Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area · Kentucky
Overview Alum Ford Campground is located in the Kentucky portion of Big South Fork seven miles west of Whitley City, Kentucky at the end of Highway 700. The campground consists of six campsites each with picnic table and fire ring. Recreation The campground is located adjacent to the Alum Ford Boat Launch, providing access for motorized and non-motorized watercraft to this remote section of the Big South Fork River where it becomes Lake Cumberland.
Sites at Alum Ford Campground are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 6 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard |
| Location | Whitley City, KY |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Alum Ford Campground around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Bandy Creek | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Blue Heron Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Station Camp Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Bear Creek Campground - KY | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Alum Ford Campground; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.