Visit Carter Caves Resort State Park

Explore Carter Caves State Park

Carter Caves Resort State Park in Eastern Kentucky has everything you need for a fun-filled vacation. You can go on multiple cave tours, hike, swim, rock climb, or participate in any other number of activities that they have available onsite. Carter Caves also has several options for lodging and even has a restaurant on the grounds giving you easy access to food. Like most state parks in the Bluegrass state, it is dog-friendly though your pup won’t be able to participate in all available activities with you. This is definitely a park I see us visiting again in the future because we have so much left to see and do here.

What to Expect at Carter Caves Resort State Park 

Because Carter Caves State Resort Park is full of a wide range of fun activities, it tends to be a popular spot for family vacations. In the height of the summer season, you may want to book your overnight accommodations at least a few weeks in advance to make sure you get a choice spot. I highly recommend spending at least two days here so you can do at least one cave tour and a few of the hikes. If you are planning on participating in some of the other great activities, you might want to stay for a full week. Many of the activities like swimming or the cave tours will cost extra so you may want to set a budget ahead of time and plan accordingly.  

Carter Caves is a great place to see some cool wildlife like bats, salamanders, newts, and even axolotls. Because there are several water-based reptiles that live in the creeks and shallow waters it is especially important to be careful when moving rocks and to remember to place them back carefully wherever you found them. Please fight the urge to stack rocks. Though this may be a fun photo op, you are disrupting the breeding and living areas of many animals. And when they eventually fall, it could hurt or even kill the animals that live around them.

Are Dogs Allowed at Carter Caves State Park?

Dogs are allowed in Carter Caves State Park. You can take them on any of the hiking trails in the park, but they are not allowed in any of the public buildings or caves. If you are looking to stay overnight, there is plenty of pet-friendly lodging available onsite.

Carter Caves State Park Welcome Center

The Welcome Center is the first building that you will come to once you enter the park, though it is a long road to get to it. This is where you can pick up park maps, talk to staff, schedule your tours, and check the park’s schedule of events. The building has public restrooms, a help desk, and a gift shop inside. In front of the building is where you can go gem mining and there are several trailheads nearby.

Lodging in Carter Caves State Park

This state park has a full range of camping, cottages, and rooms onsite. If you are bringing your pup, they all have pet-friendly options. There are several campgrounds available that are open seasonally, but the lodge and cabins have year-round availability.

Lewis Caveland Lodge

For a hotel-type experience, you can book a room at the Lewis Caveland Lodge. The Lodge has high-speed internet and each room has a private patio. Some rooms do allow pets though there is an additional pet fee. The lodge is also home to the restaurant, Tierney’s Cavern.

Cottages in Carter Caves State Park

There are 12 2-bedroom cottages to choose from and each has a 2-pet max. They all have updated appliances like dishwashers and microwaves in addition to your own personal deck. Several of the cottages also have wood-burning fireplaces.

Carter Caves State Park Campgrounds

There are two main campground areas in Carter Caves State Park and there is a separate building for you to check in to your campsite. One campground is considered primitive and only has space for tents. It also has 2 bunkhouses available for rent. The tent sites start at $18 per night and the bunkhouses start at $60 per night. The bunkhouses do have electricity and there are 2 water refill stations in the area. The other campground has electric hook-ups and can house tents or RVs. These sites start at $23 per night.

If you plan on camping with your horse, there are equestrian campsites available but the only way to book one is to call the park itself. It is recommended that you book your horse-friendly site about 2 weeks in advance.

There are two primitive backcountry campsites in the park, but they do require permits which you can get at the Lewis Caveland Lodge. Johnson Homeplace Backcountry Campsite is located to the south of Smokey Lake and Eagles Nest is near the 4C trail to the west of Smoky Lake.  Eagles’ nest has 2 sites and 2 fire rings. One site is for tents and costs $10/night and the other has a half-raised shelter for use that costs $15/night. Johnson Homeplace can host several tents and costs $10/night.

