For those who want to experience Mission, but still want the creature comforts of home, consider glamping for your trip. Glamping is not only a fun alternative to traditional tent camping, but also allows you to pack more or less gear as you see fit. You're sure to find glamping for your Kansas camping adventure.
$12 - $48 / night
This recreation area is part of Smithville Lake
$12 - $42 / night
This recreation area is part of Clinton Lake
This recreation area is part of Smithville Lake
This recreation area is part of Smithville Lake
Traveler
Pne of the closest to the Kansas city metro lots of glamping
Ranger
Great please to camp, not to crowded. Got busier on the weekends, empty on the week. Nice showers and toilets, laundry. Campsites were large, many had a good footprint enough to set up a large tent. We have a 20’ round yurt and had plenty of room. Lots of hiking trails in this park, some paved. Nice lookout point. Dog park was nice, well gated and taken care of, had water station for thirsty dogs. We spent 25$ 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.
Guidesite: large. private. shaded. amenities: clean. well maintained. attractions: hiking. biking. close to Kansas City (40 minutes) I would go camping here again.
Guide
Close to Kansas City so it makes a great quick getaway. Clean, friendly, and right next to Smithville Lake. Our pick for a short trip.
Traveler
We missed a KOA in Kansas City because of construction. Went to Lawrence KOA instead. Glad for the misfortune. The park has all you need for short or long term camping and RV trips.
Scout
Nice little campground tucked away just outside Kansas City. Close to everything but far enough that it’s still really camping. Cell service on AT&T and Verizon are great. Only negative is that some sites are right on the road, so kids can dart out at any time...just be careful!
Legend
Stayed one night at the KOA in Oak Grove, just east of Kansas City. The sites were all sunny and since it was 100 degrees, it was hot. But the pool was nice and they had a nice dog park which was ok in the evening after it cooled off. Close to KC so we could drive in for BBQ.
Scout
Clean bathroom and shower facilities. The park and campsite are gorgeous. There's a lake but it's not anything to brag about, and the swimming beach is closed often due to bacteria in the lake.
It's a short drive from Kansas City and one of my favorite weekenders when the weather is nice. We've always had a great time on our stays.
LegendWatkins mill SP is located a short distance from Kansas City off I-35 near Kearney. The park has a large lake that you can fish and boat as well as multiple hiking options. The historical site is a neat step back in time to the 1800'. The campground is broken up into 3 different areas with plenty of space for campers, RV's and tents. Park features include an updated showerhouse, large playground for the kids and helpful and friendly park staff. Thanks to the staff for giving us an heads up on the raccoons that are bold! Reservations are recommended on holiday weekends.
Guide
I was looking for a decent place to camp near Kansas City during the weekend and found this spot on Smithville Lake. When I camp, I typically do it while on vacation and checking out a national park. This obviously isn't an experience like that. This was the first time I've camped over a weekend in years.
The campsites are very spacious and there are even places with covered picnic tables. The bathrooms are also clean. If you're not the most adventurous type, you'll like this campground.
The thing I enjoyed most about this campground was the trail around the lake. The trails are fairly low traffic and there wasn't too much noise coming from boats on the water. It was a peaceful location to camp and enjoy views of the lake.
Overall, I recommend this as a quick place to go during a weekend if you're in the area and feel like camping. I probably wouldn't stay here for an extended period of time.
Legend
Located in east central Kansas on 2600 acre Lake LaCygne (cooling reservoir for KCPL coal-fired power plant). No swimming or skiing allowed, only fishing boats. We stayed on site 112 in View Point Loop next to some permanent residents. There’s no stay limit here so some sites are very messy. Paved roads with gravel sites having W/E, mostly 30A but a few 50A like ours. Check in at the Marina to see which ones are available at this all first come first serve cg. They even have a few FHU sites but I imagine they are all taken by the residents. Nice dump station located in the back of the park along with a few rustic cabins. We enjoyed a waterfront site but there were many 30A sites available in a more wooded setting in several different loops. There are about 113 sites here.
