Agency-listedUSFSFee
Sugar Bay Campground
Drive-up · U.S. Forest Service · KY · 36.85561, -88.12560
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →U.S. Forest Service lists this as a developed campground. Expect marked sites, a fee station or a reservation, and the usual campground rules. The dispersed-camping freedom of the surrounding forest does not apply inside it. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM — Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY
The nearest road on the Forest Service MVUM is road 140-C (S.B. Campsites 10-14 Access), 60 ft from the pin. The MVUM record carries neither a surface type nor a maintenance level for it.
From the Forest Service's own Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW, Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026), straight-line from the pin to the nearest mapped segment. The nearest segment is not necessarily the way in, a maintenance level is the agency's class and not a report on today, and a road's season is the road's — it is not a campground order. What the levels mean → What an MVUM is →
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Sugar Bay Campground
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 387 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Sugar Bay CampgroundNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- ShShower3 mi
- OOutfitter3 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- WWater7 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- MMechanic20 mi
- DDump26 mi
- AAir-up40 mi
- PPropane51 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Sugar Bay Campground
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Forest Service
Elevation
387 ft
Ground slope
13.3% · noticeable
State
KY
Coordinates
36.85561, -88.12560
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKentucky Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townHardin · ~11.6 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~6.6 mi
- FuelFuel · ~5.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~26.0 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~5.7 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~12.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicHospital · ~12.4 mi
- HardwareBenton Hardware · ~12.2 mi
EV charging — from Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.9 mi straight-line N — Kuttawa, KY - US62 - Tesla Supercharger (at a gas station) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 23 within 50 · 144 within 100 · 254 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS19.6 mi — Parker Ford, Murray
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO29.3 mi — LINWOOD CHEVY CPE250, Mayfield
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.9 mi — GTB GTB 2, Grand Rivers, KY · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 353801 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletSugar Bay Campground · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletS.B. Boating Ramp · at this camp · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletS.M. Boating Ramp · ~3.9 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletSmith Bay Campground · ~4.0 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Sugar Bay Campground · Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area · KY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kentucky Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 13.3% — noticeable. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Sugar Bay Campground elsewhere
Other camps near Sugar Bay Campground
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Smith Bay Campground~4.0 mi · fee
- Birmangham Ferry Backcountry Area & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes~5.3 mi
- Energy Lake Campground~5.6 mi · fee
- Fenton Campground & Boat Ramp at Land Between The Lakes~5.7 mi
The unit that manages Sugar Bay Campground
Stay limits, road closures and fire restrictions at Sugar Bay Campground are set by Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, not by the campsite — check there before you go.
How we know this — Sugar Bay Campground
Source
U.S. Forest Service recreation data
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Developed FEE campground (not free) - review | auto:usfs-fee 2026-08-20: US Forest Service developed campground, agency coordinates, agency states a fee. No dollar amount in the agency record -- expect a charge and confirm the current rate before you go. Not field-verified.
Nearest MVUM road
US Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map roads layer (EDW_MVUM_01, layer 1), Clearinghouse refresh Aug 30, 2026. Straight-line distance from the pin to the nearest mapped segment within 1 mi; surface type, maintenance level and open dates are the agency's own values for that segment, expanded from its codes and otherwise unedited. Nothing here says which road reaches the site.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Sugar Bay Campground
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Sugar Bay Campground
What “dispersed” means here →Reading a forest MVUM →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →All field notes →