WaKeeney/Hays KOA
WaKeeney, KS
Part 1 of Our South Dakota Trip
July, 2007
Campground Name: WaKeeney/Hays KOA
Campground's Website:
http://www.koa.com/where/ks/16123/
Address: RR 2, Box 170, WaKeeney, KS 67672
E-Mail:
wakkoa@ruraltel.net
Telephone: 785-743-5612 (Information) 1-800-562-2761 (Res. Only)
Owners: Greg and Machele Dunagan
Last Visited: July, 2007
Number of sites:
Tent: 13
Water & Electric, Back-In: 9
Full Hook-Up, Pull-Thru: 67 (up to 90’, 50 amp service available)
Cabins: 3
Big Rig accessible: Yes
Shade trees: Limited
Waterfront sites: No
Swimming Pool: Yes w/Hot Tub
Hike/Bike Trails: No
Fishing: No
Boating: No
Clean restrooms: Yes Clean showers: Yes
Pets allowed: Yes (normal rules apply)
Tents allowed: Yes
Fires/Grills allowed: Limited
Family type: Yes
Nightly rate $: We paid $30.00 per night for FHU w/30 amp service. Other rates may apply
Overall Rating (1=poor 10=excellent): 8
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1085340...7601372569999/
Pictures associated with this review may only be available at the above link for a limited time. If you find that the link is no longer active, feel free to contact me through this message board and I will do my best to e-mail the related pictures to you.
Our Trip:
We just got back from a 2 week tour of western South Dakota and the Black Hills. As always, I am sitting here beginning the fun of putting together the reviews of our exploits that I can share with those on the message boards that I frequent. And (as always) I will most likely go on in great detail so feel free to “pick and choose” as you read through my ramblings. I hope that you can find information that will be of some help in your travels. I want to give a great deal of credit for the success of this trip to DW. It was her idea for us to travel to this part of the country on this trip and she did most of the planning and scheduling. I just want her to know that I appreciate the time she spent on this project and that I love her very much!
My plan for the review of this trip is to use the first two installments to furnish all the details that I have regarding the two parks we stayed at during this trip. From there I will break the review down into so many “days” per installment, covering as many places we visited during those days as seems manageable for me and anyone who might want to read it. I believe that will work well and allow you to find what might interest you. With that plan in mind, let’s head for South Dakota!
Day 1 (Thursday)
If you’ve read any of my prior ramblings over the years, you’re probably aware of the fact that DW and I like to leave very early when we’re traveling. This trip was no exception and we departed our home in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area just a few minutes after 12:15AM (CST). We headed north on I-35 and continued out of Texas and into Oklahoma. I had a rather interesting experience while passing through the Arbuckle Mountains at the southern end of Oklahoma. On this very dark and moonless night, I found myself traveling on a downhill grade but losing power and speed at an alarming rate. This loss of power was really troubling as I considered being stranded on this very dark road in the middle of the night. At this point, I mentioned my concern over the loss of power on a downhill grade to DW. She pointed out that I wasn’t descending the hill I was on but rather ascending! I must say that this statement startled me as I felt sure that I was going downhill. I then allowed the idea that I may be incorrect in this assumption and at that point I realized that I truly was headed uphill and that my eyes had deceived me into believing the opposite! Though I have heard of this type of illusion happening to pilots, I did not know that drivers could fall prey to the same deception. This is something that I’ll watch for in the future.
We continued on through Oklahoma with no further incidents, finding no significant detours or slow-downs through the entire state. Passing into Kansas, we picked up the Kansas Turnpike (a continuation of I-35) and followed it to the southern end of Wichita. There we connected with I-135 and proceeded north to Salina, Kansas where we made our turn west on I-70. From there it was just a matter of “keeping the hammer down” until we reached the town of WaKeeney and our stop for that night. We had no real problems and the miles actually did role by pretty quickly but, DW is sure that the distance between Hays and WaKeeney, Kansas is not the stated 35 miles but rather more like about 9000 miles! She was really ready to get there by this time. I don’t believe that this distance would have bothered her as much if she had known what we were in for on the next day, but that’s another story.
Note: The WaKeeney-Hays KOA is on the south side of I-70, just east of the 127 exit. As you take this exit from the west bound side of the interstate, you will need to take a left, passing under I-70. If you take the very first left after passing under I-70, you will end up back on the interstate. To get to the KOA, you must take the second left after passing under the interstate. Just a hint that might save you a mile or two and a bit of frustration.
