A Weekend in Shanty Hollow

I love Bowling Green. Located in Warren County and home to over 60,000 people (making it the third most populous city in the state after Louisville and Lexington), it combines all the conveniences of a city with the warmth and charm of a small town. With 17,000 students, over 170 programs of study, and some pretty darn good athletics (Go Tops!), Western Kentucky University isn’t too shabby, either. I couldn’t have picked a better place to spend my four years of undergrad and if you asked any other WKU student, I bet they would say the same. But as a girl hailing from a town of around 6,000 in the heart of Eastern Kentucky, there are times when Bowling Green just feels too… big. And when that happens, I want nothing more than to escape to the outdoors.

On one such Friday in the thick of the semester, I gathered up three of my friends with the idea to visit one of our favorite places to go when school gets overwhelming: Shanty Hollow Lake. Shanty Hollow is a small lake bordered by forest that’s about a 25-minute drive north of Bowling Green and a popular destination for college students looking to get away for an afternoon. My friends and I have taken many a day trip to Shanty Hollow, but this time we wanted something more. Piled in a truck loaded down with sleeping bags and all the fixings for some s’mores, we headed toward Shanty Hollow Lake for the whole weekend.

We turned down the gravel road that leads to the lake just as the sun began to droop behind the trees. Through a gate on our right stood a yard filled with kayaks and a small trailer bearing a sign that read “Campground Open” – just what we were looking for. A man walked out of the trailer to meet us as we parked in the lot. Dressed in a neon green t-shirt and a camouflage baseball cap marked “Shanty Hollow Rentals,” he introduced himself as Jeff and asked what he could do for us. After explaining our plan to stay at the lake all weekend, Jeff gave us a rundown of all Shanty Hollow Rentals has to offer.

For $10 per person per night, we could have our pick of one of a dozen campsites interspersed throughout the forest just a two-minute drive from the lake. Our spot came with all the firewood we could ever hope to ask for. Jeff even hauled all our gear to the site for us. Shanty Hollow Rentals also offers kayak, canoe and paddleboat rentals for $40 a day and we were assured that if we would let him know what time we wanted to get out on the water, he would tow the boats to the dock for us. He then handed us his card and left us to set up camp with the promise of coming to check on us later, reminding us that if we needed anything at all to just say the word. (We really put this promise to the test, because as the weekend went on, we realized we had forgotten some essential camping equipment and we had car trouble – and both times Jeff was right there to help us out.)

After a successful night of camping in a large wooded area near Shanty Hollow’s hiking trails (which Jeff had revealed was his favorite spot in the whole campground), we woke up the next morning ready to get out on the lake. We each brought a kayak, which Jeff proceeded to tow down to the water, and spent the remainder of the day paddling our way around the lake. Shanty Hollow Lake is a relatively small body of water, but with so many coves to explore, areas to fish or swim and rocks to climb (and, if you’re feeling brave, to jump off of), it isn’t hard to spend the whole day on the water. We returned to dry land just as day turned to evening. From the bed of our truck we watched the sun set over the lake.

Fast-forward through another night in the great outdoors (and a seriously unlimited supply of firewood). We decided to spend our Sunday doing what Shanty Hollow is most famous for: hiking to a semi-hidden, naturally occurring waterfall out in the forest. The trailhead is easy to find, just beside the unloading point for the lake, but locating the waterfall can be a little more tricky. Although it’s only about a mile away, the trail is unmarked and meandering – it isn’t uncommon to hear of hikers unable to find it at all. (The best advice I’ve heard on how to get there is to always make sure you’re traveling uphill.) This wasn’t our first rodeo and we had little trouble navigating our way through the forest, past a few caves and rock outcroppings to the hidden gem that is Shanty Hollow’s waterfall. Since this waterfall is so popular, it’s not surprising to come upon college-age hikers like ourselves, families and even pets lounging in the shade there. Depending on the time of year and amount of recent rainfall, the flow can range from a small trickle to quite the downpour, the falls a beautiful sight regardless of season. A small, rock-lined pond lies at the base of the falls, the perfect spot to take a break and escape the midday heat.

After wading in the pond, refilling our water bottles and drenching ourselves in the falls, it was time to trek back to camp. We packed up our supplies (which Jeff helped transport back to the truck), loaded up the truck once again and headed back to real life. If I had any complaints about our weekend in Shanty Hollow, it’s that it wasn’t long enough. The area is friendly but rarely crowded and just far enough out of town that you can feel “away from it all” without ever actually being that far away. Next time I’m ready to get away from the bustle of college life, I already know where I’ll be going – and something tells me that “next time” isn't that far away.