Best RV Parks & Resorts near Fall River, KS

Beach, shelter areas, boat ramp, camping areas, RV hookups, showers. Not well maintained, but free. Industrial fans across the beach are an eye sore

We reserved only about an hour ahead on recreation.gov, upgrading our overnight plan considerably. With Dad's senior national park pass, site #3 (60' gravel for up to a 40' rig) (electric only) was only $8.50. As we were parking, the gentleman (Greg, we think?) caring for the park greeted us and on finding we had pre -registered, offered us an upgrade to a full hook up site (we could see only 2 other campers in the campground). Site 15 was a wonderful upgrade! Lots of wonderful birdlife here.

Note, bring your own soap to restrooms in many of the Core of Engineer campgrounds. For the amazing savings, its an easy enough change to make!

Overall nice campground with full hookups. Fairly level asphalt pads. Large pads available for easy backing. Not at the water but close by.

We have family in this area. This lake is packed during holidays. Any other time it is first come first serve lots. $27 a night for full hookups.

Wonderful park. Great overall experience. I loved it. Plenty to do with a great playground for the kids, kids fishing pond, basketball and volleyball courts, and even an archery range. Fantastic hiking along the lake bluff will be sure to wear out your legs! All RV sites are water and electric and most are pull through. It's the most level site I have ever had. The only thing that was weird is that when you check in you have to pay an additional $5.00 per day for your vehicle. It was probably in the fine print when I booked the reservation. I went ahead and paid the extra $10 or $15 to just get the year state parks pass, as we plan to camp in KS more this fall. You may have out done yourself KS.

This is a great State Park. Sites are paved with water and electric hook ups. Most are pretty level. Very clean park with nice restrooms and shower facilities. Great water views. The best hiking trails in the State of Kansas are in and around this lake and state park. From this camp ground you can hop on an awesome trail that leads up to the dam over look area. The trail has the lake on one side and rock wall formations on the other. Simply a great hiking area.

.• 74 Sites Electric(50 amp service avail) 

• 8 Non electric

• Full hookups

•$14-$76

• Pull thrus

• Reservations accepted 877-444-6777

• Beach

• Boat ramp

• Drinking water

• Dump station

• Restrooms/showers

• Pit toilets

• Swimming Beach

• Water sites 

Peak Season March 26, 2021- November 01, 2021 

Out of Season(No Booking Available) November 01, 2021- March 26, 2022

FEES$14-$74

Located on Bill Hill Lake outside of Cherryvale, Kansas and set in the gently rolling prairie with a large scattering of trees. The area considers itself as Kansas “Little Ozarks.” It is a beautifully serene setting dotted with campgrounds and day use areas. The Big Hill Lake is a reservoir and holds 1,240 acres of water with 367 acres available for use by the public. The park is nestled in the rolling, wooded countryside with thick oak-hickory forests surrounded by prairie and farmland, the lake shore supplies a variety of habitats for birds and mammals. Mound Valley offers a relaxing atmosphere with plenty of trees for shade, and the lake is only a short walk away from the campsites. Campers can venture onto several hiking and equestrian trails including Big Hill Lake Horse Trail, a 17-mile trail with a variety of terrain for all ages to explore. The trail winds along a scenic hardwood ridge that offers gorgeous views all along the way. Big Hill Lake is known as a trophy lake for fishing. Principal species of sport fish include largemouth bass, crappie, channel and flathead catfish, bluegill, walleye and smallmouth bass. The lake is also popular for fishing tournaments. Almost all of the land around the lake is open to public hunting, except for parks and areas around the dam and control structures. Principal species hunted are whitetail deer, turkey and squirrel. Families with kids will enjoy visiting the sand-covered beach nearby for cooling off from the summer heat and enjoying a picnic.  Campers can venture onto several hiking and equestrian trails including Big Hill Lake Horse Trail, a 17-mile trail with a variety of terrain for all ages to explore. The trail winds along a scenic hardwood ridge that offers gorgeous views all along the way. Big Hill Lake is known as a trophy lake for fishing. Principal species of sport fish include largemouth bass, crappie, channel and flathead catfish, bluegill, walleye and smallmouth bass. The lake is also popular for fishing tournaments. Almost all of the land around the lake is open to public hunting, except for parks and areas around the dam and control structures. Principal species hunted are whitetail deer, turkey and squirrel. Families with kids will enjoy visiting the sand-covered beach nearby for cooling off from the summer heat and enjoying a picnic. 

Getting Here Latitude 37° 16' 9.9998" N Longitude 95° 27' 29.9999" W From Cherryvale, Kansas, take U.S. Highway 169 and turn east onto Main Street. Continue through the town and turn right onto Olive Street. Go 1/2 a block and turn left onto County Route 5000. Proceed 4.5 miles to Big Hill Lake and follow signs to Mound Valley. 

