American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedKDWPFree

Bourbon State Fishing Lake

Drive-up · Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks · KS · 37.79435, -95.06667
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

Kansas State Fishing Lake — 103 acres, managed by the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks. Free primitive camping is allowed (no camping fee), first-come, first-served, with a 7-day stay limit; a fishing license is required only if you fish. Camping is in designated areas only — confirm the current rules and where camping is allowed with KDWP before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Bourbon State Fishing Lake
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Bourbon State Fishing Lake
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 934 ft.
Fire & smokeNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from camp

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 21 miWDump · 40 miDPropane · 55 miPFuel · 13 miFWalnut Express · Grocery · 13 miGWalgreens · Pharmacy · 20 miRxTrue Value · Hardware · 20 miHFort Scott Quik Lube · Mechanic · 20 miMLaundry · 18 miLShower · 17 miShAir-up · 35 miAUrgent care · 19 mi+Mail · 15 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel13 mi
  • GGrocery13 mi
  • @Mail15 mi
  • ShShower17 mi
  • LLaundry18 mi
  • +Urgent care19 mi
  • HHardware20 mi
  • MMechanic20 mi
  • RxPharmacy20 mi
  • WWater21 mi
  • AAir-up35 mi
  • DDump40 mi
  • PPropane55 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 21-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 13 mi out.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks
Elevation
934 ft
State
KS
Coordinates
37.79435, -95.06667
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureBourbon State Fishing Lake (water) · nearby
  • Nearest townElsmore · ~4.6 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~19.7 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesWalnut Express · ~13.3 mi
  • PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~21.4 mi
  • Hospital / clinicAllen County Regional Hospital · ~20.7 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open this spot elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

Source
Kansas Dept. of Wildlife & Parks (state fishing lakes)
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Location & acreage: KDWP Fishing Atlas GIS (Res_SFL_CFAP_NoFee, CLASS=SFL, NAD83). Free-camping status: KDWP regulations + Boondocker's Bible KS SFL roster. Pilot ingest 2026-07-19 10:36:50.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Researched until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →