Grand Rivers

Grand Rivers is a city in Kentucky's Western Waterlands.

Grand Rivers is a small home rule-class city in Livingston County, Kentucky, United States, with a population of about 345 residents. Known as the "Village Between the Lakes," it sits on the isthmus between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley and serves as the northern gateway to the 170,000-acre Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Grand Rivers developed as a small river and railway community and later became closely associated with tourism and recreation around Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.

The town is sometimes known as the "Village Between the Lakes" because of its location between the two large reservoirs. Fishing, boating, camping and other outdoor activities are important attractions in the area. Grand Rivers has a small, walkable downtown with local restaurants, shops and historic buildings. The population of Grand Rivers is 345 according to the 2020 U.S. Census, though recent American Community Survey estimates place the local population around 436 residents.

Grand Rivers may have originally been known as Narrows from its position between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. The local post office was established in 1879 as Otisville; changed its name in 1882 to Bernard; and was then changed again to Nickells the next year after the name of a new Illinois Central station.

Grand Rivers is located in the heart of Kentucky's Western Waterlands, between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Grand Rivers borders the northern entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.

Grand Rivers is three miles off of I-24/I-69, KY exit 31 (exit numbers in this area use I-24 mileage); two hours Northwest of Nashville, TN, and three and a half hours Southeast of St. Louis, MO. Major roads include Interstate 24/69 and US Highway 453 (The Trace).

Grand Rivers is located on Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River, mile marker 24) and Lake Barkley (Cumberland River, mile marker 31), and offer navigable deep water access from the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, and to Chicago and the Great Lakes by way of the Ohio-Mississippi River system.

Grand Rivers is small enough to explore on foot, particularly around the downtown area.

• Kentucky Lake- Large reservoir offering boating, fishing and other water activities.
• Lake Barkley- Major reservoir east of Grand Rivers with extensive recreational opportunities.
• Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area-0Large protected recreation area between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, with forests, wildlife areas, trails and lakeshore scenery.

Grand Rivers Jetty on Kentucky Lake

• Variety! Music, Memories and More, JH O'Bryan Ave, toll-free: +1-888-362-4223. Music Shows 

• Patti's 1880s Settlement and Restaurant, JH O'Bryan Ave, ☏ +1 270-362-8844. 10:30AM-9PM. Famous for their 2 inch thick pork chops, flower pot bread, and wonderful pies 
• Miss Scarlett's, Exit 31, off I-24, Grand Rivers, +1 270 928-3126. Miss Scarlett's offers a complete menu of fine southern cooking, including steaks, pork chops, seafood, walleye, bison burgers and more. Daily 6AM-9PM.

Alcoholic beverage sales are prohibited in Grand Rivers. Lyon County, on the other side of the Cumberland River, and Marshall County, on the other side of the Tennessee River, are both wet.

Most telephone numbers in Grand Rivers consist of +1 270 plus a seven-digit number, but the region is now served by an overlay complex of two area codes, with +1 364 as the second. A local or in-state telephone call now requires all 10 digits of the local number be dialed (omitting just the leading +1 from a local landline call).

Signage on many established businesses may still display the original seven-digit numbers; dial 270 before these if no area code is indicated.

Paducah ← Gilbertsville ←	W  E	→ Hopkinsville → Nashville
Henderson ←	N  S	→ Calvert City → Mayfield
Paducah ← Gilbertsville ←	W  E	→ Greenville → Elizabethtown
END ← Marion ←	N  S	→ Gilbertsville → Clifton