Grapevine Creek Campground in Kentucky on map - U.S.

The pace here is as slow as a summer afternoon.

The summer sun was about as strong and hot as it gets in these eastern Kentucky mountains when I rolled into Grapevine Creek Recreation Area. No one was stirring in the campground. Even the bugs were laid up in the shade. Many campsites were available. I cruised the campground road and neared Fish-trap Lake. Heat waves were shimmering off the water. Despite the heat, it was easy to see that this was one beautiful impoundment. Hills rose high to the sky directly from the water's edge. The folded mountains pushed into the lake, leaving the impoundment just a ribbon of water winding through this rugged country

where Kentucky meets sister states Virginia and West Virginia. These parts are known for coal, but they are also known for floods when storms crash into narrow hollows, damaging life, limb, and property. Flood prevention was the reason Fishtrap Lake came to be. On my way to the campground, I noticed that Grapevine Creek itself had flooded recently, though rain seemed very unlikely this day. Fishtrap Lake primarily dams the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, among other waterways, and has spared areas downstream of it further damage. In fact, Fishtrap Dam is the highest in eastern Kentucky. Luckily, Grapevine Creek Recreation Area is an added bonus to this flood prevention.

The campground is laid out in a level hollow alongside Grapevine Creek. Pass the campground host, there for your safety and convenience. Then come to the first campsites, which are laid out on either side of a two-way road. They are well built, with landscaping timbers delineating them. The picnic tables, fire rings, and lantern posts are all in good shape. The sites are in a mixture of sun and shade. I chose site 25, which is very shady and was the best choice for such a sweltering day. After the first 12 sites, pass a bathhouse on your right—an unusual amenity for such a small, out-of-the-way campground as this, but it's just one of several unexpected pleasures here. The campground road continues toward the lake. Some of the sites out here are open to the sun; if you come on a weekend, bring a sun shelter of some sort in case you end up with an overly open site. (In cooler times, though, campers will want to be in the sun.) Reach an auto turnaround and bathroom at the end of the road. There once were more campsites beyond here, but they have been turned into picnic spots. The shoreline at the picnic area was straightened out and bordered with rock. Bank fishermen will be seen here.