We were driving across Kansas, looking for a place to stay. We definitely prefer state parks over…read morecommercial places and Wilson did not disappoint. Great campgrounds, friendly neighbors and a place to hide from Kansas weather.

Wilson State Park is located along the shore of Wilson Lake, an Army Corps of Engineers project…read more Route 232, the road leading to the state is also the Kansas Post Rock Scenic Byway. The park offers camping, hiking, boating and swimming. Very beautiful park and lake.

Beautiful park! We started our hike at Buffalo Track Canton Nature Trailhead, which is located a…read moreshort drive into Kanopolis Lake State Park. This trailhead has two entrance points, and one is usually more manicured than the other. We didn't know there was a difference at the time and took the path less traveled and less tended to. Which was unfortunate for us because we were walking through tall grasses and brush, which was uncomfortable because some of the people I was hiking with were wearing shorts. So, if you want a more pleasant hike, make sure you're taking the hiking trail that has been mowed. Other than slapping away plants and hoping we weren't transporting ticks, the hike was great and the scenery here is beautiful. Our trail was a little less than a mile one way, and led us to a really cool cave with rocks that looked like the profile of a person! We checked out the cave for a while, then headed back. Once you're at the cave, you do have an option to travel down another trail to go farther into the park, but we chose to just head back. There's a lake here and other things, but we only visited the park to hike. We had a great time hiking, though! This part of Kansas is beautiful, and walking through Kanopolis is a great way to experience some of it.

My daughter and I took a relaxing camping trip with our dog. We drove from Iowa to Kanopolis State…read morePark in Marquette, Kansas on our way to Colorado. We ended up getting a campsite on our own private beach and it was Awesome! Dog friendly too! It was $18 for the night and we loved it!

So, I'd keep your expectations in check when visiting Mushroom Rock State Park. It's a tiny park --…read morethe smallest state park in Kansas at just 5 acres! But you get to see some interesting rocks. Some of these rocks really do look like mushrooms. We explored the park for a bit, but we were done after about 15 minutes. There's a short, easy trail on one side of the parking lot that takes you down to some sick rocks (that people have carved into and written things on, which I think looks cool but you might not). On the other side of the parking lot is a little area with more mushroom rocks; some of these are short enough to climb on, so kids might like these. There's a restroom here, but it's basically a port-a-potty hole in the ground, so if you can hold it, I'd suggest doing so.

This was one of our stops on our cross country RV trip. It's nice to break up the drive, but I have…read moreto say, this place is not worth the stop. This park is tiny. There's a couple of rocks that look like mushrooms on the side of the road. It's definitely not worth driving out of your way for. I honestly don't understand how it's a state park. This wins the award for worst state I've been to. Don't waste your time.

Very nice, well kept campground. Nice, clean restrooms and showers. Plenty of shade trees. Lots of…read morecottonwood trees

The Sylvan Park is easy to find, once you have directions. This is a huge earth dam put in by the…read moreArmy Corps of Engineers. The spillway is close enough for me to hear. A great, deep rumbling. The park is below the dam, of course (of course). There are many trees, and a nice rain storm came in and cooled things off. The shower house is older but adequate and private (see comments on Meade State Park). But it is unventilated. I almost had heat stroke while washing my hair. The Smoky Hills are splendid. To get to the park, you go up on some heights, and you have a view of escarpments, green grassy hills, and trees down in the low places. The campground attendant was having sharp words with her kids last night. There are three kids, looks like early teenaged to younger. Two girls and one boy.