Have you driven past A.J. Jolly Lake lately and wondered where the water went? The lake was lowered on purpose. Since July 31, Campbell County crews and contractors have been dredging the lake and rebuilding the dam's spillway. Fishing, boating, kayaking and camping are off for the 2026 season. In the county's words, most of the park "will remain open throughout the work."
That shapes what the park is good for between now and spring. The lake, the dam and the horse trails make up one closed corner of a 1,000-acre park. The rest still works. Through the end of the year, though, what you can do there will change more because of the calendar than because of the construction.
Why the Lake Is Down
The county says the dam is safe today. The work is meant to keep it that way. Crews are repairing concrete and foundations, improving the system that controls lake levels, and fixing drainage. When the restoration was approved in February 2025, LINK nky reported that the Kentucky Division of Water had told the county to investigate the spillway and send a remediation plan, because the under-drain system wasn't working.
Since the water had to come down anyway, the county is doing two more jobs at the same time. Lowering the lake roughly 10 to 12 feet lets crews dredge out sediment that has built up and made the lake shallower. A new bridge will also replace the culvert near Flatwoods Road Cove. The county expects the deeper lake to have better water quality, less warming in the shallow areas, and better fish habitat.
The work is split between a contractor and county crews:
- Spillway reconstruction: On May 6, 2026, the Fiscal Court accepted a $3,518,256.50 bid from Prus Construction. That came in under the $4.4 million cost estimate from the county's engineer, Verdantas.
- Dredging: The Campbell County Road Department is doing this in-house.
- Engineering: Verdantas, formerly CT Consultants, is guiding the technical work.
- Total and funding: LINK nky put the full project at about $10 million when the camping closure was announced in September 2025. The county says it's paid for with county, state and grant money, with no new fees for residents.
The Closed Corner, and Everything Around It
The closures follow the work: the water, the dam, and the roads and trails that lead to them. Here's how the county's AJ Jolly Safety Repairs Project page splits the park.
| Closed during construction | Still open |
|---|---|
| Lake Access Road past the turnoff to the pavilion and maintenance garage, for all traffic including walkers and joggers | 18-hole golf course |
| Both sides of the dam and spillway | Stapleton Pavilion and the shelters |
| Equestrian area and horse trails, until further notice | Playgrounds and sports fields |
| Disc golf holes 7 and 8 | Tennis and pickleball courts |
| Trails inside the marked construction area | The other 16 holes of disc golf |
| Camping, yurts, fishing, boating and watercraft rentals | Free park admission |
Admission is still free, and the park is open daily from daylight to dusk. The county's trail map lists 4.8 miles of easy paved multi-use trail and 1.5 miles of easy natural nature trail. Any section inside the fencing is off-limits, so follow the posted signs rather than an old route you know by heart. New fencing and safety signs mark where the crews are working.
The lake was the park's biggest feature, with 200 acres of water, 89 campsites and 5 yurts, and all of it is listed as unavailable for 2026. What remains is a ballfield, court and fairway park. That's handy for a quick weeknight round or an hour on the pickleball courts, and the lake was never part of those anyway.
Three Dates That Change the Rest of the Year
The construction rules stay the same from week to week. The seasonal rules don't. Campbell County's 2026 park schedule and its winter operations notes set the pattern for the next two months.
- Saturday, October 31: Halloween Spooktacular, noon to 2 p.m. It's the last event on A.J. Jolly's 2026 calendar, with costume contests, games, vendors, food, drinks and fall crafts. The county kept it going during construction, along with Jolly Thursdays, Music Nights, the Sun Valley Bluegrass Festival and Festival on the Lake.
- Sunday, November 1: the Ranger Station closes for the season. The county's winter season starts that day. The restrooms close, port-o-lets take their place, and the entrance gates are open in daytime hours, weather permitting.
- Tuesday, December 1: winter access at all Campbell County parks. In a normal year, the winter notes open the campground to foot and bike traffic after this date. This winter, the county says the campground is closed until further notice because the work there makes it unsafe. The same goes for the boat dock access listed in the standard winter notes, since lake access is suspended for the length of construction.
The golf course keeps its own calendar. The A.J. Jolly Golf Course rates page lists the season as March 1 through December 31, weather permitting. That gives you about two more months of rounds. It's also the one big part of the park that runs on its normal schedule this year.
When the Lake Comes Back
The county hasn't set a reopening date for the lake, boating, fishing or camping. The project FAQ says reopening and reservation plans will be announced once the schedule is set. When it accepted the spillway bid in May 2026, LINK nky reported that if everything went to plan, the park would be back in full operation about a year from then. That's an estimate with conditions attached, not a date to plan around.
Fishing will come back gradually even after the water does. When dredging is finished, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources will survey the fish and start stocking again. In normal years, the department stocks the lake with saugeye every year, channel catfish every other year, and blue catfish every third year. So the first season back on the water may look different for anglers than it did before.
The county says it will post updates on closures, progress and reopening plans on its website, in the Fiscal Court newsletter, by email alert, and on the AJ Jolly Park social media pages. Scout groups with leased areas can keep using their spaces in the meantime.
A New Trail Opens the Week After Halloween
If the horse-trail closure has cut into your usual walks, Campbell County is opening a new trail at its other county park the week after the Spooktacular. LINK nky reported that the Pendery Sports Park Nature Trail, built with Campbell Conservancy, opens with a ribbon-cutting on Friday, November 6, at 1 p.m. at 4113 Williams Lane in Melbourne. The trailhead is on the left side of the park entrance road, just past the "Pendery Park" entrance sign.
The trail highlights native plants, including the locally rare white turtlehead. It grows in fewer than a quarter of Kentucky's counties and is a host plant for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly. Pendery is 72 acres and already has a three-quarter-mile walking trail, ballfields and picnic shelters. It follows the same county hours and winter rules as A.J. Jolly, including closing at dusk.
So between Halloween and New Year's, you have the Spooktacular, two more months of golf at A.J. Jolly, the courts and paved paths outside the fencing, and a new nature trail at Pendery from November 6. For more on everyday life around town, our Alexandria neighborhood page and our summer 2026 look at Alexandria cover the rest of the calendar.
A.J. Jolly is one of the places that makes southern Campbell County feel like home, and I'll be watching for the county's reopening announcement right along with you. If you have questions about Alexandria, or you'd just like to compare notes on the lake work, reach out to Amy Houston. Let's Connect.
