Located near Junction City on the shores of the state's largest lake, 16,000-acre Milford Reservoir, Milford State Park is a favorite getaway for outdoors loving visitors. Park facilities include modern campgrounds, shower buildings, toilets, swimming beaches, boat ramps, picnic shelters, a full-service marina, and a multi-purpose trails system. The park also houses a large yacht club. Nearby Milford Nature Center and Milford Fish Hatchery offer a variety of interpretive exhibits and displays. The park comprises 7 campgrounds with 141 electric and water hook-ups. Fifty-one of these sites include sewer hook-ups. 108 primitive campsites are available throughout the park. Cabin rentals are also available. Firewood is available and on sale by Milford Friends Group members. Shower buildings are available at Woodland Hills, Cedar Point, Walnut Grove, and Prairie View Campgrounds. The state park is a popular destination for anglers eager to experience the excellent fishing available in Milford Reservoir. Walleye concentrate along the face of the dam in early April to spawn, then move to the flats at Farnum Creek and mud points near School Creek. Nearly all of the brushy and rocky coves contain crappie and largemouth bass, but coves in the Rolling Hills and Curtis Creek areas are traditional hot spots for crappie. White bass and catfish are plentiful in a variety of locations, and smallmouth bass frequent the face of the dam, as well as rocky points in the lower half of the lake. Many game species are present on the 18,800-acre Milford Wildlife Area, and a permanent 1,100-acre wildlife refuge has been established on the northern end of the reservoir for waterfowl management.
Beautifully maintained trails with a variety of terrain and views of lake, meadows and woods. The horse camp is exceptional with covered stalls.
Underwhelming. It’s over before you even know it and nothing really special about it
Simple trail and quick for a small family to enjoy nature.
Make sure to check yourself from head to toe afterwards for any ticks! Aside from that, it was a cute trail. Pretty scenery.
We were covered in ticks and had to stop multiple times to get them off. When we got home, we had ticks under our clothes and in our shoes. We found a tick a day later on one of our blankets, even after taking precautions before entering the house. I've never walked a trail and have been covered in ticks like that. Other than the bug issue, it's a decent trail. It would have been a lot more enjoyable if the trail didn't end in odd places, where you have to figure out where the trail picks up.
Nice trail but we picked at least 6-7 ticks off of each of us! Please be careful and make sure you wear bug spray. Also, there were a few spots that we weren't sure which way to go. Not sure we'll be going back to this one.
Pretty awesome for Kansas ;)
We were a little disappointed.
Good trail. Had a lot of deep ruts in it though. It wasn't marked very clearly. We ended up over by the tubes and didn't see where it looped back around. I really liked the trail and plan on going back.
Shelby S. on Waterfall Pond Trail
This trail is a short loop & easy, but it'd nice if you just want a quick walk to stretch your legs. The trail is well kept, clear path & no garbage or hoof holes. My dogs loved it!!
easy walk. ground is tore up but as long as you watch your step youll be fine. some nice sights worth checking out at lease once.
Ryan S. on Eagle Ridge Trail
overgrown, good for horses not much else
It was an ok hike. It was not very well maintained or labeled which I didn't like. It'd be nice to have some signs or arrows in the parts where the trail breaks of into two directions. My dog sniffed out the trail at one point so thank you for allowing dogs.
Overall good short hike. It is well maintained and very well marked, I really liked that. No waterfall just a fake one at the entrance that doesn't work. As soon as you drive into the park it is on your right, before you get to the office.
It's a good hike for young kids. But be careful because it gets really really muddy in parts. So go when there isn't a lot of rain or snow. Also there isn't any waterfall on any part of it, exp a fake one in the front that doesn't work lol!
Nice when you were in the woods but had to walk through corn fields. Looking for more primitive I guess
Hiked this one right after stopping by the park office. Waterfall was off at the entrance, I didn't read the description and was expecting a waterfall on the trail. Path was well cleared, not much in the way of elevation gain but still a nice quick hike.
Pretty good beginner trail, but a lot of horse sign. In places the trail was pretty tore up and hard to walk on due to horses. It's a good trail for a day hike and there are other trails in the park to hike.
It's an OK trail good for a quick hike. It has some flat open stretches with a few rolling hills amongst the trees. The trail is poorly marked but with a bit of trail knowledge and a compass you can figure it out. If there were enough snow in the winter it would be a fairly challenging snow shoe or cross country skiing trail. Not sure if it's groomed during the winter months though.
Any trail I take will be twice the difficulty with the dog team. Narley decent on sand with roots that make great stop steps. The trail is a gradual up and down with twists but only two surprises. A culvert crossing that was very narrow at speed and a down tree on the right fork. Completely covers the trail but you can get around it in the over your shoulders tall grass. A little scary when you think snakes. As a hiker you can crawl under it. Great dirt track very good technical accent and decent with the team a perfect place to teach young dogs patience.
From the trail head the path climbs then drops several times. Thanks to the recent rain much of the path had DEEP ruts from washout. New horse trail riders and mountain bikers should be cautious the trail is narly! It does offer a challenge navigating through trees and up or down ravines. A fun trail but not for the faint of heart. Will do it again just not the first time back on trail with a three-dog;)
The information I used was from the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism website. It got me to the trail head, but that was it. This trail seems to meander through the State Park for 8 miles, though I didn't feel like it was well-marked and I kept finding parts of it throughout the park. The 2.1 miles that I completed was good for mountain biking and horses. From the trail head (marked on this site), a right turn will just take you to the Tower Trail trail head. A left will take you on the loop that I completed, 2.1 miles. In general, I feel like this State Park is best for horses and boats.
This trail would have gotten a higher rating from me except that halfway through, there was a T-junction that wasn't marked at all. I had to guess which way to go, and I ended up cutting nearly half of the trail off. My hike was only 1.3 miles of a 2.1 mile trail.
This trail had a lot of evidence of equestrian activity. It would also be good for mountain biking and walking your dog.
The marina is visible from the trail, and a short jaunt will take you down there.
In general, this was a pleasant trail through a forest (or as forest-like as Kansas gets) of deciduous and coniferous trees. There were minor elevation changes, but nothing difficult.
I visited Milford State Park on a Sunday afternoon and walked this trail first. It is at the entrance and is the first thing you see in the park (to the right). On this day, the man-made waterfall was not turned on and the pond was looking rather scummy. The path itself is a mowed strip within a small grove of trees. Since my intention was to hike/bike other trails in the park, this was a good one to start with.
In my own estimation, if one had been driving a long time to get to the park, this little walk would be nice to get out and stretch before setting up camp.