LIMESTONE DRIFT KENTUCKY WATER, TOLD STRAIGHT
FIELD CARD Pool & Access · No. 08-5
TVA lake · KY 94 corridor · east of Murray · Calloway County

Kentucky Lake

Six launches off KY 94 east of Murray by KY 497, KY 732 and KY 280: White Beach and Wildcat paved and free, two unpaved TVA ramps for light boats, Irvin Cobb with a fee and a marina, and Lynnhurst, a private resort. All of it is south of the bridge and inside the reciprocal zone — except Blood River.

KY 94 EAST OF MURRAY Launches at KDFWR coordinates · schematic
KY 94 · Murray eastKY 732 / KY 1346KY 280 / KY 614Boat rampWhite BeachNo fee · KY 497MarinaLynnhurst Family ResortPrivate resortMarinaIrvin CobbFee · marinaBoat rampBoatwrightNo fee · unpavedCampsiteWildcat Public AccessNo fee · campingBoat rampSlavehouse – TVANo fee · unpavedN02 miSchematic · launches at KDFWR coordinates · hollow discs are other corridors · a dot with a leader is the published position
Three numbers to get right
What you hearWhat the primary sources actually say
"Just read the USGS gauge."There isn't one. USGS 03609000 served "0 data types" on 10 Sep 2026. The pool is TVA's: its lake-levels page, or NWS gauge KYDK2. A link, never a level.
"Winter pool is way down."Five feet. TVA: "typical summer target level is 359 feet"; "minimum winter elevation of 354 feet". No fill or drawdown date on any readable page; no KDFWR launch on this lake carries a winter-pool warning.
"A Kentucky licence covers the lake."North of the US 68 / KY 80 bridge, yes. South of it to the US 79 bridge a Kentucky licence covers a boat angler under Kentucky rules; a bank angler follows the state they stand in; Blood River is Kentucky-only. Not Lake Barkley.
What the pool does on this road
Two of the six are unpaved, light-boat, seasonal ramps on their KDFWR record — Boatwright and Slavehouse. No launch on this lake carries a pool note, but an unpaved ramp is the kind five feet of water changes, and both sit on the Blood River side, where the WMA record describes "mud flats and lowlands at back of bays". Wildcat — any trailerable, multi-lane, dock — is the dependable launch on this road. Record first; the rest is reasoning.
Blood River is Kentucky-only water. This road is south of the US 68 / KY 80 bridge, inside the reciprocal zone — but KDFWR: "Blood River is not included in the bordering waters zone and will require a Kentucky non-resident fishing licnese to fish" (spelling KDFWR's). Kentucky Lake WMA — 4,044 TVA acres of islands, mud flats and back-of-bay lowland — is hunted under statewide county rules; a fall angler at an unpaved ramp here is standing in it. Lynnhurst: "This is a private resort."
LIMESTONE DRIFT
KENTUCKY LAKE · KY 94 Access and limits
Six launches, KY 497 to KY 280
LaunchFeeKDFWR record, in the agency's words
White BeachNoKY 497, 1 mile, then a gravel road. Any trailerable, paved single lane, dock, no restrooms, picnic area. Year-round.
Lynnhurst Family ResortYesKY 732 to the end. "This is a private resort." Any trailerable, single lane, dock, seasonal camping and marina.
Irvin CobbYesKY 732, KY 1346 to the end. Light boats, multi-lane, 26–50 parking, dock, restrooms year-round, seasonal camping, marina year-round.
BoatwrightNoKY 732, Swift Road to the end. Light boats, unpaved, no dock, no restrooms. Ramp seasonal.
Wildcat Public AccessNoKY 280, KY 614 to the end. Any trailerable, multi-lane, dock, seasonal restrooms and camping, accessible pier. Limited hours.
Slavehouse – TVANoKY 280, 8 miles, gravel road on the left. Light boats, unpaved, no dock, no restrooms. Ramp seasonal.
Limits — four of them differ from statewide
SpeciesSizeDaily creel
Largemouth bass15 in minimumstatewide
Smallmouth bass15 in minimumstatewide
Crappie, black and white10 in minimum20 combined
Sauger14 in minimum6
Everything else is statewide — redear, striped bass and hybrid, white bass, catfish, sunfish, black bass creel; a bank angler on the Tennessee shore south of the bridge follows Tennessee's. Camping on this road: Wildcat (seasonal), Irvin Cobb (seasonal, limited hours), Lynnhurst (seasonal) — per KDFWR. No Forest Service camping on this shore. Fish attractors: KDFWR publishes a GPX and a map; no count is stated.
Live pool: tva.com/environment/lake-levels/kentucky · NWS gauge KYDK2 · no USGS series · Kentucky Lake WMA (KDFWR) (270) 753-6913.
Sources: TVA Kentucky dam page and Kentucky Reservoir Land Management Plan (verbatim elevations, dates and statistics); KDFWR waterbody records 64 and 320, the 43 access-site records, 2026 Fishing Forecast, WMA record and reciprocal-agreements page; USFS Land Between the Lakes boating, rules and camping pages; USGS 03609000.
Conditions change. Verify pool, access and regulations before you travel. Revised September 2026.
QR code: https://limestonedrift.com/waterways/kentucky-lake/#ld-alertslimestonedrift.comAlerts and the water page
Water alerts. We email when the pool, the ramps or the rules actually change. limestonedrift.com/alerts/?w=kentucky-lake