Blue Heron Campground is part of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Strunk, Kentucky
July 15-21, 2021
What can I say about our camping experience here? Unfortunately, nothing good. 🥺
When I book most campground reservations, I use recreation.gov
It’s a website that allows you to see the campsites that you’re considering, before you reserve them. In this case, I somehow managed to reserve the handicapped ♿ accessible site. 🤔 I’m not sure how that happened, but it might have been the only site available when I was booking the reservation. When I arrived & saw the ♿ sign, I immediately wanted to change locations. I HATE to see cars illegally parked in handicapped spaces, so using this spot really bothered me. Unfortunately, I never saw anyone to speak to about it. I called recreation.gov & was told that the only way to change locations was through the on-site Camp Host. “Ummmm…we don’t seem to have a Camp Host… 🤷♀️” The good news was that this site was very close to the restrooms & recycling bins!
Oh! And a bear 🐻 & copperhead snakes 🐍!
There was absolutely nothing to do within a wide area around the campground, so I spent time reading & researching future destinations. Just before EVERYONE left my area on Sunday afternoon, a very nice fellow camper stopped by to speak with me. She asked if I’d heard about the bear that had visited the campground the day before. No, nobody mentioned it. 😳 I thanked her for letting me know. She continued. “Did you know that a camper killed a really large, (very dangerous, VERY VENOMOUS) copperhead snake this morning?” Nope, I didn’t know that, either. With those warnings, she wished me luck & left. She & EVERYONE else left. If you look closely at the campground photo, does it remind anyone else of a scene from a scary movie?
At that point, I still had 2 days left on this reservation. I considered moving, but I couldn’t find anywhere to go. I’d chosen this campground because it was reasonably close to our next stop, the Kentucky Horse Park! I just put myself on my highest level of alert & hoped for the best. 🤞🏼
Being the only camper in the area, I decided that cooking probably wasn’t a safe thing to do. It’s not that my cooking is that good 😉, but a hungry bear might not care! I made myself a delicious, bearproof sandwich. 😁
To prevent transporting harmful bugs to other areas, you’re not supposed to move firewood from place to place. I had purchased firewood & hadn’t used it yet, so I decided to make a fire & enjoy it on our second to last night there. It just might keep the bears & snakes away!
BAD IDEA!!! Previous campers had buried glass beer bottles in the ashes! 😡 When I first arrived at the campsite, I’d taken A LOT of trash out of the firepit, but I didn’t notice the bottles. Within a few minutes, my nice HOT fire caused the bottles to explode & glass shards sprayed the area! Luckily, I was able to jump back & Maddie was already a safe distance away.
Before another disaster strikes, can we please leave now??? Yikes!!! The next morning, I FINALLY saw a National Park Service employee mowing the lawn & told him about the glass. He apologized & added it to his to-do list.
I had ordered some food & supplies online from Walmart to do a curbside pick-up. It didn’t seem right to visit Kentucky & not have KFC! It was across the street from Walmart.
I was hungry & it was good. 😊
The next morning, I couldn’t wait to leave! It had rained the night before, so I moved the tent & tarp out onto the sunny driveway to dry out & started putting things in the car. Maddie was tied to the picnic table. Five minutes after moving the tarp, I looked over to see if it was drying.
It didn’t really matter… 😳
A copperhead 🐍 snake was in the middle of the tarp!!! That tarp is copper colored & I almost didn’t see it. It was probably 2 feet long. I had rehearsed this possibility in my mind, so I didn’t panic. I cautiously walked over & got Maddie. My NPS landscaper was back, so I asked him for help. By now, the snake had crawled back under the tent. The employee grabbed a stick & moved it into the woods. I also had him help me move the tent, just in case there were any others underneath it. He told me I was the calmest person, male or female, that he’d ever helped with a snake problem. Yay me! 🙄 I have a really good photo of the 🐍, but once again, I don’t want to freak anyone out!
I’m pretty sure the tire marks I left speeding out of there will be noticeable for a long time.
I’m kidding…a little bit. 🥴
Moving on to the Kentucky 🐎 Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky! 💕
Where's Wendy? Livin' in the Edge! 