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Santa Fe Lake is a great place! My first time to visit and it was really cool! My wife and I enjoyed the walking paths and the waterfall! All the birds in the trees made it so fun as they were tweeting in the background of our little hike. The paths are kept in great condition and are the right width to get around. The grounds around the lake are very nice! They have picnic tables in certain places and you can bring your camper to enjoy your time there too! They also have a section just for families to sunbathe and to enjoy playing in the lake! It is a great staycation place if want to get a way but not to far from home! It's a great and very well kept up place to stay!!😍👍❤️ Keep up the great job Santa Fe Lake staff!! Ah Kansas!
I quite enjoyed hiking here. It was quiet when I was here (although it was not mountian bike season yet; you share the trail with them), and there was fair weather. A bonus on this hike, during the right season, is a waterfall perhaps 8-10 feet high. It was flowing when I was there, but imagine when it is during the rainy season, it is really moving. The falls are also not limited to one small section, but you can walk along and see all the "little" falls here and there along the entire ledge they flow over. I saw fresh deer tracks, but alas saw no deer this trip. The total of hiking trails is probably around seven miles. The only negative for me is you hike by a small clearing of where they put spare supplies and broken things used for the park/campgrounds. But then again, they have to put it somewhere. Despite that, the whole property is very well maintained, and very clean. There are two different campgrounds here, one of which is private on the lake camping, which costs more (check out their website for details). The caretakers are a pleasure to talk to and full of info if you have further questions. There is a seven dollar permit fee to be on premises or fifty/year (as of this review) but its totally worth it.
This was such a disappointment. The first time we went the trails were closed and we didn’t get to see the waterfall. We paid $12 to park, hung out for about an hour, then left. We returned exactly one week later to get a peak at the waterfall. It was really early (approximately 7 am), so we figured the office wasn’t open and that we’d pay if we stuck around. We hadn’t been there 10 minutes before a rude guy in a golf cart came and soured our whole experience threatening to ticket us $135 for not paying to park. I couldn’t believe it. He had the nerve to say they charge so much for parking because it takes 20 man hours per week to keep up. Wow, that’s not much time at all! I will never return and I highly recommend avoiding this one. The thing that bothers me most is that it’s not even anything great. The water is very dirty and the grass is overgrown. We paid $24 to spend no more than 1.5 hours at the park. If you’re going to charge that much, you better impress me. This did not even come close. Honestly, nothing appealing AT ALL! One more thing, the guy lied to my husband and told him the trails hadn’t been closed all year. Umm.. we were there last week and they were closed. The signs indicated the trails were closed and so did the website. He outright lied to us!!!! We ended up paying and leaving immediately after. Never even got to look at the waterfall. We were so put off by this guy that it truly made us bolt. Ughh!!
Don't visit here. 😉
They certainly don't have Herons, Pelicans, Cormorants or other beautiful birds nesting/resting here. 😉
It's definitely not a quiet shallow lake perfect for kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, biking and hiking. 😉
Yeah, you shouldn't visit here and let me keep this secret spot All to myself.
Just go- You won't regret it! The hike to the waterfall is stroller friendly until the last 100 ft or so and only took us maybe 10-15 minutes to get there from the parking lot. My kids also enjoy the swimming beach! It never feels crowded here and is always super clean! The staff is super friendly and was able to answer all my questions both in person and when I called.
