Campground Review: Outlet Park at Lake Melvern, KS

We left Lake Texoma on Monday morning and drove north through Oklahoma and into Kansas. We had planned on leaving Sunday but with the bad weather we decided to wait an extra day. We left fairly early because we wanted to get through central Oklahoma as it was still showing a significant threat of bad weather. We drove through Moore, OK and then on through OKC around 11:00. At that time it was cloudy but there was no threatening weather around. We stopped for fuel just north of OKC and kept driving. We never saw a drop of rain, in fact, it was a pretty nice day. After an over-long day we arrived at beautiful campsite in at Outlet Park at Lake Melvern, KS. Our hearts go out to the victims and families of the horrible tornado in Moore. We could have never imagined such a thing happening as we drove through there just before noon earlier that day.

This is a beautiful park. We are camped in a big, level site beside the lake and have full hookups, including 50 amp power. I can’t imagine a nicer campsite than this one. There are plenty of trees for shade and a gorgeous view looking out across the lake.

We are actually camped beside the 90 acre Outlet Lake rather than Lake Melvern. To the west of us the huge earthen dam is quite visible. Today we drove across the dam and back and then went to visit the marina. We also took a drive into the community of Melvern. There’s not a lot there, although the old time cafe was tempting.

The main attraction here, aside from the beauty of the place, is fishing. The state is encouraging fishing, in fact, there are fish feeders stationed around the lake. We’ve seen lots of people fishing and with some success. There’s a nice trail the circles the lake, probably an hour’s walk all the way around. The roads here are excellent and just right for bike riding.

This park is a real winner and we recommend it to folks traveling up I35 between Emporia and Kansas City. It will go on our “let’s go back” list.