Baxter Springs Riverside Park

The park I had planned to stay in had closed for the season (even after I spoke with them 2 weeks earlier about the date I was coming) so this was my second option. It was very cold for 2 nights here, low 20s, but water was on to fill my tanks, electric worked fine, and only a couple other campers in and out at this time a year.

Great place to base out of to visit Route 66 and the area. Baxter Springs is a great little town and a great local museum. Top notch for such a small town.

Site 22 was right under one of the light poles so was nice with so few other campers while I was there.

Also right on a beautiful river with a low head dam in view.

This little park needs some physical improvements and more importantly, oversight by the city. It suffers from abuse by locals who use it as a hangout and trash it. The more manicured and we’ll-kept park across the highway, which does not allow RVs, is an example of what this site could become. Obviously it is not valued by the community because it is little used, and it is little used because it is not valued by the community. The sites have potential, but border on primitive. Asphalt pads are all back-in, are level, but are separated from the road by grass. Those near the tree line have standing water between them and the road. Sites overlook the Spring River, but the bank is very steep and brushy, blocking access. The lone portapotty had its door hanging loose and had not been serviced in a long time. The pavilion roof was gone. The massive concrete picnic tables were partially sunken into the ground. A disc golf course appeared to be a recent addition but does not redeem the negatives. There is a dump station, electric and water hookups. Noise from trains blowing for crossings was very loud and frequent all night. The price is right, $5 for no hookups, $10 with, but there are no instructions for payment. This park is a stepchild of the police department and needs new and caring parents.

We planned to stay here for three days and explore the area. Unfortunately upon arrival we found out the water is off. So our planned 3 days turned into an overnight instead.

Also city said police would come through and collect our fee but they never came. So not sure if they are not charging due to the water or what happened with that.

We absolutely would stay here again.

WE arrived after dark so it was a bit hard to find. It's a big park that is split by R166 but look for the boat ramp signs on the East side of the river and you'll find the camping spots. The front of the area is for Day picnic use but behind the picnic pavilion is where you'll find the sites in a loop road. There were several spots with water and electric and only 2 other campers in the campground on a Sat night. You just pick any available spot. The spots were wide open with several trees for shade but no privacy, had paved asphalt pads so pretty level, some with a picnic table and some with makeshift rock firerings. Spots are only $10 a night with no pay Station, just police that may come by to collect it and give a receipt. BE AWARE that there are NO BATHROOMS here, just some port-a-potties that I didn't go in. It did look like they were doing some construction so maybe they were building some. 😄 The cute little town of Baxter Springs where it's located is just off historic Route 66.

We were traveling Route 66 and planned to stay at a Harvest Host for the night, but due to a storm there was a tree down on their parking lot. The host suggested this park and we were pleasantly surprised! It’s a small park with about 22 sites with electricity and water if needed. Our electricity pole wasn’t working properly, but that didn’t ruin our stay. It also has some spaced dedicated to tent camping. A river runs beside the park, huge trees shade the area. It was nice to unhook from the camper and travel about Route 66 around town without worrying about parking and such that goes with pulling the rig. Go visit the museum, it’s got a lot of stuff, well organized and very interesting. Also, stop by Bricks and Brews and enjoy some awesome pizza and a brew. This was a great find!

We Came into Baxter Springs because it's one of 2 towns on RT 66 in Kansas. There is a very nice free museum in town. We liked the town so much we decided to stay overnight.
We arrived at the Campground and pulled through into site 6. I immediately took out my surge protector and discovered that the power was out. I called the police station to check in. He said that there was a town wide power outage and it will be fixed soon. And someone will come by later to collect the 10.00 fee. We went for a walk and power was on when we came back. About 7pm

We slept so well by the river we decided to spend the day enjoying nature at the park and spend another night.

Chose this park so we could explore the civil war history and Route 66. Old park/campground that was busy on Memorial weekend but not crazy (about 6 RVs and a half dozen tent campers, very quiet at night, birds singing in morning). 20/30/50 amp+water piggy back each other and pads are old blacktop surrounded by grass/dirt and fairly level; dump station onsite. Pull-thru sites nearest the river (and road) and back-ins in the back for more privacy. Large shade trees for warm days with a river along side that draws lots of fishermen and day use. Porta potties brought in on Friday for the holiday weekend/summer season (?), but they had not been pumped clean. Normally $10 for w/e, $5 no hookups paid at police station, but fee was waived due to COVID-19. Easy access off main road. A few sites have large concrete picnic tables. Good OTA TV.

Biggest complaint: TRASH! People in this neck of the woods don't take pride in their park and consistently leave trash, including dead bait fish (heads, carcasses and whole fish). I picked up (3) 5-gallon buckets full in just one section on Sunday evening (did not pick up the fish). By Monday, another trash bag full was collected (fast food trash along with soda cans). Sad as this is a gem of a park. Great area for exploring civil war history and Route 66.