LegendGetting 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.
Guide
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.
ScoutThis was the second campground I visited with my new camper. It was easy to get to, beautiful overlooking the lake, and was clean. The hiking trails were overgrown and no longer accessible.
ScoutWe are camping here while doing the Cotopaxi Questival Adventure Race. It's a very nice setting in a Grove of trees atop a hill. Both electric and primitive sites are available. The bathrooms are the nicest campground bathrooms I've ever used - large, clean, and not communal, so you get a sink, toilet, and shower all to yourself. This campground is in close proximity to the lake, trails, and many other outdoorsy diversions!
ScoutVisiting KC for the Cotopaxi Questival and decided to camp for the weekend. Quaint little campground with a nice new shower and bathroom facility. Had some noisy neighbors that were too be desired...however the rangers came by a couple times to quiet them down and we got a fairly quiet night of sleep. Some road noise and planes flying over, but overall it was pretty quiet. The camp host was very nice and let us change campsites to get a better spot. Site 11 has a little plug in where you can charge your devices ;)
ScoutIt is full yet it says open on the site
TravelerOne of the 3 Jackson County campgrounds, but the most in level sites in any of the parks. Sits on top a hill, the sites are cut into the hillside so vary from small tent sites, to RV sites. We camped in our 39’ diesel pusher, had to use lots of wood to level everything up, including extending one of our jacks to the maximum and causing it to throw an error message. Sites run from 20/30/50 amp, some with FHU’s. One site has a view of Lake Jacomo and is somewhat level (#31 I think?) and is hard to reserve on short notice. The bathrooms are decent and clean. Fire pits are allowed, but you have to burn the wood they sell, don’t bring in your own.
As with all three parks in the Jackson County district, this one closes October 31 and re-opens in March. Of all three parks: Blue Springs, Longview, and Jacomo, this one is our very least favorite.
GuideHard to give an accurate account for our stay due to it raining basically the entire time. When it wasn’t raining the sites were nice and spacious and relatively level. Made for easy set up and break down. Like the other Jackson county campgrounds the convenience of being close to home was nice and because of the rain made it easy to run and grab a pizza. Will go back!
GuideIt was on ok place to put up a tent. But a lot of rain runoff on tent sites
TravelerKids really loved the area and close to a lake this fish. In the winter the campground closes but is transformed into a great drive through winter light show!
TravelerWe camped in the group area for my daughter's American Heritage Girls- High Adventure (Wander Women). There are plenty of trees, the water access is very close. Not every group site has a covered shelter area, so make reservations early. The bathroom are just the portable ones, but they are kept very clean. Also, the raccoons are VERY acclimated to humans, and they are not afraid. So, make sure all your food is kept in the cars. I would recommend this spot for anyone. I plan to go back with just my family.
GuideSome sites are fully sunexposed and some are shaded. Some camp sites are down hill and get soaked when it rains from all the water.
ScoutWe've stayed here several times. Two years ago they upgraded the bathrooms and they are very nice. Some sites are not very level so bring blocks. Shade is tough to find but available if you get the right site.
GuideThe campsites are located on a sloped layout. Some are at the top of a hill and the others lie around the base of the hill. We’ve camped here twice and if it rains the ones down hill get lots of water flowing to them which is not good for tents. Kids can’t have their own tent because they limit the number of tents and people per site. It is across from the lake but there is no lake view from any campsite.
GuideWe really enjoyed this campground. The staff were very friendly from start to finish. Our site was perfect for our 32 foot travel trailer. Our site was shaded. as were many others on the campground. There are a handful that do not have any shade. Though we did not have one, there are also a few sites with a Lakeview. Nice playground for the kids, and plenty of grass to take the dogs out. Site was large enough for our trailer and two vehicles and still room for fire pit and awning to come out. A little hwy noise, but nowhere near enough to interrupt our trip.
ScoutThis is a very clean campground. The staff is very nice and helpful. I will definitely come back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Mission, KS?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Mission, KS is Weston Bend State Park Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 33 reviews.
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