Watkins Mill State Park Campground

Stayed here for three nights. All spots have plenty of shade when we walked around. Shower house and bathrooms were clean and nice. Lots of things to do such as boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing and swimming. Fire pits were even nice with an attached grill grate.

Great Camping

This campground was always a family favorite when we were kids.  We would go out extra early to set up then spend our time on the bike trails until lunch.  We always brought our own grill but theirs were nice as well.  Bathrooms and showers are kept clean and overall just a great place to go.  This is always a top pick for my family and I. 

Family Favorite 

Watkins mill SP is located a short distance from Kansas City off I-35 near Kearney. The park has a large lake that you can fish and boat as well as multiple hiking options. The historical site is a neat step back in time to the 1800'. The campground is broken up into 3 different areas with plenty of space for campers, RV's and tents. Park features include an updated showerhouse, large playground for the kids and helpful and friendly park staff. Thanks to the staff for giving us an heads up on the raccoons that are bold! Reservations are recommended on holiday weekends.

Fantastic area close to KC

This campground has many sites available, including rustic and RV hook ups. The drive out to the park appears to be in the middle of no where, but it's worth he drive. They offer water access to a lake, trails, historical information sites, and guided tours of the Watkins Woolen Mill. If you enjoy animals as well, the park also has chickens and sheep to view as you're visiting the mill. The facilities at the park are also VERY clean and they have showers and laundry available. Definitely a place to camp if you're bringing your family as the hosts are super friendly and helpful and there will be plenty of activities to keep everyone busy.

Remote and Lush

Large shaded campsites. The bathrooms and showers are the best we’ve had at a campground. The big king trail is very family friendly. The mill was a great side trip, I would highly recommend.

Secluded, but less than an hour from KC

I can't say enough good things about this campground. Nice stay!! We will be back.

8/24/18

We stayed in primitive site #3 - fairly close to neighbors, but with some berms/hills between it still felt relatively private. Site didn’t have a ton of level tent sites, but was otherwise in good shape. 

Fall foliage was gorgeous this past weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed the woolen mill tour at the adjacent state historic site.

Shower and restroom facilities seemed adequate, though more dated than other similar state parks in the area. Serviceable but not immaculately clean. 

Nice quiet primitive site loop

Very clean and safe place. Lots of shaded campsites, a lot with electric hookups. Clean bathrooms and shower houses. Can bring your kayaks at no extra cost! We will definitely be back!


Campground 

Camp ground is great. There are 2 shower houses, 1 new one torwards the front and one in the farthest loop.  There is a small lake great for kayaking and fishing boats.  The swim beach has been closed because of excesive vegetation growth.  The trail wraps the lake and connects to the edge of the campground.  There is a couple historic sites not far on the side of the lake, quick little drive.

Good state park

We stayed for two days in spot #92.  Many of the spots have a good amount of room, but there are some that looked tricky to level. 92 was fine for leveling. The only downside is that the spots, while larger, are fairly open (in the area around 92). I prefer a spot that has a tucked away fire pit and table, but this worked OK for us. Bathhouses were clean and there is a great 3.75 mile paved loop around the lake if you have dogs that enjoy long walks. 

Nicely shaded spots. 

There are not a lot of campsites, which is nice. Makes it easy to get around without traffic. Very clean place. Hosts spend a lot of time cleaning campsites between each visitor. We had a ton of fun walking around the old mill and visiting with the historian working the visitor center. There are live chickens and sheep. Only negative was it was a pretty chilly weekend and the shower house near our campsite had barely lukewarm water. No full hookups. Electric only. 

Small Campground, Fun

Ive camped all over and never had an issue parking our 2 very small teardrop campers in a camping spot.  Park ranger wouldn’t allow both of them for no real reason, other than somewhere in a rule book it said so.  Lake was alright, very small and flooding made it a bit dirty.  Running trails and beach were also closed.  

Nice place, ruined by Robocop parks officer

Nice escape from the city. The waterfall size depends on rainfall though

Beautiful nature hike

Easy access from I35. Very nice and convenient!!

Nice wooded campground 

Beautiful wooded campground 

We arrived about 15 minutes after the office closed. One of the staff members went back inside to check us in amd thennled us to our camp site before leaving to go home. We were there off season so we only had electric and the shower house was closed but there was fresh water at the dump station close by. It was a beautifully wooded park with a lake, very peaceful....and at a great price.