Want to spend the day by the beach without driving all the way to the coast? Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley offer a few options right in your own backyard. Kentucky Dam Village State Park has a sandy beach that is free and accessible to the public. Kentucky Dam Beach and Paris Landing Beach are both free and open to the public.
For “beaches, and more,” you can visit the Kuttawa Recreation Area, which features a protected sandy beach, basketball courts, a playground and flush toilets, all for a nominal fee.
And if you seek a “diamond in the rough,” there is the only-accessible-by-boat location dubbed “The Sands,” a naturally sandy beach along the northern part of the lake. You’ll have to learn the lay of the land first, though, as you won’t find this beach on any official map.