For those who want to experience Ottawa, but still want the creature comforts of home, consider glamping for your trip. Glamping near Ottawa, KS is a great way to go camping with the tastes of home. Glamping offers quick access to one or more of Ottawa's most popular destinations.
This recreation area is part of Clinton Lake
This recreation area is part of Pomona Lake
This recreation area is part of Melvern Lake
Carbolyn Park is located in eastern Kansas along Dragoon Creek, just east of Pomona Lake. The scenic park appeals to family campers, sportsmen and water sport enthusiasts. The reservoir covers 4,000 acres and offers excellent fishing and boating opportunities.
Fishing, boating, picnicking, and hunting are favorite activities on and around Pomona Lake. The lake's fish and wildlife resources provide ample opportunities for sportsmen and women. Three nearby trails meander around Pomona, providing visitors with hiking and nature study opportunities. Deer Creek Nature Trail and Witches' Broom Trail are short trails for hikers. The Black Hawk Trail offers a 33 mile loop with several trailheads. It is a popular hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking path.
Pomona Lake is situated among the rolling hills, mixed grasslands, croplands and forests of eastern Kansas. Wildlife and numerous species of birds can be observed at this secluded, heavily shaded campground. Bald eagles, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkey, crappie, walleye, channel catfish and other wildlife can be found here.
Numerous parks lie on the banks of Pomona Lake, offering additional boating, fishing, swimming, hunting, and hiking opportunities. The town of Lyndon, Kansas is less than 10 miles away, with limited restaurants and shops. This small town is home to 22 historical sites and the smallest Carnegie library still in use.
$14 - $20 / night
This recreation area is part of Perry Lake
Traveler
Pne of the closest to the Kansas city metro lots of glamping
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.
Legend
This was one of our favorite Kansas State Parks. At the end of May, it was almost empty. We had our pick of sites. We got a prime tree shaded spot on the water. In fairness, most sites are on the water or have a water view. Spectacular sunsets.
There was only 1 small bath house open while we were there, but it was clean and the shower was hot. It was one of those push button kind that only stayed on for a min. Not a problem to just keep pushing.
We road bikes, but the cold spring winds made kayaking impossible. In the summer, I can see why this place would be a fun destination. Swimming, boating, fishing, horses, archery, wide open spaces.
The roads within the park are not the best. Also, online reservations must be made 48 hrs in advance, otherwise, its day by day.
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.
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.
Guide
Every time you come you're greeted at the gate by exceptionally friendly staff. Once in, all sites are clean and well taken care of. There are a large amount of sites right on the water but make sure to bring aftermarket stakes to get into the ground (mainly rock). We camp with our 3 dogs each time and never put them on a leash. Rangers informed us as long as they stay in your site, they're not strict about it. These Rangers are around for your safety, not to ruin anyone's fun. We've been about 8 times since April and it's our favorite spot hands down!
GuideWe were in the Heart Stays loop. It was level and beautifully shaded. Thursday night we were the only ones in the loop, however it was near the boat ramps and there was a lot of vehicle traffic all the time. Friday night the campground filled up. There was even more traffic. One large group was very loud until 4:00 am. It is a primitive campground and, I imagine, one of the older ones in the park. The park brochure shows the campground as having a modern toilet, which was a pit toilet. I doubt we’ll go back because of all the noise.
ScoutQuick drive from KC, Pamona State Park is an alright spot! Staff is super friendly, the marina is cool to show the kid, and if we had a boat it’d make it even better.
I recommend staying at a loop as far from the marina as possible, and get an interior spot. Vehicles were driving by all night!
GuideI started the weekend off with a work camp trip here. We were in the larger camper site. They were very nice and accommodating! After everyone left I moved to a few non shore power site down by the water. Beautiful view, with a quiet serene feel.
GuideEnjoyed a nice cool weekend of fall camping. Site a little off level, nothing a few blocks or boards couldn’t solve. 30 amps of clean 122 vac, water tucked in between two pine trees that blocked the view of the sites to the left snd right of us. Large grassy field with playgrounds. Trails to take walks by the lake. Reasonable price.
