We took a camping trip out to the Flint Hills on Friday. My wife wanted to visit Tallgrass Prairie, and the nearest free camping was at Chase County Fishing Lake. We left after work on Friday, and pulled in to camp after dark. We missed the exit from the toll road at Emporia (there's only one exit at Emporia, so if you missed it you're hosed), so we were pretty much stuck for the next 30 miles. We arrived after dark, and since this weekend is a full moon, I found a place with plenty of tree cover to set up camp under.
In the morning, I took the kids down to the lake to let my wife sleep in a little bit, but also to look for frogs. There were frogs all over the place. I grabbed our nets and the kids had a grand morning wading in the mud and netting leopard frogs.
We finally went back to camp to cook breakfast. As we were finishing up, a passel of cars pulled up and parked. A few ladies got out, wandered over to the bank and proceeded to pull out their easels and painting supplies. I guess there was a Flint Hills artists competition, so artsy folks were all over the place making paintings. While I was picking up camp, the kids watched the painters paint.
We drove down to the dam, parked, then hiked over to the south side. There's a series of waterfalls just below the dam. Since it's late in the year, the falls were small, but they are supposed to be very picturesque when more water is flowing.
On the way back across the dam, the kids ran right by this red-eared slider. I called them back and they all enjoyed looking at it.
Nearest City: Cottonwood Falls, KS
Location: 2 miles west of Cottonwood Falls
Time Needed: varies
Difficulty: varies
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info:
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