Where to Eat in Carter Caves State Park

There is one restaurant onsite called Tierney’s Cavern. They are typically open 7 days a week from 7 am-8 pm with an hour break between mealtimes.  You can feel extra good about yourself when you dine here because Tierney’s is a part of the Kentucky Proud program, which means they use local produce and meat when possible.

Things to Do in Carter Caves Resort State Park                             

Carter Caves State Park is a marvelous park to enjoy a sense of adventure, appreciate nature, and spend time with your friends and family. This park offers everything from cave tours, rock climbing, hiking, and even miniature golf. The activities available range from adventurous to relaxing, so it is completely up to you how to spend your vacation.

Horseback Riding in Carter Caves

There are several horse-friendly trails you can enjoy with your horse inside of this park. If you are interested in horseback riding but don’t have your own horse, you are in luck! Carter Caves Trail Riding Stables can help you out. This part of the park is operated by Maddix Stables and you can book a guided trail ride on one of the horse-friendly paths in the area with them.

Cave Tours at Carter Caves State Park

Carter Caves State Park is one of two state parks in Kentucky that has cave tours available to the public. They have a wide range of tours available to choose from in several different caves, making this a great stop if you love cave tours! They offer both guided (paid) and self-guided tours (free), however, both require either tickets or permits before you head out. Check the website for the latest information on prices and cave tour availability.

Self-guided Cave Tours

If you are looking to do some cave exploration on your own, you will have two caves to choose from, Horn Hollow or Laurel Cave. You will need to get a permit at the visitor center before you head into either one. To get a permit, you need to have at least two people in your group, and everyone will need to be wearing closed-toed shoes and have their own flashlight for safety.  

Laurel Cave is open from May 1 to Labor Day, but Horn Hollow Cave is open year-round. You will want to check the weather before you go into either cave because they are both prone to flash floods in heavy rain, especially in spring. It’s also important to know that Laurel Cave is home to numerous endangered Indiana bats, so make sure to follow the park’s protocol so you don’t accidentally spread White-nose syndrome, which is a highly contagious disease that has killed a large amount of the bat population across the United States.

Guided Tours

Carter Caves has several guided bat tours that you can choose from depending on what type of experience you are looking for. Cascade Cave and X-Cave are both available year-round. The Cascade Cave tour highlight is an underground waterfall and lasts around 75 minutes. The meeting place for this tour is just down the road from the main entrance of the park. The X-Cave tour is only 45 minutes long but has a few more ‘showier’ cave formations.

The Saltpetre Cave tour lasts about 60 minutes and takes you through a cave that has some great history. During the War of 1812 Saltpetre Cave was used for the main ingredient to make gunpowder for the war. In the summertime, you also have the option of taking a Lantern tour of this cave.

Bat cave is considered a ‘wild cave tour’ which means the path you will take will be more rugged than the other trails. The path is undeveloped which means no stairs, lights, or rails anywhere in the cave. This tour is available during the summer and lasts around 2.5 hours long and you will need to be able to pass a squeeze test before you head out.

The most challenging tours available in the park are the crawling tours. These tours will lead you through small passageways that will require you to crawl on your hands or knees and even sometimes on your stomach! You can choose between two different crawling tours: Bat Cave or the Saltpetre Cave. Both tours will last around 3 hours and you will get dirty, but don’t worry because coveralls are included in the equipment that they give you for this adventure.  

Rock Climbing in Carter Caves State Park

Carter Caves State Park also provides a fun rock-climbing opportunity for climbers. The climbing area is home to a 30-40-foot-tall sandstone rock wall where you can top rope climb or have fun rappelling (which is my favorite). To climb here, you need to get permits from the visitor center and climb with at least one other person.

When you are setting up, it’s important to know that you can only secure your lines to the anchors that are already installed. After you are done climbing, you do have to return your permit, so the park rangers know that you are safe.

