Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Plains, KS

This was a great VERY quiet get away for me and the wife. Not a lot going on in this area during the winter time but this was the perfect place for us to unplug. Nestled just outside Garner State Park has some great scenery. The dog park and surrounding area could have used some more grass in and around it to help keep the mud out of the RV but the dogs enjoyed themselves. All in all a great place for a get away if you're looking to unplug.

Welcoming staff, grassy area for pet walk, full hookups, shower, bathroom, rec area and laundry. Free wifi.

Before I do my review here, I want to point out that we own a small Toy Poodle and are very conscience of our dogs bio footprint in the environment and always pick up after he uses the bathroom. So here is our experience that really upset our family and my in-laws. I was walking my dog to the grass area and noticed my dog was wanting to go to the bathroom on the gravel. I pulled my dog quickly over to the grass area and picked up his waste to throw away. Little did I realize my dog had dropped a piece of poop before getting to the grass, I didn’t see it but the owner said he watched us and saw my dog poop in the gravel without me picking it up. I returned to my camper and 15 min later I receive a knock at my door and the owner tells me that I left my dogs poop and here it is. He slammed his shovel against the gravel on the ground, dropping a ping ball size poop on my front steps. I felt really bad that I didn’t see it and apologized but as soon as I did the owner tells me this is my first and only warning, if it happens again then we’ll be gone! We apologized a second time and the owner just stared at us angrily and walked away without acknowledging the apology or saying anything further. Me, my wife, my son and my mother and father in-law were jaw dropping shocked. We had stayed here several times before, made this our campground of choice in Dodge City when ever we visit and we’ve never had any issues. We pay good money to stay in their campground every year so a little bit of couth goes a long way in customer service. I was mortified that anyone who owns a campground would talk to someone and threaten to kick them out because of an honest and rather minor mistake. All he had to do was stop by and tell me he saw my dog poop in the road and to please double check your dog while walking him. What further put salt in the womb is when me and my wife went to the front desk to sign in from the night before and we confronted the owner that we didn’t know that our dog had pooped on the lot and again apologized. We then told him that all he had to do was be nice about it and he responded, “I was nice about it”. We argued politely for a minute that he was not nice and there’s no reason to talk to us like we’re little children. We finally gave up rationalizing with him and left. All over town and in front of their campground it’s advertised that their campground is for sale so maybe he’s having a very bad morning or there’s some added stress because their campground is for sale or maybe it’s the “I don’t care” attitude now but one thing is for sure, my family and my in-laws will never make this our weekend home for our mini vacations anymore. My advise is go to the brand new KOA campground right up the street where they don’t treat the customers like this, who actually care how they treat their customers. Plus it’s a heck of a lot nicer with concrete pads, new and very nice facilities. GunSmoke campground is very noisy because of the highway it sits right up against with very crowded campsites on the front half of the campground. They show pictures on the internet of the rear newer addition but not the crowed older section.

Needed a place to stop for the night with electric since it’s 95 in Kansas in July. This was right off 400 on our way out of Dodge City. $25 a night with water and electric. Small campground but has what we needed. Bonus it has a laundry mat. Second bonus there is a horse farm right behind the campground.

This is a tiny (5 pull-thru slots) RV park run by the county in Montezuma, Kansas. Perfect for an overnight stay, it has 30 and 50 amp hookups, sewer and water. All for only $20/night. Each slot is a gravel drive with a concrete pad on the side that has a concrete picnic table. It’s right off KS-56, but we didn’t find it too noisy. I would definitely stay here again if passing by this way. Even has the added bonus of a small adjacent field where we were able to kite our paramotor wing for a bit.

i love going to a place where you hear nothing but the birds and other animals around you. very peaceful

We stay here quite often for a quick get away. Good trees in some areas for shade.

Well maintained sites. Amazing swimming area. Helpful staff

Small store for snacks and bait. The even have an ice cream truck that makes the rounds! Huge catfish have been caught here. They have many dates for family friendly activities that include trick or treating in Oct.

Playground

Boat access but it's a no wake lake

Nearest major town about 25 miles away

Some spots cannot be reserved

Game wardens patrol regularly so make sure you have the correct permits

Stayed 2 nights in early March.   Lake View site #22, beautiful view from the lake's edge.   Most sought after site.    Was nearly all alone.  Power and Electric hook-ups.   Many hook-up options but no sewer.    Did have a dump station.   Roughly $20/night for premium site.    Some spots are a little close together, but the lake views and otherwise open areas make up for it.

Lake Meade has several campgrounds around the lake. All are por and have full hookups. You also need a permit for your vehicle. Here in the Dyrt only apear a few without the correct name, I tried to add the one I been but if you don’t add it while your camping then it’s late because the location will be shown where you are at the moment of adding it.

