Best Glamping near Topeka, KS

Pne of the closest to the Kansas city metro lots of glamping

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.

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.

It was busy and noisy up until quiet hours, super family friendly, the camp sites are quite large and spread apart. The showers & bathrooms were nice! Many spots to choose from, we were lucky to grab one with tree cover making it feel like we were really out in nature. Lovely park and campground.

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

Rolling hills and lots of green with many of trails and recreational facilities including more unusual things like archery. Lake is surprisingly big, good wildlife and birding. Popular place for bike and road races, that’s what brought us here. Camp sites have pretty trees but most sites aren’t so shady. Also has cabins.