Best Glamping near Holton, KS

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.

site: large. private. shaded. amenities: clean. well maintained. attractions: hiking. biking. close to Kansas City (40 minutes) I would go camping here again.

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.

We stayed a week at Clinton State Park’s campground at site 92 in the middle of July with our two dogs.

Pros: The park itself is very big so the sites were pretty big which is always a big plus. Sites come with a picnic table and a fairly large fire ring which we unfortunately never got to enjoy because we were here during a heat wave (100+ almost every day). The park is also at a lake so there’s a beach access area where you can go and swim or just sit by the very large lake. There’s also a marina and boat ramps for anyone who has a boat, which we sadly did not. Of course, it’s important to mention this was one of the most affordable places we’ve ever stayed, granted, it was with a non sewer site but still.

Cons: The check-in situation was not very good. We received our site number upon reservation but we didn’t receive any instructions on when and where to check-in or if anyone would even be there to check us in. We also weren’t aware we’d have to pay for a parking pass for both our RV and towed vehicle which is normally $5/day but since we were there 7 days they gave us the annual passes which came out to $50 total for both vehicles. This one obviously most likely just has to do with the time of year we were here and it’s out of the park’s control but there were SO MANY BUGS especially at night. We hung our outside string lights like normal and, as you’ll see in the photos, they were absolutely swarmed with bugs. We’ve never seen so many bugs in one place, not even close. We also, as mentioned above, stayed at a W/E only site in the Prairie Clover Campground and each campground only has one dump station (2 total for the whole park) and the one for ours was closed for construction, which we were not made aware of, so we had to drive a pretty good distance to take our honey pot to the only one that was open. The bathrooms/showers were extremely hot because of no ventilation, had a lot of bugs, and the showers only give you one temperature and one pressure level, neither of which were great, and the lights in both are on a sensor and they went off within about 5 minutes of being in there and no matter how much you motioned it wouldn’t come back on so you’re stuck showering in the dark. Lastly, our Verizon service wasn’t very good, only about 2 bars of LTE. We both work full time remotely so this was concerning but luckily with our jet pack connected to an antenna we were able to get around 3 bars of LTE which was enough for us to work off of.

Overall: This is a nice, affordable state park/campground overall, not exactly the prettiest but it’s big and offers big sites and a large lake you can enjoy. It would have been much more enjoyable to stay during a cooler time of the year when there wasn’t so many bugs and on a site that had sewer (a non sewer site was our choice to be fair) so you didn’t have to worry about the dump station situation. Also not having wi-fi or great phone service was inconvenient but we had enough to make it work. We don’t plan to spend a whole lot of time in Kansas but if we came back through anytime that’s not spring or summer we’d definitely consider staying here again.

Stayed for one night and left very early in the morning. Showers were clean but old. Could use an update but decent for a state park.

We had a wonderful stay! Wonderful pull through spots, great views, and closer to the boat ramp!

We camped in the Hobie Cove campground and the site itself was OK. Not a lot of choices for sites that are flat or offer a lot of shade. We did have a good time though exploring the area. 

This is our second time camping here and the new bar/restaurant across the lake kills an overall good family camping weekend. There was a live band that had their music so loud we could hear it across the lake from 8-midnight. I'm sure it's just a Friday/Saturday night deal but if you are looking to escape and listen to the crickets, birds, and the occasional laughter of other campers, this lake isn't that place.

Was surprised at the layout of this campground loop when we pulled in.  Thankfully it was just a pit stop on our drive out west, but it was essentially a parking lot.  Also surprised there were essentially semi-permanent campers set up.  Did not live up to what I would expect at a state park and there were zero views of the lake from any of the campsites (tree line was heavily overgrown). Would not recommend if you are staying for more than a night.

Overall it was a good experience. We came on a weekend with good weather and were able to reserve easily a couple days in advance. There were a few campers near to us that we could see but no one that was right next to us and we couldn't hear them at all. 

Pros: 

• Access to "modern" toilets that flushed. While the one closest to us was closed (see cons) there was one a bit further, maybe another 4 minutes walk away that was open. It had a few stalls and were in decent enough condition. 

• PLENTY of wildlife. Bunnies, Racoons (and babies), PLENTY of deer, a possum.

• Bugs - While I've been here in early July and the bugs made me want to scream, in late July it seems they are better or at least being more in the open helped. A few flies and mosquitos. Nothing too bad.

Cons:

• It didn't seem like the host was there. There was a car driving around that asked us where a campsite was but it was in a weird format and they said the host wasn't around. 
• The bathrooms nearest to us were a modern toilet and they were closed, but it didn't really say they were closed so the only indication was no lights and more spiders than I care to admit. 
• Many of the camping areas (a vast majority) are surrounded by woodland and brush that makes it impossible to see, or even smell the lake. Getting down to it is a bit of a chore if you choose to do so.
• Though it had rained a few days before our campsite was bone dry, which is fine except that the ground was so hard that 80% of our set up time was trying to stake in. Could have just been our location though

Stopped here on our way from East Tennessee to Yellowstone. The campground we stayed at was called Campground #3. Confusingly called Cornflower loop on the reservation website but never saw anything with that name at the campground. The maps on the kiosks are pretty worthless. No signs point the way so not a good way to start off having a hard time finding the site. No hosts anywhere to be found at 6:00 pm either.

Campsite was nice. Look at or near Site 411 for spacious, wooded, and more spread out campsites. Some are more out in a field setting. Side bonus: Site 411 has an enormous White Oak tree next to it!

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.

Staying 2 weeks and couldn't have been more pleased! Website is little to no help unless visiting in peak season, but the camp hosts and park rangers are the tops. Visiting in non peak is as easy as driving in, finding a spot and paying your fees. Full bath houses, disc golf, archery range, a d an abundance of hiking all around the camps.

This park has undergone some improvements with Prairie Clover Camping Loop {#1} showers and bathrooms clean and newly painted; dump sites and lagoons redone. Electrical sites sold out weekends so mid week may be your best bet. Patsy welcomed us at the gate and was the camp host. Part-time Employee Dianna and her husband Randy with their little dog Sprocket were fantastic in helping us getting our campsite. We ended up in the primitive loop in the trees overlooking the Clinton Marina inlet #60 which was only one without table and fire rings (didn’t need them for our first dry run camp). Saw eagles, turkey vultures, and possible osprey.