Although Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is only 350 miles from Columbus, Tom and I decided to break our trip into two days.  Our first night out we stayed at Northern Kentucky RV Park.  Leaving a house for four months takes a little more work than just packing up the RV.  Instead of being in a hurry on Monday morning, we packed up most stuff on Saturday, enjoyed church on Sunday, and then finished packing Sunday afternoon.  We pulled out around 3 with the idea of stopping south of Cincinnati.  That way we would miss Cincinnati traffic on Monday morning.

Aside from the leisurely preparation, we also needed to get to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park before 4.  The Visitors Center closes at 4 and we needed to meet our boss, Ranger Layton Carr, and get instructions.

We chose to spend Sunday night at Northern Kentucky RV Park, just south of the intersection of I-71 and I-75.  We chose the park because it was close to the interstate and got decent ratings.  It turned out to be a good choice for us.

We pulled in to Northern Kentucky RV Park just after 5 p.m. and the office was already closed.  Fortunately they had a campground map with driving instructions to our site waiting for us outside.  We drove to the site and pulled into our spot.  Then we took a walk around the park to get our bearings.

Northern Kentucky RV Park has three camping areas and we couldn’t see much difference between them.  Most of the sites were pull-throughs and it looked like all three areas had longer-term and short-term campers.  We were in the area closest to the road.

The sites were close together but the amenities and scenery at the camp made up for it.  The campground office and store are in the center of the park with the playground behind.  I was especially impressed by the playground which was handicapped-accessible.  There was a pretty fishing pond with a fountain, although the dock needed some repairs.  It was underwater!

During the evening, we found out why the reviews often mentioned the train noise.  Across from the road is a very busy set of train tracks.  Every five minutes or so a train would rumble by.  When they were coming from the north, they sounded like they were coming through the middle of the RV!  Because there is a road crossing, they had to sound their horns several times.  As it got dark, the trains sounded even louder and we could see their lights.

Tom and I love trains, so it was fun to hear them going by while we were awake.  It was not quite as much fun during the night.  Fortunately the trains didn’t run as much during the night.  I was awakened five times by the horns and the passing rumbles, but each time I fell asleep again quickly.  Tom said he noticed a couple of trains going by, but he is a better sleeper than I am.

The next morning we pulled out and stopped at the camp office to get propane.  The propane was easy to access and the staff was great in pumping it.  It was a little expensive, but we had tried to get propane on Sunday and were not successful.  We didn’t want to stop again before getting to Cumberland Gap.

If you like trains, Northern Kentucky RV Park is a great place to stay for a night or two.  We enjoyed our visit and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again.