For the second straight year, beach access at Pennyrile Forest State Park will be limited to registered campground and lodging guests on weekends and holidays.
The restriction will take effect on Saturday. Beach access will continue to be available for non-registered park guests on weekdays only.
The Kentucky Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet said in a release the decision was made to continue the safety effort due to ongoing concerns relating to overcrowding. They said current beach crowds continue to exceed the park’s capacity by more than 10 times, creating prolonged response times in the event of an emergency. In addition, the beach is not staffed by lifeguards.
Beach parking can accommodate 109 vehicles. Parking outside of the area is unsafe for park guests because of the 200-foot elevation change to access the beach area. Golf cart transportation will also no longer be available.
The state park announced similar restrictions in June of last year citing the same reasons.
