General Burnside Island State Park is a park located just south of

Somerset, Kentucky Somerset is a home rule-class city in Pulaski County, Kentucky, United States. The city population was 11,924 according to the 2020 census. It is the seat of Pulaski County. History Somerset was first settled in 1798 by Thomas Hansford and rec ...

in Pulaski County. The park encompasses in the middle of

Lake Cumberland Lake Cumberland is a reservoir in Clinton, Pulaski, Russell, Wayne, and Laurel, counties in Kentucky. The primary reasons for its construction were a means for flood control and the production of hydroelectric power. Its shoreline measures ...

, making it

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

's only island park. The park is named for General

Ambrose E. Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

, a Union general during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

who stationed his troops at the location that the park now occupies.

Activities and amenities

Referred to locally as Burnside Island, the state park offers camping, golf, and lake access via boat ramp on the south end of the island. The golf course was voted first place as the ''Commonwealth Journal'' Readers Choice Award for "Best Places to Play Golf" in 2009. The following year, it placed second. Although elected officials have spoken of upgrades to the park, including the construction of a state lodge and improvements to the golf course, a spokesperson in 2010 said the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet has no plans for a lodge "right now."

References

{{authority control State parks of Kentucky Protected areas of Pulaski County, Kentucky