Best Tent Camping near Winona, KS

Tent Camping Reviews near Winona, KS

74 Reviews of 6 Winona Campgrounds

• S

  Stacy R.

  Guide

  Aug. 4, 2018

  Elm Grove — Historic Lake Scott State Park

  Kansas Oasis

  There is not a lot to see on the flat western plains of Kansas and you would not see this state park either if you didn’t know it was there. This lake is like a sunken oasis of trees and water. The area itself was great! There’s even a few histoical sites to visit and it is close to Monument Rocks, which is what bought us to Kansas.

  The campground, however, is just ok. Perhaps it would’ve been better if they had rain to green up the grass, but it was mostly brown in June when we camped there. They have a large selection of sites and on a Monday night in June, we had many choices available for tent camping. It appeared that most who camp here have an rv and those spaces looked about full. Thankfully, those are two different areas of the campground because they were packed into a parking lot style campground. The tent area probably would’ve looked packed in too since the sites are small, but with only a handful of tents, we had some space.

  One thing that did limit our choice of sites was a LARGE herd of geese that covered all of the lakeside sites as well as the next row in. I didn’t want to set up in bird poop in the dry grass so the sites with a decent view were out. We did luck out and find site 2 of the Flatland area which was up above the water line so the geese couldn’t swim up and walk in. Site 2 had a great view of the lake and was set apart from the other sites along with site 1. Site 1 would’ve been the better site but it was occupied by a tent that appeared to have been abandoned. Site 2 was not level by any means, in fact it sloped quite a bit compared to the rest of the sites. There was no tent pads, which would’ve helped a lot for this site. We just set up so our heads would be at the high end and it worked. It was too nice of a view to let a bumpy sloping site stop us!

  The campground has a host and everyone was quiet for the night. We slept pretty well, other than the high humidity of Kansas.

  The bathhouse left a lot to be desired. A good cleaning to remove dead bugs would’ve went a long way. A fresh coat of paint would make it inviting. It looked like nobody had checked on its’ condition for many years. We were hoping to use the showers, but they were no cleaner and had an odd design with no doors or shower curtains. The lighting was very dim as well, making it all look a little too creepy for a shower there. A fresh coat of paint, brighter lighting, some shower curtains, and a good scrub down would make this facility SO much better! We also checked the other batthouse on the opposite side of the lake and it was the same way...only creepier because there was one lone rv camped near it.

  Overall, I would not camp here again unless I read some reviews indicating the the bathhouse has been improved. It’s not a dealbreaker to not have a shower, but if this campground had been fuller, the geese all over the sites may have been. If you have an rv and pay for full hookups, you might like this campground. If you are tent camping, keep looking.

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• 

  Katie L.

  Guide

  Jul. 2, 2024

  Timber Canyon Campground — Historic Lake Scott State Park

  One night in Timber Canyon

  These spaces are blocked from the wind and feel more private than the Lakeview campground, but you are a bit further from bathrooms/dumpsters. Primitive spaces had a picnic table and fire ring, and you’ll likely find a little “cove” all to yourself. Most people seemed to be RV camping in the sites that provided hookups and water.

• 

  Vania Z.

  Guide

  Sep. 11, 2020

  Lakebank Drive Campground — Historic Lake Scott State Park

  Simple grassy spot

  Simply picked the first loops on the lake. if you want to swim I would suggest camping on the other side. I picked this spot because no one else was around I had the whole loop to myself. Which is what I was looking for. The other side had a lot more people. Maybe not the best place for tents a lot of geese around and their droppings but there was plenty of grass and soft ground. I am not use to seeing a campground not full. I was surprised how easy it was to find open spots must be a Kansas thing. Beautiful sunset and sunrise in early July.

• D

  Danielle V.

  Legend

  Aug. 1, 2016

  Goodland KOA

  Wonderful campground hosts - crazy weather!

  Stayed at site 50. Nice grass site at this campground - very wide, very roomy. Accommodated a late / night-time check-in around 9 PM. Site was very convenient to showers and a nice store. Spoke with the owners in the AM and they were great and extremely nice - told us that they would accommodate anyone, any time - “pull in any time of the night, park where you can, set up, and talk to us in the morning.” Very exposed to the weather, though, and not much privacy. Saw the most incredible thunderstorm we’ve ever seen at this campground! Check out the video as part of this review - crazy lightning!

• 

  Ioan P.

  Legend

  Oct. 14, 2024

  Mid-America Camp Inn

  Ok, for one 🌙

  Not busy, large spaces, no Wi-Fi

• 

  Samuel H.

  Guide

  Oct. 13, 2023

  Apache Campground — Historic Lake Scott State Park

  Windy

  38 Mph wind gusts all night long made for some miserable camping. Not sure if that’s normal around here or not. 305 & 304 are probably the only primitive campgrounds I would stay at, all the others are too close to the road and eachother with no privacy. A permit is required, mine cost $12.75, they can be purchased from the kiosk at the park entrance. Excellent phone service with Verizon.

• 

  Ryan L.

  Guide

  Sep. 7, 2021

  Elm Grove — Historic Lake Scott State Park

  Elm Grove Campground

  Standard Campground in middle nowhere Kansas. We were passing through to Colorado and were also planning to see the nearby Monument Rocks and New Jerusalem Badlands SP. We managed to be the only one in this campground. While this campground had a sign explaining their color coded services, there were no actual services. There were no  formal fire rings on grills, but most sites had remains of improvised fire rings. There is a group camping site with large fire ring, grill, volleyball court etc. This campground had two available bathrooms. One is a pit toilet with no lights, so bring a flashlight. The second had sinks, flush toilets, and showers, but had no main bathroom doors and completely open to the elements at the 8 foot height.

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• 

  TMB

  Guide

  Oct. 14, 2020

  Goodland KOA

  Comfortable safe stay near Interstate 70

  Context:  I would not rate this campground 4 stars for destination camping, but I would like folks to know it is a great stop-over.  Typical trusted KOA cleanliness and quality.  Full hookups, some shade and nice grounds for kids and pets.  Friendly staff, wifi was good enough for online school; 4g cell coverage, cable too if you are set up in your rig.  Good health protocols during CV19.  Clean bathrooms and sites.  Camp grills, but no fire pits (it can be windy, but this campground's layout offers some blocking particularly to the south end).  After crossing Kansas from east to west, this is a great stop-over.  Also, if leaving Colorado late traveling west to east, same benefit.

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• M

  Mary L.

  Guide

  Oct. 22, 2024

  Pine Tree RV Park

  Older park many long term

  Most sites have full hook ups. The electric is in sort of a central pedestal, and people are snaking cords to it 4 campers per pedestal No showers or bathrooms. My site did not have a dump. $32 Rather expensive for no amenities Right off the highway Lots of nice trees so there’s shade Not too noisy Many big rigs here I have T-Mobile and I had only one bar