reserved.

We thought the Kentucky countryside was beautiful with its farms and pastures.

It looked so green everywhere.

This is a view of the Rough River lake after crossing the dam's bridge.  The lake encompasses 5100 acres.  The Army Corps maintains 6 different recreation areas on the lake.  Construction on the dam began in 1955 and was completed in 1961 as part of the Ohio River Basin flood control plan.

 

 Maintenance work is being done on the dam.

We arrived at our site about 3:30 CST, taking 6.5 hours to go about 220 miles.  While nicely maintained, the spaces are a lot smaller than most Corps parks we've been to.

After setting up, we decided to go back to the state park, where there are many recreational activities, and admission to the park is free.  However, the swimming beach there was closed.  Due to construction on the dam, water level on the lake side is extremely high, making it too dangerous to swim at this beach.

Trees that normally would be on land are now several feet under water.

 

The main walkway to the park marina was also submerged.

I took the ramp in the background to get to the marina to ask about boat rentals and fishing licenses, despite what this sign read.

These are just some of the many pontoons moored at the marina.

The carp swimming at the back of the marine shop were enormous, and begging to be fed.  With the "no fishing" restriction, they've gotten to be quite big.   We are pretty sure we will just do our usual drive around sightseeing.  For today, though, it was time to get back to camp.