TravelerWe stayed in one of the campgrounds with undesignated primitive spots. Found a nice place to park right on the lake. It was super quiet, being winter. Not too many primitive campers out.
GuideThe campground here is covered in trees, Awesome. We're in a Montana high country 384br, 41' fifth wheel. Its a beautiful park ,right on Pomona lake.
GuideBeautiful and tons of fun for our family and friends.
GuideThe 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
TravelerFabulous campground
GuideGreat campground (Sunflower) The host's are friendly and knowledgeable of the area. The trees in the sites are small saplings, give them a few more years, and they will be nice.
GuideCool weekend at a great lake right before things turned green. Closed last year to redo the electric, enjoyed Site 181 at Scott Creek, west side of Hillsdale Lake.
Still a little cool and gray, but nice 60 degree weekend.
ScoutGreat campsite. Plenty of space for tents and other activities and very close to water
GuideThis campground is close to home for us, but we love it as a quick get away. It has beautiful, tree-covered campsites that offer direct access to the lake. The sites and facilities are well kept and clean. Full-hookup sites don't have any tree coverage, but the electric/water sites near the lake are very cozy.
It is a great place to bike and fish. It also has excellent public hunting areas. It also has a great bow range for siting in and practicing with your bow. You can even climb towers to practice shooting from "tree-stand" elevations.
GuideWe stayed for a week in Crappie Cove. We have relatives in the area and have always heard folks rave about weekends at Hillsdale lake. We are spending 3 months this summer in our RV traveling the country and this was one of the stops along our way.
Pros:
Cons:
This campground has great potential and we found some other bathrooms that were actually decent on another loop, so walked there daily instead of the one in our loop.
No one at the front booth when we checked in (middle of the afternoon on a Sunday) but we had already paid, so we just proceeded to our site, which was already marked with our name and dates. We went in and out of the park every day with no issue. On the 7th day of our stay, my husband is stopped and asked where his parking permit is. No one came by our site after we checked in. No one ever asked in 7 days, not even the camp host who should monitor that stuff. We had ONE vehicle on our site and everywhere we have ever camped, one vehicle is included in your camping fee. We were told we had to pay an additional fee per day for the vehicle we used to pull our camper to the site. AFTER we had been parking there a week already and it was the day we were leaving. None of the other cars in our loop had permits in their windows or windshields.
We have stayed at many state parks across the country and this is one of the worst, in my opinion. Camp hosts were non-existent until the last minute and then they were rude. Facilities are not well maintained (on the Crappie Cove loop).
ScoutCrappie Cove has the best sites, and it is very close to the kayak/boat ramp and the swimming beach.
ScoutNew campground, so not much shade. But, many trees have planted for the future. Full hookups but no restroom or storm shelter on site. It has some concrete pads which would be nice wheelchair access.
ScoutA couple miles down a secluded drive, nestled back in the woods right on the lake. Lots of trees, nice shower house. Camp host is friendly and laid back. Pet friendly, well lit. Our family felt safe.
Beautiful sunsets. Water is a little muddy but good for fishing. I would recommend for a family getaway or a fishing trip.
ScoutCampgrounds are clean and aren’t too overly cramped. Trails for hiking and riding bikes and they offer canoe/kayak renting.
ScoutThis was our first location as full time RVers and it was such a fun experience. There are kayaks and canoes to rent, there is a great marina, fishing, and tons of water access opportunities for private kayaks. The people are friendly and so fun! Truly a great place to come camp.
Cons: showers are either dirty or out of service, no bathroom in some campgrounds aside from a portapotty.
GuideHillsdale is a close stop for us. We'll often go when we only have one night to camp. Unfortunately, the waterside sites are minimal and most seem to be RV sites. We often find ourselves in a field with port-a-potties instead of lakeside with views. Not bad for what it is, I do wish they had more options.
TravelerHillsdale is a nice place to camp that isn’t too far out of the city. Decent accommodations and nice camp sites near the water front.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Ottawa, KS?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Ottawa, KS is Clinton State Park Campground with a 3.6-star rating from 36 reviews.
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