Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Clinton Lake

This campground is on the northwest side of Clinton Lake.  All the activities one would associate with a lake like boat ramps, beach, hiking/biking trails, full hook-up sites, tent camping, playgrounds, etc.  The small town of Clinton is nearby and has a small store for items you may forget.  It's our go to when we go to Clinton Lake.

Pros:

- so peacefully quiet, seriously even with the kids

- dog park with 3 separate areas- close to KC

- a hose at the dump station that you can actually hook up to your black tank flush

- both AT&T and Verizon worked great 

Cons:

- I honestly have none from here!

It’s not the best I’ve ever been to, but it’s a as great family campground with beautiful views. We travel with two adorable rescues and appreciated the awesome dog park where they could run a bit. The restrooms are adequate and clean. Views are beautiful as you will see for yourself. Would definitely return. Tastes are $56-60

Great please to camp, not to crowded. Got busier on the weekends, empty on the week. Nice showers and toilets, laundry. Campsites were large, many had a good footprint enough to set up a large tent. We have a 20’ round yurt and had plenty of room. Lots of hiking trails in this park, some paved. Nice lookout point. Dog park was nice, well gated and taken care of, had water station for thirsty dogs. We spent 25$ a night for a 30amp electric site. Campground was well maintained. Only minutes from the historic town of Westin, amazing parks, lots of pubs and little restaurants. Nice place to walk around. I would camp here again.

The campsite was okay. It was a busy weekend and we were not in a preferred spot, but it was wooded. The ranger at the gate was horrid. He was rude, yelled at each person coming through. He was especially annoyed at me for wearing a mask. He wasn’t and was within 3 feet. Lawrence is a college town with high rates of covid across the campus. He is talking one on one with these kids several times a day! He seriously grabbed my phone out of my hand when I asked him not to. The dump station has pooling sewer water and the water was not working. The park lacks maintenance, and it could be cut backs due to covid. Clinton lake it nice, but beware if heading out for camping.

UPDATE--I ended up with Covid a week later. Pretty sure it was my interaction with the park ranger that did it.

Getting to the state park off I 29 and through the countryside was easy as the route had Weston Bend SP signage. We followed the SP signs to the campground(CG) where the gate was not manned so we headed to get water, but someone was sitting in the dump station waiting for another person to arrive so we went around this one-loop CG to see if there was a convenient spigot. There are spigots but with a larger rig, you will block the road, and/or you will be on a hill. We went back around and the person moved so we could get water. After that, we headed to pull through site 28 with electric(50/30/20 AMP) only. The site is long but has a 1/4 moon turn so we had to pull back around to get better positioned on the pad so we could disconnect our 39’ 5th wheel and F450 for our 3-night stay. There were tree branches overhead that we could not avoid. RVers next to us in site 30 had just arrived as well and were having trouble getting their travel trailer unhitched and leveled due to the pad’s slight incline and unlevel asphalt. They got their trailer positioned so they could get somewhat level. We got a solid two bars on both Verizon and T-Mobile. Due to our proximity to Kansas City, we got a lot of OTA channels. A satellite connection would be iffy in most sites here due to the number of mature trees. The trees in a lot of sites would also scrape the top of larger rigs. There’s a variety of sites with most being good for regular trailers versus tall rigs, and tent sites. They have a nice shower house with 1 washer and 1 dryer both for$1.50. There are also vaulted toilets here and there. There’s a 1.7-acre fenced dog park that includes one large area for large dogs and two other areas with one dedicated to smaller dogs. The dog area is at the front park entrance away from the campground and it would be a long walk to get there, so we drove up. There are a lot of hiking trails here plus an old tobacco barn that’s worth a look.

Sept 26- Oct 1, 2019 Site A01 had electric and water. Rate was $10 with Sr. Lifetime Pass. Park had laundry room, dump station, very clean showers, flush toilets and vault toilets. Verizon 4G 2 bars. Pets allowed. Elevation 1,002 ft.  Prior to arrival they had a flood that came up to site 4.

