Dawson Springs is a home rule-class city[4] in Hopkins and Caldwell counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky.

Visitors largely came in spring from Chicago, Louisville and points east for the curative waters, and several major hotels and boarding houses were constructed.

The Pittsburgh Pirates held spring training there in the 1910s before being lured to St. Petersburg, Florida when the Grapefruit League formed.

Dawson Springs is still a regional tourist destination because of the Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, which began construction where a local river was dammed and a lake formed in the 1930s.

In the late evening of December 10, 2021, a large swath of the city was destroyed by an EF4 tornado, and a tornado emergency was issued for Dawson Springs and the surrounding St. Charles as the storm moved through the area.

A small portion of Dawson Springs extends across the river into Caldwell County.

Interstate 69 runs generally parallel to US 62 and touches the northern end of Dawson Springs' city limits, with access from exit 92 (Kentucky Route 109).

[10] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.