Over the past few years, we have visited Big Bone Lick State Park several times. Recently we drove over again to the state park and spend some time enjoying the local bison herd. Big Bone Lick State Park is a beautiful place to camp, play miniature golf, do some hiking and just spend some time making memories with family.

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Big Bone Lick State Park, Kentucky

When you first get to Big Bone Lick State Park, you can spend some time in the Visitors Center and then take a short hike over to see a herd of bison. There were even a couple of baby bison playing in the field on the day we were there. The trail was a short, easy hike over to the bison herd. For best viewing, take the trail to the bison herd early in the morning when the herd comes in to graze up close to the fence.

The bison is the largest of all North American land mammals. Great bison herds once roamed this area and provided food, clothing and shelter for the American Indians and pioneers. Hunted to near extinction, the last of the wild bison was seen in Kentucky around 1800. The park’s herd is an effort to reestablish these animals at Big Bone Lick.

There is a Visitors Center and a small museum where you can learn about the history of the Park and see the bog.

Once covered with swamps, the land that makes up Big Bone Lick had a combination of minerals and water that animals found difficult to resist. For centuries great beasts of the Pleistocene era came to the swampy land in what is now known as northern Kentucky to feed. Animals that frequented Big Bone Lick included bison, both the ancient and modern variety, primitive horses, giant mammoths and mastodons, the enormous stag-moose, and the ground sloth.

Camping

There is a nice sized campground where you can enjoy being out in a tent or step it up to an RV. The kids don’t get to camp as often as we like, so this was a treat when we spent some time in the tent one year. We have a Lightspeed Ample 6 Tent that sets up in less than 5 minutes. I loved the fact that the kids were able to put the stakes in the ground and set up camp with little help from me. My Mom had brought a few carpet squares so we were able to drop our shoes outside the tent and keep from tracking in grass!

Spacious campground features 62 campsites with utility hookups, grills, a swimming pool and playground. Showers, rest rooms, and laundry facilities are available at a central service building. The campground is closed Nov 30 – Mar 1. There is a campground grocery store on-site for your convenience, which is open April 1-October 31. Check-in time begins 2pm and check-out time is 1pm.

Mini Golf

There is a miniature golf course on the site. Cost: $2.50 per game

Campfire Experience

Building a campfire is one of the highlights of any camping experience. The kids and I did some hunting and found some branches and limbs in the edges of the woods. You can buy firewood bundles at the campstore.

Family Time

Everything is more fun when you are camping. Whether you are washing dishes, fixing lunch or just sitting around looking at books together, the time away from electronics in a campground is perfect for building memories.

Find Big Bone Lick State Park

Big Bone Lick State Historic Site
3380 Beaver Road
Union, KY 41091
Phone: (859) 384-3522

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Do you enjoy camping? Ever been to Big Bone Lick State Park? What’ your favorite State Park? I’d love to hear!