I have to admit, when I first heard the stories about a beast in Land between the Lakes, I was skeptical. I remember thinking this was just another Bigfoot story that was told as entertainment around the campfires of those camping there. But as I read the accounts of those who had seen the creature, it became obvious this was something much more sinister than Bigfoot. Then I started seeing an event posted on Facebook inviting people to go on a hunt for Bigfoot on March 20th. It is to be held at 6 PM
with everyone meeting at the parking lot of the Visitors Center where the planetarium is located. Lots of folks (around 2,000) have expressed an interest in going. I will not be one of them.
Now I’m not saying one way or the other whether or not Bigfoot exists in LBL. But I do know if any of the stories of the “Beast of LBL” are true, it will make Bigfoot seem like a sissy in comparison. I have written about this Beast about a year ago. This time I was determined to try to find hard facts instead of just stories that had been passed down. In my last post, I told a frightening story of a beast that is said to be living in Land between the Lakes. I call this frightening because there appears to be some evidence to back up claims of the creature’s existence.
The creature itself is typically said to look rather like a bipedal wolf, standing around 7 feet tall, and sporting clawed hands, powerful jaws with wicked teeth, glowing red eyes, and cloaked in a fetid, rotting stench. The area and its surrounding region have long held such dark legends from before the time of the first settlers to trickle into western Kentucky.
Some of the first Europeans in the region were French trappers and hunters, who claimed that the forests were prowled by a
massive beast, half-man and half-wolf, which would howl in the night and leave the mutilated carcasses of animals in its wake; a monstrous entity that was called the loup garou. When settlers began to come to the region, they are said to have been plagued by some large predator which lurked in the shadows killing and maiming their livestock, with witnesses saying the culprit was
a hairy, wolf-like beast on two legs which unleashed bloodcurdling howls and shrieks into the night. The sightings of the monster were still frequent throughout the beginning of the twentieth century. There have seemingly been quite a lot of alleged encounters with the Beast of the Land between the Lakes even up into more modern times. There are several more stories that I have heard about this ‘Werewolf’ over in LBL. There were groups of boy scouts that had seen it. Several more campers, fishermen and boaters that had seen it from the safety of their boats, floating in some of the many bays that touched upon the shoreline. Hikers and bikers have heard its howling and have seen ‘something’ stalking them while they were on rural trails, hiding amongst the trees and foliage. Hunters have run across deer carcasses that had been brutally torn apart. In the meantime, others have come forward with their own experiences with the
fierce, elusive beast, and reports of a feeling of being watched, hearing howls, or coming across the badly mauled carcasses of deer and other wildlife have come in on occasion. All of them agreed that this was no Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
The most recent sighting I could find occurred on Labor Day 2017 in the area of Lake Barkley State Park. This person recorded the howls of the beast which can be heard at the following link…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH-v4VXvXEc In August of 2010, another sighting was very descriptive. The following is an excerpt from an investigators report on the incident…” LOCATION DETAILS: From Cadiz, KY – follow 68 West heading towards Land between the Lakes. Turn right on1489 to the Lake Barkley Resort and Marina. The incident took place about 2 miles up the KY-1489 road from the KY – 68
ENVIRONMENT: The area the sighting took place in was a heavily wooded area along the edge of the main road connecting the KY 68 to the Lake Barkley Resort and Marina.
“The witness described the creature to be approximately 7 to 7.5 feet tall and 3 feet wide, stocky with matted medium brown hair. She first saw the deer break brush and run alongside her vehicle quickly dashing in front of her van and across the road. She originally mistook the creature for a tree or bush, but realized the creature was chasing behind the deer. She said as it past right outside the drivers side window it seemed to have a surprised look in its eyes. The creature was so close to the vehicle she could have reached out and touched it. The creature did not cross in front of her after the deer and the encounter lasted a few seconds. She could no longer see it as soon as it was out of the headlights. Her husband was also in the vehicle but only her son saw it as well. I found the witness to be very forthcoming and genuine describing the sighting she and her son had that evening.”
Still other reports from the 70’s and 80’s claim the creature stalked and brutally killed a family of four. Another says a bow hunter was killed and torn apart by some creature. But I
haven’t been able to verify these yet. Sometimes physical evidence is claimed, such as odd footprints (see photo), tufts of hair, and dug out “nests” that appear to have been slept in by something large, but these have all remained inconclusive at best. Almost all of the incidents concerning the werewolf beast came from areas north of highway 68-80.
Other Bigfoot sightings have come from various areas nearby but not in the area of the werewolf. Strange. A person who actually saw the werewolf beast contacted me and gave me a firsthand account of the experience. She described the odor of the creature the same as some of the other sightings. She told me it was in May of 2012 near Wranglers Camp in LBL. 
She has only spoken of it to one other person except for me and she asked me not to reveal her name. She had hiked a short distance up a hill when she unexpectedly came fairly close to the beast sitting and watching her. It let out the most bloodcurdling snarl she had ever heard. She stated she was frozen with terror and began praying. Finally, when it stood up, she described the beast as massive and around 7 feet tall with large canine teeth. Finally the beast left in one direction and she ran as fast as she could in the other. She has never been back there since.
It is obvious that there is enough evidence to believe that something is out there. Some of the stories of the Beast date back to over two hundred years. Some theorize that a whole family of them inhabit hidden caves in the region. So what is the Beast of the Land between the Lakes? Is it an actual werewolf, as some have claimed? No one really knows, but it remains an unsettling case of what might or might not be something very strange and dangerous indeed roaming about in the wilderness of the Land between the Lakes.