Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Ellinwood, KS

Called Sunday of July 4 weekend and the owners answered. Late check in was zero issue. Super friendly folks and their pets are sweet as can be! Walked 5 mins up to Meridy’s for dinner and had one of the best steaks of my life. For just passing through, I couldn’t ask for a better quality stop.

Being hikers at heart, we chose this campground since it is very close to the Horse Thief Trail trailhead. Unfortunately, the trails are very much built for horseback riding with sand terrain, a VERY narrow path and intense overgrowth. Not quite what we were expecting. It would probably be okay without dogs and with long pants, but unfortunately we have 2 giant dogs and it’s 100° today. The overall state park only has 2 okay-ish sized swim beaches, but overall limited water access unless you’re boating - which we are not. The tent sites have pavilions as a nice surprise, but other than that, we will not be coming back!

The campground was ok. Sites were small and had trees extremely close to the camp pad. Parking for your vehicle was poor. The good thing was all sites(16) in Sumac have all 3 utilities, which in a State Park is quite a few. However, the placement of the sewer was a Awkward if you have a backend bathroom..On a very sad note our 11 year JRT was struck & killed directly in front of our camper , he has always been a good , stay in camp dog, put this sites are not big on space between camper& road. Keep your dogs CHAINED , in a cage or in the camper. No space to catch a runaway before they get to the road.

We had the last spot at the end of the drive, which seemed to be a popular place for day users to park and walk the edge of the water. Several groups showed up looking to cool off and walked right by our spot. Also the area kind of smelled like dead fish. We ended up leaving because we found several tics and were worried about our dogs. It was pretty though and the weather was great. A little pricy for what it is.

This is a nice spacious campground off of 70, very easy access to the interstate. The sites are roomy and have full hookups and covered picnic areas. The staff is very friendly and helpful! The cons are that it is right next to the interstate, thus, the noise is exceptionally loud and it was difficult to get a good nights sleep. The grounds could be cleaned up as well as there are pieces of trash and dog poop in the grass. It is a nice little place to stay for the night passing through but could use some improvements.

Pros: 

- easy to get to from I-70

- friendly camp hosts 

- lots of grass to walk dogs 

- beautiful sunsets 

Cons:

- 35 minutes one way to the nearest town with major stores like Walmart and Petco

- people did not care about walking through my waterfront site to get to the water (there were other ways)

- site was pretty sloped back to front and side to side but just bring leveling blocks and you're fine

- dump station didn't provide a water hose for cleaning the sewer hose after dumping even though it had water connection but must provide own hose 

I didn't use the bathroom facilities and forgot to test speed but I had zero issues with Verizon or AT&T.

Nice pull through & back in site just 4 miles from Kansas fairgrounds

We stayed at this COE campground on a very stormy night in June 2024. It is a well kept Corp campground and we will stay there again as we travel through Kansas.

In the middle of Kansas, this is just a parking lot at the town's rec center. It says you can use the bathrooms and showers in the rec center but it was closed when I was there (despite it being within the hours it's advertised to be open.) $15/night. It's fine for a night stay.

Stayed here while traveling from Rocky Mountain NP through Kansas. This is a hidden gem right on the army corps of Engineers lake Wilson.

Must stay if Traveling through the flat state of KS.

Water is crystal clear and affords people the opportunity to swim fish boat etc

Stopped here on my way through Kansas towards Colorado. The park was nearly empty on a Sunday night, so I got a nice lakefront site with no one else around for $14.

Only complaint is that the camp attendant wasn't there, so I had to pay for the campsite online. But cell coverage was decent.

Great location in Kansas, 9 miles off I70, at exit 206. US Army Corps of Engineers campground, with water, electric and a dump station available.

Restrooms are heated and showers are available as well.

Senior Passes are accepted. If you choose not to use the electric sites, there are primitive sites, which are free. Nice clean place to find an oasis (Wilson Lake) on a highway desert!

This is a small camp ground with electric hook ups only. Great views of the lake. What really makes this park is all the hiking, biking and horse riding trails. Literally miles and miles of trails with some of the best rock formations you will find in Kansas. There is also a larger camp ground set back from the lake, that is larger and has pins for horses.

We went for the weekend, mostly to do some hiking. Then realized we had found one of the nest places in Kansas! We got a perfect camp spot all to ourselves. It was not necessarily private or in the woods. But we were right up against the lake. There was sand like a beach the water was alright. I mean it's a lake. We loved the hiking through limestone. We found couple caves and climbed some rock. Would be good for mntn biking

Big Bluestem is a popular campground at Wilson Lake. The outer loop is facing the water with pull thru sites. Best site is 77 right at the tip. The inner loop is mostly back in. The sites are water and electric and have a fire ring and table. They are roomy and have pretty views. The area has rolling hills and beautiful rock formations. You would never believe you are in the middle of Kansas. I was surprised to not find much algae in the lake. Bonus 😊