ReservableBookable through April 16; today opens April 17.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:23 UTC
A night
$18–$24Across the site types the agency prices
Sites
24All of them booked ahead
68 ftLongest rig
870 ftElevation
131 ftWater · Big Hill Lake
4.2 miSW of Parsons, KS
40%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices

In the agency’s own words

Cherryvale Park is located on the crystal clear Big Hill Lake in southeast Kansas. The lake boasts three campgrounds, three equestrian trails and four day-use areas for the public to enjoy. Camping, picnicking, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing and other outdoor activities abound. Keep reading

Recreation

Campers can venture onto several hiking and equestrian trails including Big Hill Lake Horse Trail, a 17-mile trail with a variety of terrain for all ages to explore. The trail winds along a scenic hardwood ridge that offers gorgeous views all along the way. Big Hill Lake is known as a trophy lake for fishing. Principal species of sport fish include largemouth bass, crappie, channel and flathead catfish, bluegill, walleye and smallmouth bass. The lake is also popular for fishing tournaments. Almost all of the land around the lake is open to public hunting, except for parks and areas around the dam and control structures. Principal species hunted are whitetail deer, turkey and squirrel. Families with kids will enjoy visiting the sand-covered beach nearby for cooling off from the summer heat and enjoying a picnic.

Facilities

This facility offers 22 campsites along with one group site that offers full hookups and a shelter. The facility offers a bathroom, and shower that are closed in the off season, pit toilets are open year around. The swimbeach is located in Moundvalley Park, one vehicle is allowed free of charge pre campsite.

Natural Features

The park is nestled in the rolling, wooded countryside that is referred to as the Little Ozarks. With thick oak-hickory forests surrounded by prairie and farmland, the lake shore supplies a variety of habitats for birds and mammals. Cherryvale Park offers a relaxing atmosphere with plenty of trees for shade, and the lake is only a short walk away from the campsites.

Nearby Attractions

The Cherryvale Kansas Historical Museum, 215 E 4th St. Cherryvale, KS 67335 Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (620) 336-2741.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Alcoholic beverages are prohibited within the Mound Valley Swimming Beach Area

Rule

Flush toilets and showers are closed outside of the reservation season, however vault toilets are available in the north loop

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.

Tents and rigs

Sites
24 · 1 group
Hookups
24 electric, 24 water, 14 sewer
Longest rig
68 ft
Paved pads
All
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Pit Toilets
“…that are closed in the off season, pit toilets are open year around. The swimbeach is located in…”
Stay limit
14 nights
recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Beach
Boating
Fishing
Hiking
Hunting
Swimming
Night sky · 30th darkest of 57 in KS
Bortle 4
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

1 of 46 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:23 UTC

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

OpenBooked

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
Max stay14 nightsthe facility record
A night$18–$24plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$44–$56DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Army Corps of EngineersBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 15

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers
A night, per site$18–$24
Standard Electric$18
Standard Electric$22
Standard Electric$24
Group area, a night$200
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Jan 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$26–$32
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$44–$56

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $18–$24 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

recreation.gov availability, read 16:23 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

24 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 23 mapped sites
91 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least roomLoop SLOO 08 72 ftLoop SLOO 09 72 ftLoop NLOO 21 73 ft

All 24 sites

23 of 24 sites located
RV / electric22Group1
SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 24 of the 24 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

NLOO21standard electric40 ft50 amp73 ft530 ft$18–$24
NLOO22standard electric40 ft50 amp119 ft617 ft$18–$24
NLOO23standard electric33 ft50 amp100 ft567 ft$18–$24
NLOO24standard electric40 ft50 amp100 ft480 ft$18–$24
NLOO25standard electric40 ft50 amp141 ft310 ft$18–$24
NLOO26standard electric25 ft50 amp126 ft405 ft$18–$24
NLOO27standard electric40 ft50 amp73 ft530 ft$18–$24
NLOO28standard electric40 ft50 amp80 ft609 ft$18–$24
NLOO29standard electric40 ft50 amp91 ft605 ft$18–$24
NLOO30standard electric64 ft50 amp91 ft693 ft$18–$24
SLOO01standard electric40 ft50 amp105 ft355 ft$18–$24
SLOO02standard electric35 ft50 amp77 ft341 ft$18–$24
SLOO03standard electric40 ft50 amp77 ft378 ft$18–$24
SLOO04standard electric68 ft50 amp113 ft579 ft$18–$24
SLOO05standard electric40 ft50 amp78 ft446 ft$18–$24
SLOO06standard electric40 ft50 amp112 ft529 ft$18–$24
SLOO07standard electric61 ft50 amp75 ft381 ft$18–$24
SLOO08standard electric61 ft50 amp72 ft339 ft$18–$24
SLOO09standard electric62 ft50 amp72 ft323 ft$18–$24
SLOO10standard electric30 ft50 amp121 ft365 ft$18–$24
SLOO18standard electric40 ft50 amp81 ft598 ft$18–$24
SLOO19standard electric40 ft50 amp$18–$24
SLOO20standard electric40 ft50 amp81 ft636 ft$18–$24
SLOOG-1group standard electric30 ft50 amp208 ft432 ft$200

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate37.26944, -95.45833
The phone620-328-2050
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Highway 169 in Cherryvale, Kansas, turn east onto Main Street. Continue through the town and turn right onto Olive Street. After half a block turn left onto County Route 5000. Continue 4.5 miles to the lake and follow signs to the park.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight36°Mostly Clear
Saturday61°Patchy Frost then Sunny
Saturday Night37°Clear
Sunday65°Sunny

NWS forecast for Parsons, KS

Typical weather

Typical October night 48°F, day 70°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: BIG HILL LAKE, KS (USC00140810), 0.9 miles away and 37 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Derek Schmidt, official portrait

Cherryvale Park is in Kansas’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Derek Schmidt (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 30 of the next 30 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.
Cell signal: the Army Corps’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.