LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES (LBL)
 Land Between The Lakes is a 170,000-acre national recreation area in Western Kentucky and Tennessee located near I-24, about 90 miles north of Nashville, TN., and just south of Paducah, Ky.

LBL Attractions  LBL Camping  LBL Trails  LBL Maps

HISTORY:
Land Between The Lakes is an inland peninsula formed when the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded, creating Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley -- one of the world's largest man-made bodies of water. In 1959, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River, many recognized the recreational and environmental education benefits of what would soon become a near-island between two man-made lakes.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy created Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. LBL was formed to demonstrate how an area with limited timber, agricultural, and industrial resources could be converted into a recreation asset that would stimulate economic growth in the region. LBL is the country's only such national demonstration area.

LBL became a reality in 1964 when Rushing Creek Campground, LBL's first public recreation facility, opened. Today, LBL is the focal point of a $600 million tourism industry; it remains one of the most most visited attractions in Kentucky and Tennessee.