General: There are several camping areas situated around Lake Meade, some with as few as three tent sites, and others with electric hookups. We camped on a weekday in April and the visitor center was closed when we arrived so we were a little confused looking for the Lake View campground, where we had a reservation. Google maps does not show any campground with that name but by eventually driving around the lake, we found it, but on the map, it was labeled Scout Campground. There were only a handful of campers in our campground and none in the others that I could see. 

Site Quality/Facilities: The sites in Lake View (aka Scout?) have sites scattered about, all on dirt/sand pads. I can understand why one reviewer said that Site 22 was the most coveted as it offers the most privacy of all the sites in this campground. Sites 18 and 19 would be good IF you have small children as the playground is right behind 19 and next to 18. Don’t reserve these sites if you don’t want the noise and activity of kids nearby. As the name suggests, many of the sites have an unobstructed view of the lake. In summer, the sunsets are likely fabulous but in April, the sun set behind the trees and was a non-event at our site. 

Bathhouse: At Lake View, there are four unisex combo bath/shower units; they were  clean. Soap dispensers and air dyers so, if you are like me, don’t forget to bring your towel so you don’t have to use the air dryers. 

Activities/Amenities: Fishing appears to be a big draw. In season, there is also a small swimming beach and kayak rentals. This area is about a mile walk or drive from the Lake View campground. There was one hiking trail of indeterminant length; I was hoping it would go clockwise around the lake but when I looked at the map, it appeared I would have to cross a stream to do so I only ventured a short distance down the trail. Cell service is spotty, ranging from one bar to no service. 

I would imagine that in the summer and on warm weekends, this place is likely hopping but we enjoyed a quiet night on a lake as we were passing through on our way further west.

Great view, quiet and not full. 13-32 dollars.

Good cell (Verizon)

I will camp here again.

I tent camped at Meade State Park in July 2022. I was the only camper in the Larrabee campground. I picked site 143 because trees almost totally shade it. There was one travel trailer in the Sagebrush campground loop. There were more RVs on the northeast edge of the small lake. I arrived around 4pm and spread out my gear to dry after camping in the rain in Iowa the previous night. It was sunny and breezy and my stuff dried quickly. Then I walked 200 yards to the beach and swam in the lake. It was very refreshing in that summer heat. Afterwards I took a cold shower in the shower house that is connected to the visitor center, which was inexplicably closed on a Wednesday. There was a sign to run the shower until it heats up. Well, I didn’t wait and just took the cold shower, which was also refreshing. After I pitched my then dry tent, I walked the 2 miles around the whole lake. I didn’t want to just hang out at my camp site because there were biting flies that interestingly stopped biting around 7pm and I enjoyed the evening at my site after the swim, shower, and walk. It was a nice waypoint on my road trip.

Great place for peaceful camping. Has big playground for kids and miles of hiking trails, even lakes to fish. Staff very friendly and helpful for anything you need.

You wouldn’t believe it when you’re approaching it, since it seems near a road and behind the train tracks, and it seems to be near a refinery. But this 16-site, city-run park and campground is the kind of place I had been hoping to run across on my long drive. It has shady spots in an area where shade is a rarity. It’s a little protected by its location near the river, which is great.

It has hot showers and flush toilets, and did I mention hot water? There are park facilities like a play structure and lots of green grass. And it’s clean! At this writing, the fee ranges from $5 to $15 per night.

The site manager was extremely helpful and pleasant. It was worth calling ahead to let him know I was coming. (620) 626-0531

Stopped at this nice out of the way campground en route to Minneapolis. Nice sites and price (only $5 for tent). Squeaky is really doing a good job keeping things clean and maintained!

Nice quiet place to stay. Called one hour before arrival, with no problems. Very nice campground. Totally recommend. Very responsible priced.

We needed a place to stop our travels to Oklahoma. The people were friendly and we had a wonderful view of the lake! Enjoyed a bike ride to the showers and I gave it four stars because there wasn’t any hot water. And they weren’t the cleanest. Other than that, you won’t be disappointed.

It's not clear, when you enter the park, where you can park. After driving around the loop a few times, and observing others doing the same, we finally found a small RV parking sign close to the ground about 1-2 feet up from the ground by the large tree, on the east side of the park. We parked under that big tree. Another RV came in and just parked next to the loop on the east side of the park. It was free camping. Highway nearby we occasionally would hear trucks but usually sleep well inside our van so it wasn't a problem after we fell asleep. The bathroom was locked up. There is a dump station and potable water there, free as well. No electric hook ups. Very simple, small park. I would guess there's space for no more than 5-6 RVs but it's off the road a bit and not busy when we were there.

Clean nice campground. Not much to do as the swim area is across the lake. Hiking and biking around the lake is good. Biting flies were terrible but after I broke out the fly swatter they learned I meant business!

Found this on the app. Showed up and it’s totally slept on!! I will be back because I regularly drive through the area on my way to Arizona.

I felt safe. There was bathrooms. It was quiet for the most part.

There is limited parking but it is December and I was vehicle 2/2. Picnic tables and I slept through the night well!