Kanopolis Park

On a brisk, November day, my siblings and I made a trip to Kanopolis State Park. We just went for the day to walk around and try to find some of the cool features that we had seen on a previous trip. This park is worth the drive because it has some amazing views and trails. Kanopolis is just west of Salina making it less than a two-hour drive. The park has a lake, trails, and it even is close to Mushroom State Park. I have never been for more than a day but they have campsites as well.

My siblings and I left from Wichita around 8 am to drive to the park. I do not always plan the simple things out so the only thing I brought us to eat was cliff bars and water. We stopped to get gas in Lindsborg before finishing the drive there because a couple of years ago, my mom learned the hard way that there are no gas stations with in miles of Kanopolis. Later, we arrived at the park and drove around for a little while to find a good spot that I could easily navigate back to. The place where we parked was near these red rocks that you can climb and on the other side there are some trails. We climbed the rock structure that rises up about 30 feet above the lake that you can look over. One of my brothers tried to climb down using the steeper route but the other three of us walked down the easy way that we used to walk up. We climbed back down so we could go to one of the trails.

 Next, we started walking down one of the trail heads that was meant for people only because some of them allow horses so there is sometimes horse droppings on it and that does not fly with my sister. The trail was narrow so we walked one behind the other. The scenery was dead grass with occasional walls that aligned the trail, made of rock. Also, there were not any animals that we came across besides a few birds. We circled the trail that ended up coming right back to where we started which was nice because I do not have good navigation skills. The whole loop, we did not pass one other person. It was very peaceful and nobody complained. This only took about an hour so we decided to drive to a different area on the other side of the lake, closer to the entrance. 

 We parked by this little bridge that was very random because it was built over this little puddle of water. On the other side of the bridge was really high grass but there was still a narrow trail that crossed through it. Around the same area was a big wooden cross and some rock seating that made a little outdoor chapel. It was a very pretty site and I suggest getting pictures if you go. My phone had already died and that is definitely something I wish I had a picture of. Besides that, there was not anything too amazing so we decided to go to mushroom park.

 Mushroom park is about fifteen minutes away and it consists of rocks that are shaped like mushrooms. They are very cool looking and do not look like they belong in Kansas. There is not much to do besides look at the rocks but if you take a trip to Kanopolis then it is worth it to go to mushroom park. After that, we hit the road to get home and since I did not bring food, everyone was hungry so we had to stop in a neighboring town and get pizza. 

 Overall, Kanopolis is a great place to go and spend the whole day walking and just finding little adventures along the way. I did not plan out what we would do when we got there but we figured it out along the way. It was a fun way to catch up with my siblings over Thanksgiving break and take them on a quick little one day, road trip. This is a great place to go with friends or family and Kanopolis will leave you with good memories for later.