Eisenhower State Park is a state park in Osage County, Kansas, United States, located 30 miles northeast of Emporia and 35 miles south of Topeka.
Eisenhower State Park has 1,785 acres. It features 1,000 acres of tallgrass prairie, 440 acres of woodland and a complete range of recreational facilities in addition to the 6,930 acres of Melvern Lake.
Eisenhower State Park provides 163 utility campsites: 126 with water/electric, 25 with water/electric/sewer hookps and five shower houses. Non-utility sites are available for primitive camping in Five-Star, Sailboat Beach, and Omaha Swim Beach. Fifteen Equestrian Campsites with electric/water and individual corrals are available in the upper loop of Westpoint Campground. Cowboy campground is a primitive area for equestrian camping. The park offers 4 modern cabins and 2 primitive yurts for rent. Campers may stay at any one of the campgrounds for up to 14 consecutive days.
FREE WIFI is available at the park office/parking lot. A Boat Dock with 16 slips located at the East Boat Ramp can be rented through the Ike Store.
Ike's Shelterhouse is excellent for hosting family reunions within the Jones Family Activity Area. There is a playground, basketball court and horseshoe pits close by. Other recreational facilities include a swimming beach, sand volleyball court, picnic shelters, an 18-hole disc golf course, a 19 target walk through archery trail, kids fishing pond and a fly fishing pond.
Visit Ike's General Store located at Doud Campground to pay your campground fees, purchase souvenirs, rent kayaks/canoes and check out games. Eisenhower State Parks' Friends Group offers items you might have forgot at to bring from home. Ice and firewood for sale at Doud campground. Laundry facilities are available at the Doud shower building
Eisenhower is also home to a burgeoning trails system for horseback riding, biking, hiking and archery. Crooked Knee Horse Trail offers equestrians a 20-mile excursion through the undeveloped west side of the park. Biking and hiking is available on the horse trail. The bike trail and 19 target walk through archery trail head is located in the Five-Star campground.
Wildlife include white-tailed deer, eastern wild turkey, bobwhite quail, squirrels, furbearers, and waterfowl.
Anglers seek walleye, crappie, sauger, white bass, and channel catfish. Two nine-lane boat ramps offer excellent access to Melvern Lake.
Melvern Cabin
This cabin will allow the renter a view of the lake. The cabin will sleep 6 (one double bed, a futon, couch and a pull down "Murphy-type bed"); full kitchen (refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishes, silverware, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and coffee pot), as well as a table and chairs and a restroom with a shower. Beds will have mattresses, you will need to bring your own bedding (full/twin size), pillows, and toiletries. Exterior amenities will include a picnic table and a fire ring.
Although there are plenty of campsites in the park, the wheelchair-accessible Melvern Cabin features a good view of the lake and offers guests the maximum privacy. Ample parking is available in front of the cabin in a level dirt area, with ramp access to the front porch, level access to the cabin through the wide front door.
There’s good pathway access throughout one-bedroom cabin, which can sleep up to six people. The bedroom is furnished with a 19-inch high double bed with good pathway access on both sides, and a 16-inch high futon. Additionally there’s and a 16-inch high fold-down Murphy Bed and a sofa in the living room.
A wide pocket door leads to the bathroom, which features a full five-foot turning radius and is equipped with a roll-in shower with grab bars, a hand-held showerhead and a fold-down shower bench. The toilet grab bars are located on the back and left walls (as seated), and there is also a roll-under sink with a lowered mirror in the bathroom. Towels and bedding are not provided for the cabin, so you’ll need to bring your own.
The kitchen is outfitted with a full size stove and oven, a microwave, a refrigerator, a toaster and a coffee pot. It also comes with a large assortment of pots, pans, dishes and utensils. There is a dining table with two chairs and a bench in the kitchen, and an accessible picnic table on a cement pad near the front porch. There’s also a fire ring and a grill outside.
Take a Hike
If you’d like to get a little exercise during your Eisenhower State Park visit, there are a few trails that will work for most wheelchair-users and slow walkers. At the top of the list is the interpretive trail near Doud Campground. From the Malvern Cabin, it’s best to drive to the trailhead. Head back towards the entrance on the main park road, then take the first left after Ike’s General Store.
There’s paved parking near the trailhead on the right, and although there’s no striping there’s plenty of room to deploy a ramp. The crushed gravel trail has a slight downhill slope at the beginning, and some manual wheelchair-users may need a bit of assistance, but after that the loop trail levels out. The shaded trail is flanked by wildflowers and it’s frequented by the resident deer. There are a few undulations and ruts along the way, but for the most part it’s doable for wheelchair-users and slow walkers.
The road through Doud Campground also makes a nice hike for wheelchair-users and slow walkers. It’s paved and level offers an nice reservoir view as it meanders through the meadow.
Some slow walkers might also like Ike’s Scooter Trail which runs from Doud Campground to West Point Campground. From 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. it’s reserved for scooters — the gas-powered recreational models, not the battery-powered mobility devices — but during the rest of the day it’s open to everyone. The 1.5-mile dirt track has a lot of ruts and bumps along the way so it’s really only a good choice for slow walkers. Remember to take along water though, as none is available along the trail.
