Best Tent Camping near Augusta, KS

Located in the Heart of the Flint Hills in Kansas. Right off highway 400 about 26 miles east of Augusta, Kansas. Fly in with your own plane, drive your car/RV  or ride your bicycle.  Beaumont with their own airport, hotel, campground, and cafe with a lot of Frisco Railroad History.

I camped in a tent in September 2020.  The cafe is open Fri 8 am-8 pm; Sat 7am-9pm; Sun 7 am-2pm (closed in winter).  One of the motel rooms behind the cafe is available for showers and restrooms for campers.  I enjoyed supper and breakfast at the cafe.--friendly people and great food.  Quiet evening and fantastic stargazing.

This location is well maintained with multiple tent camping spots and a few electric. The owners take great pride in keeping it this way. The mountain bike trails as well as hiking trails are perfect for beginners to experts. It is large enough for wake but we love taking our kayaks out.

I pitched a tent here  during a bicycle camping weekend in late April 2020 and the restrooms were locked due to Covid restrictions.  I was the only camper at the time, but there were a few people using the disk golf area.  Nice park with plenty of trees and I was close to a pavilion with a fireplace and picnic tables.  Convenient gas station a block away.  I believe  tent camping was $3.50 for primitive and $10 with electricity.

We will stay here for overnight trips since it's only about 40 minutes from home. We usually stay on the Walnut River side as there is a large playground with tent sites close enough to keep an eye on the kiddos. They also have a swim area on this side. Bathroom and shower are next to the playground which is also convenient for us. There are some cool little hiking spots to explore. We just kicked off camping season last weekend here.

This is the place to go locally if you are going to do a little bit of sailing. There is a local club, and clubhouse, and they have events during the summer time. there is some nice sand areas to launch from, and a decent amount of land for tents camping with RV hookups close to this point. they have bathrooms but no showers here.

As much as I’d LOVE the pictures posted here to be Wellington Lake in Kansas is is not. There are no mountains not even any hills really. I’ve lived in Wellington all my life and have visited, swam, and camped there. 

The beach area for swimming is nice and has a playground. It’s roped off so swimmers are safe from boaters. Camping options for tents or camper trailers.

Restrooms with showers and dumpsters (for you campsite garbage) are widely available during camping season. The designated swim areas are great for the whole family because there is a wide and far out area that doesn't get too deep while being roped off. NO STICKERS IN THE GRASS AT THE DESIGNATED CAMP SITES!!!!! At some sites, you can fish just feet from your tent. Beware at the box turtle camp site though, a channel runs 3-4 feet out from the shore and drops about 12 feet QUICK so don't swim there! The general store and bait shop at Bluestem is wonderful. If you visit Kansas State Parks frequently, it pays to purchase an annual vehicle permit early in the year when they are discounted rather than pay per day every time you visit.

The sites at least online, seem to be first come in the off seasons. You can't reserve online which is a pain. Seems to be a kansas thing. The lake is low and stinky. One other camper while I was here and pleasant day, 75 degrees with a mild wind, but trying to figure out how to pay is terrible. During winter, you can only self pay for one night or go into the office but that is on the west side of the lake.

You'd think the Big Oak Campground in El Dorado State Park would be amazing. It's shaded with huge trees, nice sized sites some of which are very spread out, a quick walk to the swim beach and a quick drive to put your boat in the water. Unfortunately these pluses are far outweighed by the negatives. First the bathrooms were horrible. I realize they are older restrooms but they smelled awful, they were never obviously cleaned, the showers were not even a tiny bit private, the door to the restroom was broken and had to be propped open with a tree branch. Just over the bridge at the swim beach they were worse and some of the doors in the women’s room were missing. Yuck! Secondly basic campground rules were not enforced at all. The site across from us easily had 30 people camping and were up until 4am with loud music and a bright light on. I’m not kidding, my daughter was up around 3 to use the restroom and we walked by twice. The family in the site next to us had at least 4 cars and 2 tents set up outside the site on the walking path in addition to their two tents in their own site. The dog free swim beach had dogs on it. We camp with our dogs, one of which loves to swim and even I don’t want dogs on a public beach. Our camping weekend was negatively affected by poor camping etiquette and a sever lack of basic rule enforcement. We won’t be back to El Dorado State Park Big Oak campsite any time soon, at least not during the busy summer camping season. Cross Timbers and Fall River are much better!

You'd think the Big Oak Campground in El Dorado State Park would be amazing. It's shaded with huge trees, nice sized sites some of which are very spread out, a quick walk to the swim beach and a quick drive to put your boat in the water. Unfortunately these pluses are far outweighed by the negatives. First the bathrooms were horrible. I realize they are older restrooms but they smelled awful, they were never obviously cleaned, the showers were not even a tiny bit private, the door to the restroom was broken and had to be propped open with a tree branch. Just over the bridge at the swim beach they were worse and some of the doors in the women’s room were missing. Yuck! Secondly basic campground rules were not enforced at all. The site across from us easily had 30 people camping and were up until 4am with loud music and a bright light on. I’m not kidding, my daughter was up around 3 to use the restroom and we walked by twice. The family in the site next to us had at least 4 cars and 2 tents set up outside the site on the walking path in addition to their two tents in their own site. The dog free swim beach had dogs on it. We camp with our dogs, one of which loves to swim and even I don’t want dogs on a public beach. Our camping weekend was negatively affected by poor camping etiquette and a sever lack of basic rule enforcement. We won’t be back to El Dorado State Park Big Oak campsite any time soon. Cross Timbers and Fall River are much better!

First time at this lake can't read any signs no park rangers around we broke down took 5 hours to get any help from the park ranger my friend from Derby had already drove all the way with his boat to get us out of trouble overcharged his $40 for a stinking tent and an electrical outlet... Then they take reservations so you will never find a place at this lake should be first come first serve... I broke my hand and cut my head open because there's no signs there's no help there's no phone number you can call and get any help it sends you to the county office very dangerous to go to this lake you're going to destroy your equipment too there's so many rocks in this lake your prop will be destroyed I promise you that!!!

This is a county operated park located in Oxford, Kansas which is a few miles east off I 35. So it’s a convenient layover, especially considering the cost! If you don’t use the electricity it’s only $3.50 and if you choose to hook up to the electric, which is located on utility poles, then it’s $10 per night on the honor system. There’s a box next to the bath house where you leave your cash payment.

The park is very well kept and has a lot to offer with disc golf course (be aware that the course runs through the middle of the camping area), a playground, group picnic shelter, a basketball court, and a newer shower/bath house. This is only open between April 15th and October 15th. Water is available to fill your tank and there is a dump station on site too! At site 50 the water was next to the site, so if no one else is camping it could be a direct hook up. When I stayed there were only 2 other rigs here. 

There are no specific designated sites, at least that are clearly designated. Just take the road into the park and then look for the poles which hold the electric boxes. You can pull into the grassy areas next to one of these. I was concerned about the ground being soft because it had just rained, but I had no problems in my 24’ class C rig. 

Oxford is a small town, but across the main street from the park there’s a gas station/quick mart store and supplies are there. This is a fantastic peaceful spot with great night skies and the price is right!  Let’s keep it our secret.