4.54109 reviewsPrice
Free
Booking
First-Come
Sites
20 campsites
Season
Year-round
Cell
Unknown
Pets
Very Pet Friendly
Price
Free
Booking
First-Come
Sites
20 campsites
Season
Year-round
Cell
Unknown
Pets
Very Pet Friendly
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US Forest Service/US Army Corps of Engineers Resource Managers Office KY-1193 London, KY 40744
OHV riders, dirt bikers, and mountain bikers who want a free base camp with trail access out the front gate. Site 10 gets good reviews. Fall weekends are busy but midweek you'll likely have your pick. Bring all your own water and pack everything out.
Light sleepers will hate weekend ATV noise, and anyone expecting running water, hookups, or cell service will be disappointed. Loop B is currently closed for reconstruction, cutting available sites in half, and the narrow steep road punishes anything over 25 feet.
Reference information about S-Tree Campground sourced from official USFS records and forestcamping.com. View official recreation.gov page →
<p>S-Tree Campground sits on a ridge above Horse Lick Creek on <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39570">London Ranger District</a> near McKee in Jackson County, Kentucky. A small picnic area features a historic picnic shelter that was constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The campground receives heavy weekend use from off-highway vehicle users who ride the adjacent <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39692">Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail</a>, Section #25 and the <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39622">Renfro Loop Trail.</a> These trails may be accessed from the campground.</p><p>This campground cannot accommodate trailers 25 feet or more due to one lane roads and no turn-outs. Each campsite has a picnic table, tent pad, fire ring and lantern pole. Vault toilets are centrally located. Campsites and shelter are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Loop A has two double campsites. Loop B has two fire circles. All of the campsites are wooded.</p><p>No electricity, water or dump station available. Pack out your trash.</p><p>Picnicking nearby: A picnic shelter with tables is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Other picnic sites are located near an area where a fire lookout tower once stood.</p><p>View <a href="https://usfs-public.box.com/s/vpnnbd2vaut1q5hl5ugm5pf0663hf71x">S-Tree Campground Guide & Map</a> (pdf)</p><p>S-Tree Fire Tower once stood near the entrance to the campground. Towers like these were important tools in detecting and fighting devastating forest fires. Fire towers were home to the lookouts who ran them. A tower cab was just big enough for a wood stove, two cots, a cabinet, storage box, small table, and a stool. The all-important alidade, or fire finder, stood in the middle of the room. By the mid-1970s, firefighters used aircraft for fire detection. Many towers, like one that stood here, were torn down because they could no longer be maintained in a safe condition.<br /><br />Nearby Trails: <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39622">Renfro Loop Trails</a> <br />Sheltowee Trace Trail #100 <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/dbnf/recreation/recarea/?recid=39692">Section 25 </a></p>
The elevation is 1,440 ft. The campground, situated along a ridge in mature hardwoods, is popular with ATV, dirt bike, and mountain bikers. Portions of the Sheltowee Trace Trail and Renfro Loop Trail are open to motorized vehicles less than 50" in width. The campground is pack it in, pack it out. Tent sites identified here can accommodate RVs. However, interior access roads to these sites (11 through 20) are extremely narrow and steep. The more RV-friendly interior access road (loop) is the first right after the picnic pavilion. Going past this turn may result in a difficult turn-around.
Open April 8 through November 21
Parking aprons are gravel. See General Comments.
In McKee, KY, take US Rt. 421 north 0.5 miles to State Rt. 89. Turn left onto Rt. 89 and go south for 3.6 miles to campground sign (Forest Rt. 43). Turn right onto Forest Rt. 43 and go 1.4 miles to campground sign (Forest Rt. 20). Turn left onto Forest Rt. 20 and go 1.7 miles to campground. NOTE: Just before entrance to campground, road forks; bear left at fork.
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Fall is the sweet spot here. Daytime temps run 50–70°F, nights drop to the mid-30s to mid-40s. The hardwoods put on a show, and the cooler air makes hiking and trail riding more comfortable than the humid summer months. Weekends get moderately busy, but midweek you'll have space to yourself. The campground is open April through November. Spring starts cool, sometimes still carrying a winter edge. Summer is humid and leafy, with cool evenings that make up for the sticky afternoons.
Described as the 'sweet spot' with hardwood show, cool days, and ideal hiking/trail riding weather.
S-Tree Campground, located in the Daniel Boone National Forest, offers a rustic camping experience with amenities suitable for both tent and smaller RV campers. Each of the 20 campsites is equipped with a picnic table, fire ring, lantern pole, and tent pad. Centrally located vault toilets are available, but the campground does not provide potable water, electricity, or dump stations. Trash must be packed out by campers.
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