Contact Information Mailing Address 19065 CHERRYVALE PKWY CHERRYVALE, KS 67335-0426 Phone Number For campground inquiries, please call: 620-328-2050 

Need to Know• Alcoholic beverages are prohibited within the Mound Valley Swimming Beach Area• Flush toilets and showers are closed outside of the reservation season, however vault toilets are available in the north loop• Don't Move Firewood: 

Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information. Upon arrival at Big Hill Lake a visitor may choose from a plethora of fun activities. Camping with and without electricity, boat launches, ball field, swimming beach and so much more. For trails you will find the Big Hill Lake Horse Trail which surrounds¾ of the lake and is 17 miles long. It provides a variety of terrain for all ages. The trail provides amazing views and riders will enjoy tethering areas and three parking areas along the trail. The parking areas are equipped with limited facilities that can be used for overnight camping by the trail riders. Riders will have the opportunity for wildlife viewing. For those that wish to hike you will find the Ruth Nixon Memorial Trail. The trail enjoys blue bird houses that were set in honor or Ruth Nixon. It is about one mile and offers the hikers the chance to observe local wildlife. The scenery along the way is spectacular. This trail links the Overlook Day Use Area and Cherryvale Recreation Area. There are rest areas along the way so take advantage of those inviting stops to enjoy the lake views and just take in the scenery. 

Big Hill Lake is one of the clearest lakes in Kansas and considered a trophy fishing lake. Sport fish include largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, channel and flathead catfish, bluegill, walleye and sunfish. Hunters will find about 800 acres of project land that is managed for wildlife. Game species are large and varied around Big Hill Lake. Hunters will find bob white quail, rabbit, grey and fox squirrels, mourning dove, migratory waterfowl, wild turkey and white tailed deer. Hunters may also utilize another 1350 acres of land located about½ mile from the project. Wildflowers are in abundance in the spring and fall along with the beautiful trees such as persimmon, osage orange, redbud and dogwood. 

Swimming on the sandy beaches along the lake is a joy. Alcohol is not allowed on the beach area. Glass containers are also not allowed on the beach or in the water. Boats that are propelled by a motor of any kind or a sailboat must be numbered and registered with the state of Kansas or legally registered with another state. The Cherryvale area present day is a farming/ranching rural area with Friday night football the big excitement. 

In the 19th century Kansas was a bloody place. Before the “Civil War” you would have different groups battling for control. After the civil war the pioneers began their westward journey through the many trails that crossed the plains. In 1870 a group of five families settled in western Labette County. Cherryvale had not been established. This group stands out because of one particular family. The Bender family, a normal– mother– father– son– daughter from Germany. John Bender, Sr., his wife Ma Bender, son John, Jr. and daughter Kate. Now I am not going to get involved in their story but I will touch on some of the highlights and let you know the story includes an inn, a store, a hammer, a trap door, lonely single male travelers, haunted property and the only place where a mass murder is celebrated by a state historical marker. Google the Bender family in Kansas and enjoy a bit of the old west.

LNT

Better than when you found it

Stay safe– Happy Travels

After being closed for over two months the campsites are back open for use.  There is still a lot of clean up being done, but should not stop anyone from camping.  Shower houses are clean and have hot water.  There are several hiking trails.  Fall will be a great time to camp at Fall River State Park.

Fall River has some huge primitive sites so you can really spread out! There is fishing, beautiful views of the lake, and the huge playground is centralized and close enough to let my kids go while I cook dinner. We camped in the rain (it poured!) but the terrain didn’t flood or hold huge puddles. Nice wide, open trails!

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!

Very quiet and spread out. Small RV loop with approximately 35 gravel sites all with water and 30/50 amp electric. The sites are fairly level with picnic tables at each site. All have lake views. It’s about 3 miles to the main state park area, which is very busy.

We are new to RV’ing, so my experience is somewhat limited, but this was a very nice campground and I couldn’t imagine how it could get much better. Compared to the few other lakes we’ve stayed at, this campground it very nicely developed with electric and water hook ups in just the right spots, and a really nice area with a picnic table, bbq grill and nice ring with an additional cooking grate in each spot. The whole camp was very cleaned and maintained and the park ranger was very accessible. We had a great time. The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because there was fairly limited shore access in the campground we stayed in, which was Mound Valley North Loop. Otherwise it was perfect.

Edit 10.11.20:

I wanted to edit my prior review and add a star. We ended up going to Big Hill 3 times this year, and several other state parks and campgrounds, and Big Hill is our favorite. My original title was correct, a treasure in Kansas.

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!

This was our first time camping in our new travel trailer and we were pleased with having such an easy to use campground so close to home. The sites were level and spacious. We will definitely be back.

This was our first family outing of the year. We had a nice time. We pull a travel trailer and the hook up spots were fairly spacious. Most of the spots were reserved, but we didn’t feel crowded. Paved and gravel back in sites. In regards to our particular spot, our table was in a very sad state of repair, we didn’t really use it because it was kind of falling apart. The bbq grill was missing from our spot as well. The fire pit was standard, but again the built in grill was in somewhat bad repair, so I used my own. The park facilities were good, the vault toilet in the Casner creek campground was brand new and nice. The showers were in the campground over, but they were clean and had ample hot water. There was a great little store right up the road that sold bait, ice and essentials. When you are there, be sure to drive around and find the North Ridge campground. It is basically the ruins of an old Army Corps of Engineers campground. It was kind of creepy and cool.

I just got here and set up. Its a partly cloudy day high 78 and moderate wind for Kansas. I have only put my screen shelter up so far. Your by the road and a business so you will here them till they close later in the evening and traffic going by. Yet beautiful lake and lots of things to do. Free for 2 days with hook ups. Showers and toilets. But only one shower to share so do that during the day while its not occupied is my advice. Yes RVers their is a dump station. 10 bucks a night if you stay longer. Im gonna pay just because.

Moline City Park has two RV sites with electric and water and a nearby pavilion. Just a few blocks from Swinging Bridge Lodge and Cafe.