Agency-listedKDFWRFree
West Kentucky WMA
Drive-up · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY · 37.13211, -88.81142
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 →Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
FREE primitive camping, but ONLY in this WMA's DESIGNATED camping area -- KDFWR's own page says: "Primitive camping is allowed on the WMA, but ONLY at the designated camping site." In Kentucky you do NOT need a hunting or fishing license just to camp or hike a Wildlife Management Area, and ordinary KDFWR WMAs charge no access or camping fee (only Otter Creek and Peabody WMA require an entry permit, and this is neither). It is unlawful to camp anywhere on a WMA except in a designated area (301 KAR 3:010), so camping outside the marked site is not allowed. Expect primitive conditions -- generally no electric, no hookups, little or no water; pack water in and everything out. Near Paducah in Future City -- about 7 miles from I-24 exit 4, north on KY-996 then west on KY-358. Primitive only: no electric, water, or restrooms provided. (About 546 acres were removed from the WMA effective June 30, 2025, per KDFWR.) Kentucky WMA rules and camping availability change and can be closed by posting -- confirm the current rules, the designated campsite location, and any stay limit with KDFWR (1-800-858-1549) before you go, and read the signs at the entrance. HEADS UP: this is working wildlife-management land -- during Kentucky's fall/winter hunting seasons wear blaze orange or pick a different night. The pin is KDFWR's published coordinate for the WMA (a general access reference point), NOT the exact campsite -- find the designated camping area on the WMA map before you commit to it after dark.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at West Kentucky WMA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 365 ft.
Fire & smoke — around West Kentucky WMANIFC · 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 West Kentucky WMA · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail5 mi
- RxPharmacy5 mi
- FFuel5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- EVEV fast charger7 mi
- HHardware7 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- +Urgent care8 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- WWater14 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- AAir-up33 mi
- PPropane37 mi
- DDump38 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — West Kentucky WMA
Access
Drive-up
Land
Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources
Elevation
365 ft
Ground slope
1.8% · flat
Nearest rail line
~0.8 mi · other track
Nearest highway
~6.6 mi · Interstate 24
State
KY
Coordinates
37.13211, -88.81142
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around West Kentucky WMA · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBayou Creek · ~0.8 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townRossington · ~1.3 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.8 mi · other track
- Nearest highway~6.6 mi · Interstate 24
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelMarathon · ~5.2 mi
- Propane / LPGFerrellgas · ~9.4 mi
- GroceriesBig John · ~5.3 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~4.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicMassac Memorial Hospital · ~4.6 mi
- HardwareCairo Public Utility Hardware Store · ~21.6 mi
EV charging — from West Kentucky WMA · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger7.0 mi straight-line E — Acees BP Metropolis (at a public site) · RED_E · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach7 within 25 mi · 37 within 50 · 99 within 100 · 325 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.3 mi — Wagner Wine & Spirits - Mayfield, Mayfield
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO7.8 mi — Walmart 491 (Paducah, KY), Paducah
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.0 mi — Paducah Ford · Blink Network · J1772, CCS · 3 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — La Quinta Inn and Suites Paducah - Tesla Destination, Paducah, 7.7 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- 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 396978 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around West Kentucky WMA · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaFort Massac · ~7.5 mi E
- Highway rest areaI-24 East Paducah Welcome Center · ~10.3 mi SE
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~17.6 mi NW · FWS
- RestroomOak Point - Lake Glendale · ~20.8 mi NE · USFS
Coming out here — West Kentucky WMA · Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources · KY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Bayou Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.8 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 1.8% — flat. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~0.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Interstate 24 is mapped ~6.6 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 West Kentucky WMA elsewhere
Other camps near West Kentucky WMA
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Dixon Springs State Park - Tent Camping Area~19.3 mi · fee
- Oak Point - Lake Glendale~20.8 mi · fee
- Bird's Blue Hole~20.9 mi
- Duck Bay - Lake Glendale~21.0 mi · fee
Who holds the land at West Kentucky WMA
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area, manager on record: Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — West Kentucky WMA
Area rules
Camping is permitted only in designated areas.
Source
public land records
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
Kentucky Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Resources public-land page, app.fw.ky.gov/public_lands_search/detail.aspx?Kdfwr_id=137 (read 2026-07-22); page states on-WMA camping is allowed in a designated area ("Primitive camping is allowed on the WMA, but ONLY at the designated camping site.") and is silent on any fee. Free/no-license basis: KDFWR FAQ (fw.ky.gov/More/Pages/FAQ.aspx) -- no license needed to camp/hike a WMA, only Otter Creek & Peabody require an entry permit; and 301 KAR 3:010 (unlawful to camp except in a designated area, no fee imposed). Coordinate = KDFWR's own published lat/lon for the WMA (37.1332, -88.8139), cross-checked via Nominatim reverse-geocode to fall in McCracken County. It is the WMA's general reference point, NOT the campsite -> confidence='med' on pin precision (free-status is high). ~4,495 acres. Scanned KDFWR ids 1-260 (59 valid WMA pages) this fire; Dewey Lake (26) and Carr Creek (131) EXCLUDED -- their pages say camping is in Corps-maintained (paid USACE) campgrounds only; Higginson-Henry (132) HELD -- own page silent on camping. [2026-08-16 fire 740 COORDINATE CORRECTION] The lat/lon on this row was previously KDFWR's WMA *entrance* GPS (37.1332,-88.8139), which is the area office on KY 358, not the campsite. Moved ~300 m to the single point KDFWR labels Type='Campground' on this WMA in its own map layer. Coordinates are KDFWR's own, from the agency WMA_Map_Points layer, https://services5.arcgis.com/RMHPuOW5MJ6iyTV6/arcgis/rest/services/WMA_Map_Points/FeatureServer/0 (Type='Campground', read 2026-08-16). | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
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 West Kentucky WMA
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 — West Kentucky WMA
Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →All field notes →