Kentucky Public Lands
4% of Kentucky is federal land: 1,022,623 of its 25,512,320 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Kentucky is the U.S. Forest Service, with 818,751 acres, 3.2% of the state. This guide covers 35 state parks, 6 National Park Service units, 2 national forests, 2 wilderness areas, and 3 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Kentucky public lands by type
- Kentucky state parks 35 parks, 2 with camping, 12 with swimming
- Kentucky national parks 6 National Park Service units
- Kentucky national forests Daniel Boone National Forest, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
- Kentucky wilderness areas 2 areas
- Kentucky national wildlife refuges 3 national wildlife refuges
Kentucky public land map
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 48 places on this map
State parks (35)
- Big Bone Lick State Historic Site
- Big Bone Lick State Park
- Blue Licks Battlefield State Park
- Carr Creek State Park
- Columbus-Belmont State Park
- Dale Hollow Lake State Park
- Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site
- E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park
- Fishtrap Lake State Park
- Fort Boonesborough State Park
- General Burnside Island State Park
- General Burnside State Park
- Grayson Lake State Park
- Green River Lake State Park
- Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site
- Jefferson Davis State Historic Site
- John James Audubon State Park
- Kincaid Lake State Park
- Kingdom Come State Park
- Lake Malone State Park
- Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park
- Lincoln Homestead State Park
- Mineral Mound State Park
- My Old Kentucky Home State Park
- Nolin Lake State Park
- Old Fort Harrod State Park
- Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site
- Paintsville Lake State Park
- Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site
- Taylorsville Lake State Park
- Waveland State Historic Site
- White Hall State Historic Site
- Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site
- William Whitley House State Historic Site
- Yatesville Lake State Park
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (6)
National forests (2)
Wilderness areas (2)
National wildlife refuges (FWS) (3)
Who manages Kentucky's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 0 | 0% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 818,751 | 3.2% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 16,560 | 0.1% |
| National Park Service | 95,182 | 0.4% |
| Department of Defense | 92,130 | 0.4% |
| All federal land | 1,022,623 | 4% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Kentucky public land
Free dispersed camping is also allowed on Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area .
2 of Kentucky's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Kentucky state parks table.
Common questions
- 4% of Kentucky is federal land: 1,022,623 of its 25,512,320 acres (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Kentucky is the U.S. Forest Service, with 818,751 acres, 3.2% of the state.
- This guide lists 35 Kentucky state parks and recreation areas, 2 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.