Elk City Lake

I've always heard about the awesome trails at Elk City Lake in SE Kansas. The Kansas Wildlife and Parks website lists 8 trails plus the Corps of Engineers manages land featuring camping and trails so we had to decide where to go. We settled on the Elk River Trail in the Corps area. In addition to being very scenic you can backpack on this trail. We wanted to camp along the shore of the lake in a secluded area. We set out around 3 pm and began hiking. Right away this trail becomes very strenuous. It was around 100 degrees so I was glad we brought a lot of water but feared we didn't bring enough. There are cave like rock formations, crevasses and steep bluffs overlooking the lake. After about 3 miles we stopped and found an awesome spot to camp under a willow tree next to the lake. It was very cool! Growing next to the willow was the largest Button Bush I've ever seen COVERED with various species of butterflies. I can't wait to go back there but would like it to cool down a little first. Taking the kayaks would also be a great way to reach these remote spots where privacy is at it's best!!

Here is a map showing some of the various trail heads.

Here are some photos I took along the way:


The sunrise was amazing


A Kansas jungle


The trail is rugged and interesting