I’m happy to announce the third annual SOTA Kentucky Campout the weekend of April 12, 2025! Come and go as you can and we’ll host a pancake breakfast at 8:00amET Sunday morning before we all head home.
Pancakes and syrup will be provided; feel free to bring anything else you’d like to prepare for yourself and others before heading out!
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TODAY: Please call the office at 606.589.2478 to make your reservations (this is different from the phone number listed on their website, but it’s the correct one). Kingdom Come State Park maintains a primitive campground with limited running water and privy toilets so please plan accordingly. The town of Cumberland, KY is minutes away from the entrance to the park; restaurants and a grocery store are nearby.
Please let me know if you’ve reserved a campsite so we can make an attendee list.
We’ll look forward to welcoming any and all that can attend to explore the Eastern Mountains of the Bluegrass State together. There are plenty of previously-activated summits within an 1.5 hour drive of the campground (and many unactivated to explore as well!)
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A note on meals: The campground is a five minute drive from Cumberland, KY. There is a grocery store there as well as several restaurants. Eastern Kentucky has been hit with several natural disasters in the last few years, and is the poorest area in the state. I highly recommend visiting the local grocery for supplies and/or eating out if you can - any local economic impact in this area goes a long way.
We are three months away from the 2025 Kentucky Campout! If you’ve not made reservations, you might have some difficulty getting ahold of the state park for the next few weeks as they may not have access to the office - winter weather often closes the access road. Leave a message or check back.
The RSVP list thus far:
Site
Name
Call
12 O’Clock Overlook
Michael
N4DCW
12 O’Clock Overlook
Ron
NR3E
4
Jamie
AA4K
5
Walt
KK4DF
6
Bruce
K9OZ
7
Bob
W4BTH
8
Andy
KY4DF
I’ve added a few activated summits in the last few years so check to see if have new opprotunities:
I spoke with Sherry at the state park. While many communities West of I-75 experienced major flooding issues in February, Cumberland, KY and the surrounding areas (where we will be hiking) had only moderate impacts. We are still on for this trip!
A few notes:
Staffing levels at the park have been significantly decreased. Day-to-day phone answering at the office is hard to manage. IF YOU STILL NEED TO MAKE RESERVATIONS please call Sherry at her direct line in her office and leave a message: 606.589.4138. Make sure to mention you’re with the ham radio group.
We have almost filled the campground! There are 5 full campsites left, but if we need more there are other options they can open up for us.
I will only repeat what I’ve suggested before: Any economic impact we can make in the Eastern KY communities (where SOTA summits are located) is greatly appreciated. I’ll be eating out for lunch/dinner and buying other groceries at the grocery there in Cumberland.
