Syracuse Sand Dunes Park

what I wanted to warn you about is the co-op in town when you refill your bottles you have to pay by the bottle they are not by the pound so make sure your bottles are completely empty because I took 3 bottles in and got 16 lbs of propane and they were trying to charge me over $100 in the end. I got it for 86.00. She considers a big bottle to be a 100 lbs I had 2 - 40lbs and a 30lbs. I told the attendant that I only wanted to pay for propane by the pound in the end I paid for it by the bottle was a total rip off at Syracuse co-op.

After driving south for 30 minutes on accident (without ever having made that wrong right turn in Lamar, I swear!) we ended up retracing our steps and ending up here.

Coming in from town, to the north, we took the first turn in and looked the place over. It seemed there were actual “sites” across the lake, and people just posting up wherever, boondocking in this first parking lot area near the boat ramp. Random elm trees provided some shade, but we wanted to get away from the potential party scene and check out the spots over yonder. So we continued north in that parking lot…by the time it happened, even as I saw it happening, it was too late. We were hubcaps deep in some sand in our 2 wheel drive van.

Flustered from a long day of mistakes, feeling like rookies who got out of bed on the wrong side of a hood hair day, I tried using whatever we had to free us. Just then, some incredibly gracious and polite young Kansas boys revved up their pickup, dualies and all, to come over and help get us unstuck.

People love to curse Kansas for its being Kansas and all, but the people are generally genuinely the good ones.

We chose an empty elm afterward and watched a storm roll over the countryside south of us. Lightning storm theater like they just don’t make it Hollywood anymore. I mean, the cracked in half sky stuff with thunderous booms to rattle your car alarm awake. I absolutely loved it, sleeping in a tent with my you guest son myself. The lady and oldest boy were like used eggs in a dish strainer, all cracked up and wishing they’d be underground already.

The party scene was something else. OHVs galore with flashing lights and boombox speaker systems all into midnight. Most of them were camping, in RVs rallied ‘round like ox wagons or just ignoring the lightning from picnic tables near their tents. I enjoyed seeing them enjoy themselves, but could see how others would find it annoying. The locals want to have fun, we’re just visiting.

We didn’t pay a dime as I never saw a sign and the guys who pulled us out said it was free, but now looking at photos here it’s clear we probably should have.

At free, it was well worth it. Even for $10 dry camping it beats a hotel.

I made a reservation on the road for a one night stay. Got to the park and there are no signs indicating where to go for the campground. We went to the office and there is no map on the office wall. No one was there to ask. We drove to what we thought looked like campsites but we weren’t sure we were going the right way. There were no other campers present but the electric panels were our clue. The numbers on the sites do not match the numbers on the park’s website. We picked out a shady spot since we couldn’t find the site we reserved. Once we got out of our truck we found broken beer bottles everywhere. Only one site has a picnic table. The road in is very rough, not advisable if it will be or has rained. This place is a dump. I only gave it two stars because it’s a place to sleep.

W/E in 99-deg heat is appreciated. However, this park is visitor UNFRIENDLY. Signs says pay at Kiosk. I parked at Site 7 and didn’t unhook to go hunting for the kiosk. In 99-deg heat, I walked to two locations. There was an ATV registration box at the office bldg (closed and 1/4 mile from camp) Then walked another 1/3 mile to the other side of the lake. Never found a kiosk. I decided screw-it and that I would just not pay. But the boy-scout in me found an online BETA pay site. Don’t bother looking for a kiosk, find the online pay site. Wow !!! They make it hard to take my money. I wonder how many people simply don’t pay?

We stopped here as an overnight spot on our way from TN to CO. The water/electric sites are spacious and have a lovely view if the small lake. The dunes are a favorite among off road vehicle enthusiasts and quiet hours are a mere 12am-7am, so I suppose it could be loud or active during peak camping periods. I would definitely check the facebook page for events prior to planning a stop here. We were here on a weeknight and there were only 3 other campers. We reserved and paid online at https://beta.campspot.com/new-consumer/syracuse-sand-dunes-park

NOTE: While the reservation page above said “no dogs”, we did see other visitors with dogs, and found nothing about pets on the park page.

You can hear highway traffic when outside, but while in our travel trailer we did not hear it. We also heard a train in the distance but it was not close or loud.

We enjoyed exploring and hiking around the lake with our kids. Overall a great spot to stop especially since there isn’t much else available in this area.