By Kyran Crist / Online Editor
Imagine you are on a lake, a cold, crisp bite to the morning air, a hot beverage in hand, feet swinging off the edge of the dock you just hiked to, the sun rising over the lake as the waves brush up against the shore from the gentle breeze.
Or, perhaps it’s midday and the sun is beating down. The water is the perfect cool temperature as you kayak to the middle of the lake. You can practically feel it, and if you were just west of Junction City at Milford Lake, you actually could.
Kansas doesn’t provide a lot when it comes to large bodies of water. Just a few lakes, like Wilson, Kanopolis, Cheney and El Dorado, dropped here and there, but those lakes have plenty of potential when it comes to satisfying the itch of needing to be on the water.
The largest lake in Kansas is Milford Lake in Geary County, the fishing capital of Kansas.
Milford Lake is the largest man-made lake in Kansas, with 15,700 acres of water overthe former towns Alida and Broughton, leaving plenty of space for all your water fun.
The land around the lake has boat docks, campgrounds, hiking trails, cabins, yurts (a rounded tent), and RV parking.
The Acorn Resorts is a cabin lodging where visitors can rent cabins and yurts for a time at the lake. They also have a boat rental dock where you can rent boats, kayaks, paddleboards, and canoes.
If you stop by Milford State Park, make sure you pick up a map of the park while you’re there.
They do have signs throughout the park, and they are helpful, but the map helps to find the trails since they are more tucked away versus the docks or RV sites.
The hiking trails around the lake are well maintained and offer a variety of different lengthened trails, ranging from almost a quarter-mile loop to a six-mile loop trail.
The Crystal Trail is a 2.1-mile loop trail that hikes along the outside of the lake, through a lightly-wooded area and along a soybean field.
Milford offers the perfect Kansas getaway with its lake and trails, while offering its own slice of Kansas. It can make you feel like you are on the grandest of adventures in a far off land.
Kyran Crist is a sophomore studying journalism.
