Spillway Beach is the Corps of Engineers day use area at the dam end of Laurel River Lake, about fifteen miles west of Corbin off KY 1193. It is a sand and gravel beach on a protected cove with a bathhouse, restrooms, picnic tables and a paved lot, and it is the one place on the lake set up specifically for swimming from shore. There are no lifeguards. The bottom drops off reasonably quickly past the buoy line, which is normal for a mountain reservoir with a flooded creek channel underneath it.

Laurel River Lake covers about 5,600 acres with close to 200 miles of shoreline, almost all of it wooded and undeveloped because the Daniel Boone National Forest owns the land around it. It is routinely described as one of the deepest and cleanest lakes in Kentucky, and the clarity is real; on a calm morning you can see eight or ten feet down. The Corps finished the dam on the Laurel River, a tributary of the Cumberland, in 1974 for flood control, hydropower and recreation. The Corps runs the dam and the Forest Service administers the shoreline, which is why some facilities here carry a federal recreation fee and others do not.

Six recreation complexes are spread around the lake: Grove, Laurel Bridge, Cane Creek, Craigs Creek, Holly Bay, Marsh Branch and Flatwoods. Holly Bay is the largest, with a full service marina, a campground and its own beach, and it is the usual base for anyone spending a weekend here. Two campgrounds, Grove and White Oak, are boat access only, which makes for a good overnight paddle if you have the gear. Ramps at Craigs Creek and Flatwoods put you closest to the upper arms.

The lake's shape rewards a kayak. Long narrow fingers reach back into the hollows, and several of them end at small waterfalls that only run well in spring and after rain. Cliff jumping happens at a few of the rock faces on the main channel; the Corps does not sanction it and the depth varies with pool level, so the sensible approach is to look before you leap or skip it. Summer pool holds through Labor Day and the water is warm enough for comfortable swimming from mid-June into September.

Corbin is the nearest town of any size and has the full run of services. Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, with the 68 foot falls that throw a moonbow on clear full moon nights, is about twenty minutes southeast, and the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail passes through the area on its way north. Fishing on the lake is mostly walleye, smallmouth and striped bass, and there is a good crappie bite in the coves in spring.