Best Glamping near Dodge City, KS

We stayed here in June for two nights on a road trip north. Front section of spots 1-43 are close to the road and it is very noisy. They made these front sites big rig friendly by using the site next to yours for unhooking your tow or towed vehicle. We were put in the front section due to a large work crew taking up a lot of spaces in the back section.  We could not open our awning in the first assigned spot, so the staff was accommodating and moved us over one spot. Come to find out, it is very windy here, so awnings are not used very often. We would highly recommend getting a site in the back. Sites 50-80. Less noise, long pull throughs and nice wide grass areas. The wifi was not very strong or was too busy, so we used our own hot spot. This is conveniently located close to Dodge City attractions.

I tent camped at Meade State Park in July 2022. I was the only camper in the Larrabee campground. I picked site 143 because trees almost totally shade it. There was one travel trailer in the Sagebrush campground loop. There were more RVs on the northeast edge of the small lake. I arrived around 4pm and spread out my gear to dry after camping in the rain in Iowa the previous night. It was sunny and breezy and my stuff dried quickly. Then I walked 200 yards to the beach and swam in the lake. It was very refreshing in that summer heat. Afterwards I took a cold shower in the shower house that is connected to the visitor center, which was inexplicably closed on a Wednesday. There was a sign to run the shower until it heats up. Well, I didn’t wait and just took the cold shower, which was also refreshing. After I pitched my then dry tent, I walked the 2 miles around the whole lake. I didn’t want to just hang out at my camp site because there were biting flies that interestingly stopped biting around 7pm and I enjoyed the evening at my site after the swim, shower, and walk. It was a nice waypoint on my road trip.

General: There are several camping areas situated around Lake Meade, some with as few as three tent sites, and others with electric hookups. We camped on a weekday in April and the visitor center was closed when we arrived so we were a little confused looking for the Lake View campground, where we had a reservation. Google maps does not show any campground with that name but by eventually driving around the lake, we found it, but on the map, it was labeled Scout Campground. There were only a handful of campers in our campground and none in the others that I could see. 

Site Quality/Facilities: The sites in Lake View (aka Scout?) have sites scattered about, all on dirt/sand pads. I can understand why one reviewer said that Site 22 was the most coveted as it offers the most privacy of all the sites in this campground. Sites 18 and 19 would be good IF you have small children as the playground is right behind 19 and next to 18. Don’t reserve these sites if you don’t want the noise and activity of kids nearby. As the name suggests, many of the sites have an unobstructed view of the lake. In summer, the sunsets are likely fabulous but in April, the sun set behind the trees and was a non-event at our site. 

Bathhouse: At Lake View, there are four unisex combo bath/shower units; they were  clean. Soap dispensers and air dyers so, if you are like me, don’t forget to bring your towel so you don’t have to use the air dryers. 

Activities/Amenities: Fishing appears to be a big draw. In season, there is also a small swimming beach and kayak rentals. This area is about a mile walk or drive from the Lake View campground. There was one hiking trail of indeterminant length; I was hoping it would go clockwise around the lake but when I looked at the map, it appeared I would have to cross a stream to do so I only ventured a short distance down the trail. Cell service is spotty, ranging from one bar to no service. 

I would imagine that in the summer and on warm weekends, this place is likely hopping but we enjoyed a quiet night on a lake as we were passing through on our way further west.

Before I do my review here, I want to point out that we own a small Toy Poodle and are very conscience of our dogs bio footprint in the environment and always pick up after he uses the bathroom. So here is our experience that really upset our family and my in-laws. I was walking my dog to the grass area and noticed my dog was wanting to go to the bathroom on the gravel. I pulled my dog quickly over to the grass area and picked up his waste to throw away. Little did I realize my dog had dropped a piece of poop before getting to the grass, I didn’t see it but the owner said he watched us and saw my dog poop in the gravel without me picking it up. I returned to my camper and 15 min later I receive a knock at my door and the owner tells me that I left my dogs poop and here it is. He slammed his shovel against the gravel on the ground, dropping a ping ball size poop on my front steps. I felt really bad that I didn’t see it and apologized but as soon as I did the owner tells me this is my first and only warning, if it happens again then we’ll be gone! We apologized a second time and the owner just stared at us angrily and walked away without acknowledging the apology or saying anything further. Me, my wife, my son and my mother and father in-law were jaw dropping shocked. We had stayed here several times before, made this our campground of choice in Dodge City when ever we visit and we’ve never had any issues. We pay good money to stay in their campground every year so a little bit of couth goes a long way in customer service. I was mortified that anyone who owns a campground would talk to someone and threaten to kick them out because of an honest and rather minor mistake. All he had to do was stop by and tell me he saw my dog poop in the road and to please double check your dog while walking him. What further put salt in the womb is when me and my wife went to the front desk to sign in from the night before and we confronted the owner that we didn’t know that our dog had pooped on the lot and again apologized. We then told him that all he had to do was be nice about it and he responded, “I was nice about it”. We argued politely for a minute that he was not nice and there’s no reason to talk to us like we’re little children. We finally gave up rationalizing with him and left. All over town and in front of their campground it’s advertised that their campground is for sale so maybe he’s having a very bad morning or there’s some added stress because their campground is for sale or maybe it’s the “I don’t care” attitude now but one thing is for sure, my family and my in-laws will never make this our weekend home for our mini vacations anymore. My advise is go to the brand new KOA campground right up the street where they don’t treat the customers like this, who actually care how they treat their customers. Plus it’s a heck of a lot nicer with concrete pads, new and very nice facilities. GunSmoke campground is very noisy because of the highway it sits right up against with very crowded campsites on the front half of the campground. They show pictures on the internet of the rear newer addition but not the crowed older section.