Kanopolis Lake State Park in Ellsworth County

Awesome place we went at the perfect time of year. Early fall.

A beautiful park with prairie trails and lovely rock formations.

The rangers are super helpful and friendly. The park wa great and theres wonderful hikes.

Beautiful scenery, amazing terrain, wonderful facilities, but TOO MANY #$&@! LOOSE DOGS.

Great hiking trails with abundant wildlife and incredible views. Really great disc golf course in nearby Marquette. Cabin was clean, updated, and well-kept by camp host. Plenty of trees and privacy. Beach is clean and nearby. One of my favorite places to camp!

It was so fun!! Especially with my uncle here with us for awhile!!

I rode the motorcycle to the cabin. It was a beautiful cabin and the Lady at the park office was helpful. I’m goin back soon. Peaceful, quiet, and Beautiful.

My family and I really enjoy kanopolis. Its a great place to camp and hike. Horse thief trail is cool and exploring the caves is always a good time. Not far away there is mushroom state park. So on one camping trip you can hike several trails and see many different biomes. We camp in primitive sites, but water is available near by. We will visit this park a few times a year.

We love this place. Great quiet campgrounds next to sandy beaches in KANSAS! Sandyshore is the BEST!!! Eagle Point Campground also has great views of the lake.Also make sure you hike Horsethief Canyon.

The State park was nice. The State park Ranger came by and was very rude and actually was very nasty attitude. We pulled in late at nite and my vehicle was on the grass. His actions were uncalled for could of had a better attitude and been nicer to talk to first thing in the morning. Felt that he did not want us to be their and wanted us to leave I will think twice before to return their. I know their are better places to camp with better park Rangers

Great spot for a family camping adventure. Good hiking and the water wasnt too crowded, even on Labor Day weekend. The shower facility was great and everything was close to our campsite. Enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax in this wonderful Kansas gem.

Wow, what a find! We only stayed one night but now wish we had stayed longer. Chose the Switchgrass loop, and a site that was at the end, based on blogs I read, and we had beautiful unobstructed views of the lake. Gorgeous!

This review is for the campground only. Stayed in the Arapaho cabin--its awesome!! It was one of the best cabins I have ever rented in any campground, would absolutely stay here again. It has a paved driveway, a tree that shades your car when parked there, kitchen that even has a small oven (albeit you have to guess what temperature you are putting it on, as it has no labels for the dial lol), spacious bathroom, and AC works great. Bonus: gorgeous dark sky here.

Such beautiful views around the lake and on the trails. Really enjoyed our time here.

Grounds are well maintained with several locations offering a variety of amenities for families, couples, singles or groups to get out and enjoy a day or extended stay.

This park is so peaceful and the scenery is wonderful. If you have time take a path and enjoy it all.

Saw lots of neat bugs and plants. I would have gone on a hiking trail, but there is lots of poison ivy around, and I didnt want to risk getting some on me. Watching the swallows fly around the lake was enjoyable. My brother and I went fishing, but caught nothing using our bait. I bet we would have had more success, had we used live bait. I saw some deer tracks on the shoreline while we were fishing. If you spend a night or two by the lake, youll spend a night or two covered in bug bites. I cannot emphasize just how important bug spray is. Dont make the same mistake I did.The lake shore reeks at times due to discarded fish carcasses left by fishermen.

My favorite hiking and sightseeing in Kansas. I’ve been to all the cool places Kansas has to offer and this is my top. In summer it can be hot on the gorgeous hiking trails.The lake is nice. Lots of good camping. Saw many types of wildlife every time.Make sure to do Buffalo trail or Horsethief canyon trail.

Nice clean campsites. Public restrooms need a facelift: doors not working and no locks. Bring your own food, closest restaurant is 20 minutes from camp. Nice boat launch.

Wonderful place to camp and hiking the trails at Horseshoe Canyon nearby was amazing. Checkout Mushroom Rock State Park close by too. Its not very big but its kinda cool.

Lived in Vegas for 14 years but theres nothing better than a Kansas sunset and hiking on the trails around Kanopolis Lake in May !!

Jfc this place was cool, and we only did part of one trail!

Super well maintained and just almost perfect .

Had a really wonderful hike here today with my Mom for Mother’s DayVery thankful 🤗

Awesome park! Has ample campground facilities, hiking trails, beach, playground--get outside and enjoy!

Horse thief canyon hike of 4 miles was a great experience!!Dont miss it!!

Full disclosure: this review is solely from the perspective of making pick-ups and deliveries to the park. Its been very clean and well maintained whenever Ive been there and the paved areas are actually pretty smooth and wide compared to a lot of parks. Pretty area and so far no grumpy operators so thats a plus.

Great place to go camping, fishing, boating, hiking and exploring with the fam!! The weather wasnt super nice, but we rented a cabin, so we were safe & dry inside. The cabins are so perfect too! There are several beds/futons that fit our family of 5 perfectly!! We cant wait to go back again soon!! ❤️

Great hiking trails. There are caves and more to explore. The purple trail is about 2 miles and very scenic. There will be places to cross water but there were stones and logs to help cross.

Many trails to choose from. We hiked a section of Horse Thief Canyon. Nice rock formations. Well maintained trails. There are some water crossings, be prepared for wet feet.