Swimming at Carter Caves State Park

If you want to go swimming, Carter Caves has a swimming pool with a diving area open to guests for a small fee during the summer months. The pool is located near Lewis Caveland Lodge and Smokey Valley Lake.

Boating and Fishing at Carter Caves State Park

For those that want to spend some time out on the water, there are two bodies of water that you can enjoy. Tygart Creek and Smokey Valley Lake both have areas where you can launch your canoe or kayak. There is also a boat launch on Smoke Valley Lake. The creek can be a bit challenging in the spring and it is recommended that you check in with the Department of Recreation to get updated information about the water conditions before you head in.

The lake is a great place to catch largemouth bass, bluegills, catfish, and crappies. Don’t forget to get your fishing license before you drop your pole in! You can also check out fishing equipment for free if you forgot your own in the park.

Hiking in Carter Caves State Park

Hikers will love the 12 different trails that add up to 30-some miles of trails available in the park. Half of the trails are multi-use, meaning you may encounter mountain bikers and horseback riders. These trails range anywhere from an easy .1 miles to a challenging 8.6 miles.

While hiking the trails, you can see several gorgeous natural arches and bridges throughout the park. The trails are all marked but I do recommend that you take a map with you just in case you lose cell phone service. Some of the trails might be a bit overgrown and not all of them start and end in the same spot so it is helpful to plan ahead. The map also has a great description of each hike to help you decide which ones to do and what you will see.

There is one trail that is not accessible from inside the park. The Box Canyon Trailhead is near the entrance to Cascade Cave which means is it just a short drive down the road from the Park’s main entrance. This is a great hike to do either before or after your cave tour here if you don’t mind a steep but short hike.

Miscellaneous Activities at Carter Caves State Park

Depending on the time of year you visit, you will have several miscellaneous activities to choose from. Close to the electric campsites, there is a miniature golf course that you can enjoy for an extra fee. If you have children, there are also two different playgrounds in this area as well.

You can also try your luck gem mining near the visitor center.

If you find yourself near Smokey Valley Lake, there is another playground, a basketball court, and a pool (for a small fee) that you can use.  Just a short drive away from this area is the Lodge where you can find tennis courts where overnight guests are able to rent rackets if needed.

The park also hosts numerous interpretive naturalist programs and special activities throughout the year. Check on their website or at the visitor center for the current schedule. If you are lucky, you may be able to catch a movie showing in one of the caves!

If you like smaller animals like reptiles or crayfish, the creeks are a great place to find them. We were even able to spot an axolotl! This area of Kentucky is home to newts, salamanders, axolotls, and even hellbenders. Because of their size and breeding requirements, if you are searching for them, please be incredibly careful. Gently lift and replace the rocks as close as possible to how you found them and NEVER stack rocks.

Some of these animals are considered threatened or endangered and unstable rocks can easily injure and kill them. They count on the small hidey-holes around the rocks for protection and some species require very specific circumstances to reproduce.

Nearby Attractions

Red River Gorge is another park in Kentucky that is full of more beautiful natural arches, rock climbing opportunities, and more.

Hocking Hills in Ohio is similar to Red River Gorge with beautiful rockwork though it is smaller in size. This park is rated one of the top parks in the state.

New River Gorge National Park is over the border in West Virginia and covers a large area full of hiking trails and other fun activities like white water rafting.

Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine is another West Virginia stop and has a unique way of teaching you about the history of coal mines and miners in West Virginia by getting a tour into a coal mine on a cart by a real retired coal miner.

Why You Should Visit Carter Caves State Park

I love a park that has a variety of activities and an opportunity to see wildlife no matter how big or small it may be. Carter Caves State Park definitely checks all these boxes, plus I can bring our dogs. Take the opportunity to explore everything this park has to offer from finding crayfish and salamanders, cave tours, rock climbing, and even mini golf. We can’t wait to go back and experience more of this park!

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