Trafton City Park

Very nice of the city of Malta to allow overnight campers to stay in the park for $5. It’s just that though, a city park. It’s not a campground, so there are no signs or designated spots to park for the night. We drove around the loop and found a little gravel driveway type thing by the soccer field, so we didn’t have to pull up on to the grass for the night. A cool skoolie pulled in after us and parked along the row next to us on the grass. 

The setup is just weird and you’ll have to find a spot to squeeze into where you’ll feel comfortable. I can’t imagine parking next to the playground structures, but along the edges of the park are a decent option. You pay with cash at a drop box at the entrance. Good cell reception for ATT and Verizon. Trash bins here, and gendered accessible pit toilets. And lots and lots of play options for kids. 

But the star of the show here were the mosquitoes. I had to put on long pants, thick socks, and long sleeve hoodie every time I had to take the dogs out. I also carried a little hand held fan with me to keep them off the dogs. Occasionally a little breeze picked up and gave us a little break, but mostly the air was heavy and hot and still when we were here in late July and the mosquitoes were vicious.

We just needed a quick and inexpensive place for one night. This fit the bill. It was Labor Day. We thought we would grab a bite to eat at the DQ. It was closed. As was every other restaurant in town. We had corn dogs at the Cenex. We were one of two trailers camping there. We found a water spigot and camped beside it. No electricity. It's .5 miles from the highway.

This place isn’t fancy but it’s only $5 to camp for the night. As we sit here there are only two other campers here so there’s plenty of room to spread out. We did find power over in one of the pavilions if you just have to have it for awhile but it’s not available at individual campsites. There are public toilets. There are also many water spigots around the park but not at individual sites. Although to clarify you can pretty much park where you can fit your vehicle so I guess you could use power and water depending on where you park but we didn’t want to try our luck. There is all sorts of playground equipment here that kids would enjoy and lots of horses next door at the rodeo grounds. There is a definite sewage smell here and that’s disappointing but seriously for $5 bucks we are happy to be here for the night. Last but not least there are lots of prairie dog holes in the ground here so don’t turn your ankle.