One of my favorite places to hike and kayak. Beautiful scenery and lots of trails. A true hidden gem!

Always love staying at any Kansas lake! Kanopolis is definitely our go to for a quick outing.

Was out on sandyshores an enjoyed it! Last night was frightful, since people came in at 10pm an canoed right by our camp talkin..... do have a little respect for others. We had 2 toddlers an it made it difficult for us. Otherwise we are lobsters an enjoyed our visit.

I grew up 30 miles north of here, but Id never been to this lil hidden GEM!! Lots of trees for shade, nice camping grounds, marina, clean large bathhouse, boat ramps, a playground, swimming beach - absolutely beautiful and charming. We camped in Caving Banks on the south shore near the dam. Im not really into rock hunting per se, but walking around the shoreline I discovered an area glistening like diamonds so I collected some beautiful pieces of quartz for my son who is in to geology. Totally awesome. I will be back with my kid next time (as this visit was a grown ups evening out)!Also, on a side note there are lots of staff on duty this time of year - and they were all friendly and very helpful and happy to help. As were the other campers - friendly but not nosey, minding their own business as you would say.As for the fishing, boo. Not a great lake for fishing. Other water sports, yes but not fishing. They had to repair the damn a few years back and released half the water in the lake & it is thot to have taken alot of fish with it. Some say theres only catfish in there now. Idk, never caught anything there! Lol

Great place! A very nice place to get away from town for a while. However it gets very packed with ppl very quickly especially close to holidays.

Horse trails/hiking trails were great. We took a two year old and a 4 year old on the purple trail and it was plenty of fun and easy enough to navigate. Expect to steer clear of muddy spots, ticks and a lot of poison ivy and poison oak.

More of a horse campground. Very quiet during week. Hot showers up at horse ranch area. Vault toilets near by. Critters get into food at night, so pack up. Got Verizon, tmobile, and sprint service. Saw white tail deer. Can be extremely windy. Ill post a video. Weather here is extreme. No fire rings. Super expensive for no reason. $25 permit for each car,or $5 a day per car, plus $15 a day. CRAZY!! Stayed 2 weeks which is the max. There is no camp host.

My boy and I stayed the night out at Kanapolis Lake on sandy shore campsite this past weekend. Sun was out and the water was cold but refreshing to be able to get out to the lake period. The two things I recommend is bring a rake with you because the camp grounds does have some broken glass that just raking your area can clean up. Also, bring firewood if you want a fire. Small sticks and twigs are all you going to find in this camp ground area for firewood. Good luck and have a great 2021 summer.

Kannapolis Lake State Park is a hidden gem in Central Kansas. If you have not been there it is hard to understand just how beautiful it really is. Horse thief canyon trail is a must when visiting. There are great views of the lake, the large rolling prairies, and ancient sandstone rock formations which have had the names of early settlers, and even present time hikers, carved into them.

When theres "no utilities available" you get the whole place to yourself. Its beautiful here. Love the wildlife. I wouldnt mind visiting again and spending more time here.

Buffalo Track Hiking Trail was absolutely stunning and unexpected! Plan for a couple hours to fully take in all it has to offer!

Large park divided into smaller sections. Most areas are grassy with lots of trees. Dump stations and potable water were easily accessible. Each section had a camp host. Water was very low, revealing lots of trash, both old and new. I was in Cottonwood, all sites were back in with good distance between. Only complaint was booking required giving your full SSN.

We enjoyed our trip to KLSP. Nice horse facilities. Trail maintenance left a bit to be desired though.

Always have a blast down at the lake with family and friends, took the old KLR650 out for a little ride also

Great park, lots of hiking trails around. The water is pretty nice as well. Caves and bluffs and lots of cool areas

Im reviewing the Horsethief Trail. Its about 8 miles long if you complete both east and west loops. The east loop seems to be used as a horse and a hiking trail, but the trail isnt too terribly tore up if you wish to hike it, plus, there are some colorful rock formations on that side. The west side is what most people hike and is about 5 to 6 miles. This loop is quite interesting for several reasons. Lots of good rock formations and the hydroglyphs that are mostly defaced. If you take the left most trail heading north and west you will come to part of the path that is covered by water. This seems to be covered even when water levels are barely raised. When water levels are high there are several parts of the trail where you have to cross small water flows. Ok so in preparation for this hike expect to cross water. If the water level is high you will have to wade through at least 3 to 4 foot of water. Otherwise backtrack miles! Because the main water crossing is at the beginning of the trail. Pretty nice hike though.

Great hiking! Horse thief canyon is beautiful! We go for day trips but plan to come back and camp out.

Great place to camp and hike. We have been here several times and enjoy camping right on the beach. Some of the shelters need attention but overall, a nice state park.

Be sure to get a day pass! We learned the hard way. Beautiful hiking trails, but we could not find the caves? May have been overgrown as we visited in mid summer (PS have plenty of water, nowhere near to get any!)

Sandy Shore at Kanopolis lake is an awesome place to go camping. Camped there for almost a month recently & thoroughly enjoyed it even though I was having medical issues half the time we were there. None of us wanted to leave and come back home.