It does cost about $25 a day, but you have electricity, and shade, and it is always quiet here. The park rangers are always cleaning or doing rounds to make sure everything is okay. Bathrooms have AC and are cleaned with disinfectant daily. Very clean campground and has a playground. Pet friendly.

A couple miles down a secluded drive, nestled back in the woods right on the lake. Lots of trees, nice shower house. Camp host is friendly and laid back. Pet friendly, well lit. Our family felt safe.

Beautiful sunsets. Water is a little muddy but good for fishing. I would recommend for a family getaway or a fishing trip.

Our site was $56.78 We were in Site# 59 The check in was at 12pm but the office was closed until 3:30pm so we grabbed our sheet left out front and got ourselves to our site.

We had Full hook- up with a gravel pull-through.
We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site along with my jeep (although the Jeep had to be parked straight across the front of our site to fit in). Also we were right on the highway.

The site was easy to level.
Our site was not shaded and without any trees. The most FRUSTRATING part is that this was a buddy site (that is NO WHERE on their website). We have rescue dogs and don’t want to share our space with neighbors we don’t know. Literally no one wants to Kumbaya by the fireside with complete strangers. Therefore our trip went from one week originally to two nights. We would have left the next day but the husband wanted to see the Evel Knievel museum.

The lot does not have a concrete patio but has a picnic table and fire grate.

They have a community fire pit with multiple swings around it. They sell wood for $6 a bundle.

They do not provide garbage service at your site so you must walk to garbage dumpster at the entrance.

You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They do not provide golf cart rentals. There is really not a need to have a Golf cart because it is a smaller campground.

They do have a saltwater Swimming pool. They have a catch and release fishing pond.

There is a Playground. They also offer a weight room and an adorable activities room with air hockey, a library, & a pool table. There is also a scenic walking trail. The trail is almost a mile and they’ve kept it mowed and easy to identify.

They have a basic general store. There is not a snack bar/restaurant on site.

The streets are gravel so not great for riding bikes.

They have cabins for rent and a tent area (electric & primitive options).

They have 2 shower houses. The shower house in the main barn has individual shower/toilet/sink areas. The shower house in the park has the typical stalls. These are kept very clean.

There is a laundry facility in both shower houses. It is a cash only facility.

They have a fenced in dog park which is unfortunately located in the front of the park away from RV sites.

Some fun things to do outside of the campground are the Evel Knievel museum and Brown vs. Board of Education historical park.

Staff are very kind. I would definitely stay here in the future but will know to secure a site that isn’t shared with others

Perfect for weekend trip, with kids or/and dogs for swimming and hanging out.

great camp grounds, great host, great place to take our dog on her first camping trip for the weekend

We love this campsite, especially in the off months! We always get a great private campsite, but I can see where in more popular months, it can get crowded! Bathrooms are clean, dog friendly! Hiking trails are great too!

My husbands job took us to Merriam Kansas and we needed a place to stay, we made reservations at Walnut Grove. We were surprised to find it in the middle of a neighborhood. The staff were very nice and helped us into our site. The sites were on gravel and very close to each other. Walnut Grove was both short and long term campers. There were no tent sites. We had full hook-ups, cell service, and free wifi. We had a picnic table and fire ring and could purchase firewood at their store.

During our stay I was awakened to a startling noise and couldn't figure it out until I went outside and saw the walnuts falling onto our camper. By the time we left, everything was covered(stained) tarnish brown. The park is in a walnut grove hence its name. They had a dog run which was not fenced but provided some grass for the pups. They had a laundry mat and clean showers with good water pressure. There also was a strange noise coming from the trees and when I asked the office what it was they thought it was locusts. I knew that was not their noise so I had to find what it was. After searching, I found that it was tree frogs 🐸 and it was their call. So if you are there in September listen and you will hear them, they love the walnut trees.