What is "Land Between the Lakes"?

When we added two extra days to our stay around Paducah, Kentucky, the weatherman was forecasting chances of rain all day for both days. We lucked into a nice day yesterday, but we wondered about those heavy gray clouds when we started exploring today. Denisa heard there was a lighthouse on the shore of the Kentucky Lake in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, and it was just a few miles from our campground. Those heavy gray crowds in the background don't look good for a day of wandering God's wonders.

We didn't eat breakfast this morning, because we were planning a very early lunch at Patti's Restaurant in Grand Rivers. We're a little confused about the name of this town. Why is it called Grand Rivers, when it is at the head of two lakes in this "Land Between the Lakes"? We would soon found out that those lakes were actually rivers when the town was named.

Patti's is a well-known must-see in Kentucky, and it's a good idea to have a reservation. But if you have to wait an hour for a table, you can wander through "Patti's Settlement." That's a collection of reproduction 1880 wooden structures that simply beg to be photographed.

You can play miniature golf or eat ice cream at the parlor while you wait on your table. We were lucky to have the place to ourselves because it hadn't yet opened this morning.

The flowers and carefully planned plantings were lovely at Patti's Settlement.

While the settlement is very nice, it's the food that has made them famous. They serve yeast bread baked up in a flower pot, served with fresh butter, and strawberry butter.

They are also famous for their two-inch pork chops, but we were both stuffed after sharing their lunch-sized one-inch pork chop with sides. We were so full that we didn't try their famous pie, with its mountain of meringue.

We are staying these two extra nights at 'Tween the Lakes Campground. That's a curious name, but it matches this area of Kentucky that the welcome center ladies taught us about. When they suggested we spend some time at the LBL, we had no idea what they were talking about. That stands for the "Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area." On the map, it shows up as the dark green federal land on the map below, and is hemmed between two long lakes. These lakes used to be rivers, that often would swell and flood the homes and communities that used to be in this valley. Dams were built in the 1950's, making the rivers into lakes, and turning these communities between the rivers into the Land Between the Lakes.

One paved road runs all the way from north to south for 43 miles and takes you all the way to Tennessee. That road is called "The Woodlands Trace"--designated as a National Scenic Byway. We soon found that everything looked the same from the road--a tunnel of green trees.

Our first stop was at the Elk and Bison Prairie. For $5, you can drive your vehicle through the loop to see the 68 elk and 53 bison that are fenced into this area of the recreation area. Do you see all those elk and bison? Well, neither did we. 

We are experienced animal spotters, but they were all hiding in the forest today. We did spot this elk-colored log and Denisa got a nicely-focused picture of it.

We will often say that we got skunked if we didn't see what we expected to see. But today, we got turkeyed instead. Our wildlife sightings inside the preserve were all feathered. We saw a couple turkeys close to the road . . .

and this group of tom turkeys that Mark spotted far away. We had hoped that dark brown color in the trees was a bison. It obviously was not.

The best sighting was this beautiful blue bird that stayed still long enough for a picture because he felt sorry for us and our bad luck in not spotting those bigger mammals.

The two lakes that surround the Land Between the Lakes are the Kentucky Lake (formed from damming the Tennessee River) on the west, and Lake Barkley (formed from damming the Cumberland River) on the east. These lakes offer hundreds of miles of shoreline for motor boaters. But there are also lots of smaller lakes to choose from. We chose to kayak on Honker Lake.

We soon discovered that all the borders of the lake were covered with water lily pads. They are lovely, but they sure complicate a paddling stroke.

Some of the leaves were huge, as demonstrated by the lovely model at the back of the boat.

These leaves are perfectly formed to float on the water. That form also holds water droplets that ball up to look like sparkling crystals on the top of the lake.

We spotted a osprey on the metal tower that holds the electrical lines above the lake. It flew as we approached, but we think it will be returning to that sizable nest.

We don't remember ever paddling below an osprey nest to get this bottom view.

While we didn't see much wildlife in the designated wildlife area, we spotted some on Honker Lake. We could hear the honking geese, and we also spotted a good number of large white herons near the shore.

A deer came to the shore for a drink and posed for a picture.

We didn't see any beavers at home at this lodge . . .

but we did spot the v-shaped wave of an animal swimming across the water. We got a picture before he darted into his den.

We had been paddling beneath heavy gray clouds, and we finally started noticing the raindrops hitting the top of the water. Yes, we got a little wet, but there was no lightning. The storm passed pretty quickly and then we were ready to get off Honker Lake.

We had picked out a trail for the day. Even though it was still threatening to rain, we decided to go on that hike.

The trail was muddy, so we were glad to see that much of the back side of the Hematite Lake trail was on boardwalk.

We had never before seen this deep red flower that ends in a bright yellow bloom, so of course Denisa had to stop to take a picture.

The sun was going down by the time we made the drive back north on The Woodlands Trace to return to the 'Tween the Lakes Campground. The animals were moving around, as we spotted a bobcat crossing the road, and a skunk running beside The Trace. This is a place that we didn't even know existed two days ago. But now we have had a good full day of exploring the food, the water, and the trails in this Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.