Parking at Kroger Field

Stadium lot

Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Purple and the Arboretum, varying by lot /// 8 a.m. on gameday

Kroger Field's lots are colour coded and every permitted lot needs its matching pass. The rule that surprises people is what the permit actually buys: Kentucky states that lots are reserved but spaces are not, one space one vehicle, allocated first come first served inside the lot. So arriving early still matters even with a permit. Permits are mobile only now, delivered to your phone, and Kentucky asks you to download the pass into your wallet before leaving home. Motorcycles need their own valid gameday permit to use any reserved lot.

Heads up: Two timing traps. During the two hours before kickoff, lots are filled according to availability, and if your designated lot is full when you arrive you will be directed to the next available one, so a permit is not a guarantee of the lot it names. And tow-behind trailers are not allowed on the paved surface lots unless the trailer itself has a permit; without one you are sent to the nearest open grass lot only if space exists. If you are towing, call the K Fund parking office on 859.257.6300 ahead of time to swap a Red, Blue or Green permit for a grass lot permit in person.

Via ukathletics.com (UK Athletics publishes its 2026 football parking regulations, including the 8 a.m. lot opening, the rule that lots are reserved and spaces are not with one space per vehicle first come first served, the two hour fill-by-availability policy, the mobile permit delivery, the motorcycle permit requirement, and the full tow-behind trailer policy with the K Fund parking office number.)

Stadium lot

Campus structures, a walk to the stadium /// Gameday

The parking structures are open to the public on gamedays, which makes them the realistic answer for anyone who is not a season ticket holder. Permits for the lots proper are sold only to season ticket holders and subject to availability, and they sold out for the most recent season.

Heads up: Two things the structures do not give you. There are no public restroom facilities in them, which matters over a long gameday, and tailgating is not permitted in UK parking structures at all. If the tailgate is why you came, a structure is somewhere to leave the car and nothing more. We could not find Kentucky publishing what a structure costs on a gameday, so confirm with the ticket office rather than assuming.

Via ukathletics.com (UK Athletics publishes that parking structures are available to the public on gamedays, that public restroom facilities are not available in them, and that tailgating is not permitted in UK parking structures. That parking permits are limited to season ticket holders subject to availability, and were sold out for the most recent season, is published by UK Athletics alongside its season parking permit information. No structure rate is published.)

Stadium lot

Around Kroger Field /// Setup window opens in August, lots open 8 a.m. on gameday

Tailgating lines are marked in the Green, Blue and Orange lots, and the instruction is simply to tailgate behind your vehicle. What makes Kentucky different is the calendar: tailgate setup is approved to begin on one Saturday in August at 8 a.m., with anything erected before that removed, and the setups then stay at Kroger Field through the season. Cooper Drive tailgates are handled separately and go up on the Fridays before gamedays at noon.

Heads up: Everything left on the grounds must be tagged with your name, phone number and email from the setup date onward, so grounds staff can contact you before moving it to mow. Untagged tents and trailers are subject to removal. Tags can be collected from Kroger Field Gate One from late July, or you can make your own. Tents may not be put up in parking spaces unless the tent has its own permit, and no parking is allowed on the green space between the Green, Red and Blue lots.

Via ukathletics.com (UK Athletics publishes the tailgating lines in the Green, Blue and Orange lots, the instruction to tailgate behind your vehicle, the August setup window with removal of anything set up earlier, the separate Cooper Drive Friday noon setup, the season long tagging requirement with name, phone and email, the tag pickup at Kroger Field Gate One, the rule that tents may not be erected in parking spaces without a permit, and the ban on parking on green space between the Green, Red and Blue lots.)

Offsite lot

Drops at the stadium /// 3 hours before kickoff, ending 1 hour after the game

Lextran runs gameday shuttles on the Virginia Avenue and downtown routes, starting three hours before kickoff and finishing an hour after the game. For a visiting fan with no route to a permit, this is the cleanest way in, and it sidesteps the lot allocation entirely.

Heads up: The $1 each way fare is widely reported but we could not verify it on a Lextran page we could read, so treat it as a reported figure and check before you travel. Confirm current routes with Lextran directly, since gameday routes are seasonal and can change year to year.

Reported by fans, with no official page confirming it. The Virginia Avenue and downtown gameday routes, the three hours before kickoff start and the one hour after finish, and the $1 each way fare are reported in coverage of UK gameday information. We could not confirm the fare on a Lextran source directly, so it is published here as reported rather than verified.