The Getaway — A Hidden 30-Acre Glendale KY Campground

Key Takeaways

• The Getaway is a 30-acre family-friendly campground in Glendale at 4566 Sportsman Lake Road — quiet, heavily shaded, locally run.
• $800/month all-inclusive long-term RV stays cover utilities and internet. One-room cabins available at the same rate, plus nightly/weekly options.
• Short-term Weekenders are open again after months of monthly-only stays during the Blue Oval construction surge.
• Amenities: playground, fishing pond, walking trail that loops the pond, laundry on site, one-room cabins (heated/cooled, shared bathhouse), pool opening soon.
• Heavy shade and tree coverage is the differentiator — most Hardin County campgrounds don't have it.
• Glendale-area day trips: Mammoth Cave and Lincoln's Birthplace are easy hops down the interstate.

Summary

The Getaway sits on 30 quiet acres in Glendale, tucked off Sportsman Lake Road, locally run, and built for the kind of stay that's hard to find at a chain — quiet, heavily shaded, family-friendly, equipped with a playground, fishing pond, a walking trail that loops the pond, laundry on site, and a pool that opens fresh each season.

This week, The Getaway was Hardin Local Weekly's episode sponsor and got their first formal on-air spotlight. Manager Lexi Gonterman spoke with Phil ahead of the episode and gave the cleanest description of the place anyone's offered: a campground she drove past a thousand times in high school without knowing it was there.

If you've been priced out of Louisville hotels for Derby or just want to know what's quietly been sitting off Sportsman Lake Road for years — this is the call.

Full Article

There's a campground sitting on 30 acres of tree-shaded land in Glendale, locally owned and operated, that even the people who grew up on the road that runs past it didn't know was there. The Getaway is at 4566 Sportsman Lake Road, tucked off the road behind the trees. Manager Lexi Gonterman said it the way only somebody who lives in the community can: "I drove past it probably a thousand times in high school and never knew it was there. I had a friend that lived on Sportsman Lake Road and I'd take the old Y onto Sportsman Lake and go that direction. I probably passed it a thousand times and had no idea."

That's the whole shape of this week's spotlight in one sentence — a Hardin County resource sitting in plain sight, ready for anyone willing to make the turn.

What's on the property

The Getaway is 30 acres of campground, run by Lexi and her team, intentionally pitched as "quiet, family-friendly" — Lexi's own tagline for the place. Heavy shade is the visual differentiator. Lexi flagged it on her own: "One perk of our campground versus some of the others in the area is shade and tree coverage. People like the shade. People love the trees."

The amenity stack runs longer than most local campers expect:

• A real playground — and Lexi pointed out how rare that is. "Not a lot of the other campgrounds, really E-Town, the only other one that has a playground or anything that's kind of kid-focused. It's usually a big attraction for families that have kids."
• A fishing pond on the property
• A walking trail that loops around the pond
• Laundry facilities on site — the kind of practical amenity long-term campers rarely get without driving into town
• A pool that opens fresh each season. Lexi confirmed it's been open the last three seasons and will open again soon for this year.
• One-room cabins — heated and cooled, with a full-size bed, refrigerator, and microwave. Lexi was direct about the layout: they don't have individual bathrooms — guests use the campground shower house. "That has been a point of confusion for some people. They have a full-size bed, refrigerator, microwave — but they don't have their own individual bathrooms."

There's no gym, but the area around the campground supports active stays. A 5-mile road loop off Sportsman Lake Road is a regular ride for guests. "It's not a biking trail — it's just a road. But people bike before."

Who it's for

Lexi broke down the guest mix.

Monthly long-term campers are the backbone. The 30 acres are filling fast with monthlies — Lexi described the booking process as "playing a little bit more Tetris" to fit short-term guests in around them. The package is $800 per month all-inclusive — that's RV site plus utilities plus internet, no add-ons. It's a strong fit for Ford / Blue Oval retool workers, contractors, and Hardin County families caught in the gap between selling and buying a house.

The cabins are also $800 per month, with nightly and weekly rates available for shorter stays.

Short-term Weekenders are back open. During the Blue Oval construction surge, The Getaway had locked into monthly-only stays to keep leases consistent. That's changed. "Now that we're, we've had more short-term last year, and it's looking like we're going to have more short-term and weekenders coming up." Locals who tried to book last year and got told no can now come back.

Tourists passing through. Glendale's location puts it within an easy drive of Mammoth Cave (down I-65) and Lincoln's Birthplace in Hodgenville. Lexi: "We've gotten people that are like coming for like Mammoth Cave or like Lincoln's birthplace — like more touristy-type spots — just because we're kind of in the middle of going to Hodgenville or going down to Mammoth Cave. It's easy to jump on the interstate."

The Derby angle

Phil flagged the timing-sensitive piece of this spotlight on air. Louisville hotel pricing for Kentucky Derby this year is brutal — even E'town hotels are running expensive. The Getaway, 30 miles south of Louisville with an $800/month all-inclusive long-term option and nightly cabin rates, is a real alternative for anyone struggling to find Derby-weekend housing within budget.

What's NOT happening right now

A few honest notes from the call:

• No active promotions. Lexi confirmed they ran one through the off-season but don't have a current offer running.
• No scheduled holiday events. The historical monthly-only guest mix didn't draw much interest in holiday programming — most guests are travelers who go home for big holidays. Lexi mentioned that as short-term and weekender traffic grows, that may shift in 2026 and beyond.
• No on-site gym, hiking trails, or bike paths. The pond walking trail is the on-property option; the 5-mile road loop is the longer ride.

How to book

Lexi's primary ask was simple — come see it for yourself.

Website: getawaycampgrounds.com Phone: 270-369-7755 Camp Spot: book through the standard campground platform — search The Getaway, Glendale, KY Social: The Getaway Retreat on Facebook

Hardin Local Weekly is grateful to The Getaway for sponsoring S2026E17. This is exactly the kind of local-business story this show exists to tell: a family-run operation, sitting on great land in a great location, doing the work for years, finally getting the spotlight that lets the rest of the community find it.