We arrived at the Wakeeney-Hays KOA a bit after noon and were warmly welcomed by Machele Dunagan, one of the co-owners. At our time of arrival, it was a bit too early to sign in but Mrs. Dunagan saw to it that we were assigned to Site 46 and assured us that registering later would be fine. Due to some problems with the water supply lines, she also saw to it that we were supplied with sufficient bottled water to see us through until repairs were complete at about 4:30 PM. She later rounded up some lengths of hose so that we could connect to a tap at a different site. I must say that even though there was a problem, every effort was made to see to our comfort. You can ask no more then that.
Being as we were only at this park for the one night, there is only a limited amount of information that I can share with you. You will find that the park is laid out for ease of access. There are 8 rows of “pull-thru” sites plus a single row of “back-in” sites and a row of “tent” sites. Access roads are well lit and wide enough to make maneuvering manageable for even larger rigs. We had no trouble at all. In addition to the camping sites, there are 3 “Kamping Kabins” located behind the park store. I had little time to do any research concerning these but did note that they appeared clean and near new. This could be an option for travelers who don’t own their own rigs or groups traveling together in need of a bit more room.
The park is fully equipped with all needed facilities to help you in your travels. The park store appears well stocked and clean with prices set within the normal range. LP is available and a laundry room is to be found along side the park store.
WaKeeney-Hays KOA furnishes a very nice pool w/spa that both DW and I took full advantage of on a very warm afternoon. Other park activities include a horseshoe pitch on the eastern side of the park, bike rental, evening ice cream socials and a pancake breakfast (applicable fees apply). I also noted “Smokeless Fireplaces” for rent, a portable screened unit in which to build your campfire. Have never seen this before but understand the advantage of this to a park owner not wanting to deal with a regular fire ring/pit or the risks involved with such.
The City of WaKeeney
In 1879 a Chicago based company founded the city of WaKeeney. At that time the city’s main source of transportation came from the Kansas Pacific Railway whose tracks ran through the newly constructed town. The city’s name is an amalgamation of the last names of Albert Warren and James Keeney, the men who owned the founding land company.
Not having a great deal of time, DW and I only took a short ride around the town of Wakeeney. We found it to be a small community, well kept with residents who appeared to take some measure of pride in their town. Shopping appeared limited but we had little time to explore so it is very possible that we missed a good bit.
There does seem to be at least one notable exception to the “limited” shopping I mentioned above. Just west of the KOA you will find Boeve’s Coin & Antique. This emporium displays a wonderful assortment of the gadgets and trinkets of yesteryear. To be honest we probably would not have entered this establishment given how tired we were after our long trip. The main reason we did was because one of our co-workers is originally from WaKeeney and suggested that we would enjoy this stop. I must say that we truly did and it’s probably best that we were headed out rather then returning home. There were many treasures that DW and/or I found hard to pass up. Don’t miss this one if you like hunting through “stuff” to find a “diamond”.
Research tells me that recreational activities are numerous in WaKeeney. Some of these include 3 parks, 2 public pools, golf, tennis and a state park in the area. I also saw mentioned a “Smokey Valley Scenic Byway”. You will find much more information about the city of Wakeeney at the following site:
http://www.wakeeney.com/
Well, that about gives you all the information that I have about the Wakeeney/Hays KOA and the city of Wakeeney. As I said, we were only there the one night so time for exploring and research was limited. We had originally planned to return through Wakeeney, stopping again for one night at the KOA. The next day’s travels up into South Dakota caused us to re-route our return trip. More on that in “Part 2” of this trip review.
I hope you have found my ramblings of interest. As I have said before, these reviews give me an opportunity to enjoy our trips a second time and allow me to share our wanderings with my on-line friends. If in the process you get some information that helps you in your travels, the more the better! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through this message board and I will be more then willing to help. Also, check back in a few weeks for Part 2 of my review of our South Dakota trip. Until then and always,
Happy Camping!
Note: Information and site references contained in this review were current as of this writing. I apologize for any errors you may find and will attempt to correct them if notified. Further, any copyright infringement that may have occurred during the writing of this review was purely accidental. In the case of such infringement, I will be more then happy to give proper credit or delete the infringing material when notified.