Best Campgrounds near Ottawa, KS

This seems like a beautiful place to stay, but they will allow no car camping. You must have a tent.

Great customer service. easy access to I70. clean facilities. level sites. reasonable rates for a safe one night layover

Nice level sites. Clean facilities and friendly staff. Cost was a little steep for off season.

The hosts are very friendly and the campsites have decent space between them, restrooms are decent except there are no hooks or benches at the entrance restrooms. The other restroom is unknown to me Nice shade for most of the day and there’s a swimming beach and places you can go fishing. Water and electric are shut off on the 1st of October

Pretty lake views, easy to drive in and find pretty private sites, and some fire ring

Beautiful well-kept park with gorgeous trails, beach, lots of shade, and quiet camping. We’ve been here three times now and just love it. Outlet park is below the dam. If you’re into fishing/boating the giant lake has a marina with everything you need to get out on the water as well as a kitchen where they serve hamburgers and other food items. The Marina is currently closed as of 8-2-24 due to weather damage but will reopen.

Nice park in a beautiful setting. Only downside was the bugs were horrible here. Swarms of gnats and mosquitoes. The bathrooms were pretty dated too.

On a road trip off the 70, pulled over to camp for the night! Quiet, only a few other campers around.. lovely nighttime sounds. Firepit. Some trash from other campers.. remember to pack it in and pack it out!

Camped out at site 13 for a real peaceful Saturday. Half of our group took the trail and hiked to the campsite, the other half got there by kayak/paddleboard. The site was very secluded and had a very interesting layout. Lots of hammock tree setups too.

Only real issue we had was there wasn’t a lot of flat ground. The tents we pitched were pretty close to the fire, and the biggest patch of flat ground was down wind from the fire.

This is an amazing park. The spot was 55 with a 5.50 Good Sam discount. It is gated, several spots mostly pull through. The roads and parking spots are all concrete with grass and picnic tables. Laundry, bathrooms, showers. Swimming pool and kids play yard. Large fenced pet area. This is just off interstate 70. The reservation desk was very friendly. Would highly recommend.

We recently took our scout troop to Woodridge and had ample space for the group.  The 4.5 mile trail was a nice activity for the scouts during the morning.  The trail was moderately difficult and could be problematic if raining.  The vault toilet was pretty clean and well taken care of.  It was fairly busy between the car campers and those who utilized one of the many hike in sites.  Several of the hike in sites looked promising and I hope to one day return and use one as well.

We found a great spot for our van that was right on the water and mostly secluded. Got pretty busy on the weekend and people had loose dogs that were causing some problems, but otherwise very chill. Lake is beautiful, decent cell service with Verizon. Pit toilets in good shape when we arrived Thursday afternoon but kind of rough by the end of the weekend.

Camp in main area to be near toilets, otherwise there’s lots of loops near the water where you can find sites with more privacy. No trash so pack it out.

It was pretty crowded and most car camping sites were taken when we got in at 8pm on a Wednesday in may. Some folks appeared to be staying long-term and had left their dogs completely unattended with only one tied up so they were just wandering the campground.

We left after a night because cell service wasn’t very good (1 bar on Verizon/at and t/t mobile) and the loose dog repeatedly wandering into our campsite was upsetting our dog. Sites down the trail for tents seemed okay.

Pros Off-season was quiet Open bathrooms were nice and well kept. Easy access to trails Lots of wildlife, vultures, deer, etc. Well marked and plenty of them spots Marina was a quick bike ride away and had a lot to offer during the season. Primate loops had some good spacing and tree cover, along with views of the lake. Inner loops not so much Potable water available year round. Was drinkable.

Cons Signs marked closed bathrooms but not the closest open bathrooms. One per campsite was still open with heat and electric. Weirdly all vaults were closed Office and hosts were unavailable so we had to leave for Casey's for firewood. While before the season, someone told us it's typically impossible to get firewood because the office is usually closed. Signs to the entrance to park and n avigation were pretty small, impossible to read at night, not lit. Electric parking pass only issued one day pass at a time. Would do the paper pass across the parking lot next time. Spacing is definitely a bit crowded for tent camping privacy this time of year. Will be curious to see how it feels in the summer/fall.

Had to call numerous times to acully get thru. Asked about 6 weeks of staying. Inquired about long term. Was told that it would cost me $3400.00 to stay a mo th here. That's insane

Stayed here off season for free. They do not close the gates so you can enter but no access to facilities, water or electric. Campground slopes to the river so very few level sites. Some noise from the road but otherwise peaceful as nobody was there.

Stopping for a quick overnight at the Topeka KOA, the staff was very nice. There is a small store with plenty of affordable firewood which was great for our chilly night. The bathrooms were large and very clean. Being a dog friendly campground, it had a cute little fenced area, but lots of poop not picked up which takes away the fun. (not the campgrounds fault, but nevertheless, no fun to be around. The reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is the proximity to the highway. We had a “deluxe rv site” that backed up to the highway. So tons of highway noise all night. Additionally, the sites were pretty close together and our neighbors had an outdoor tv that was blasting for hours. Takes away from peaceful camping. In the way n, less than a mile from the campground is Happy Basset Brewing Co. - highly recommend, as well as the food truck that was on site On the Hook!! 🐟🍟

The park is very quiet 7/26/22. My wife is working, and I am setting and listening to the soothing sounds of nature, and trying not to fall asleep. Lol, absolutely beautiful