Bicycle camping guide for Kansas

Welcome to Kansas

KansasCyclist blogger Randy Rasa has created a helpful online guide if you’re lucky enough to find yourself in Kansas, on a bicycle, and in need of a place to pitch your tent.

Kansas Bicycle Camping is a directory of more than 200 locations in the Sunflower State where bicycle travelers are welcome to camp out.

They run the gamut from state parks, to reservoirs and wildlife areas, as well as RV Parks that allow tent camping. He also includes an extensive list of community parks in cities that encourage bicycle camping — for free.

This is an extremely useful guide for bicyclists riding across the state on grand tours or heading out of town for an overnight trip.

Kansas camping

When my friend and I bicycled across Kansas in 1984, we were amazed at the welcoming attitude of most people in the small towns as we crossed the state.

Traveling from the uptight East Coast, we had a little bit of a hard time getting used to the fact that we could roll into a city park at the end of the day, shower at the community pool, and pitch our tent near a picnic shelter. In one town, the local church elders left the building open overnight so we could use the facilities if we needed.

Randy writes in Bicycle camping in Kansas:

That friendly and welcoming attitude is present in many small Kansas towns, particularly along the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, where the thousands of two-wheeled travelers provide an important seasonal bump in tourism dollars.

Group camping at B.A.K. 2011

The Kansas Bicycle Camping guide can be searched by map or by type of facility.

The state is split up into five regions for the map search. The camping guide also is divided into Corps of Engineers facilities, fishing lakes, wildlife areas, state parks, commercial campgrounds, community lakes and community parks.

There also are subheadings for free sites and pay sites.

Randy also provides links to his articles on free city park camping, stealth camping and dealing with Kansas weather when camping.

I’d recommend Kansas Bicycle Camping to anyone planning a bike trip there.