CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · KS

Michigan Valley

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 1 opens May 1.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
A night: $14–$26Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 78All of them booked ahead

Photos · Tracy

114 ftLongest rig

1,070 ftElevation

943 ftWater · an unnamed pond

5.7 miNW of Pomona, KS

0%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices

In the agency’s own words

Michigan Valley Campground is located in eastern Kansas on the shores of Pomona Lake. The scenic park appeals to family campers, sportsmen and water sport enthusiasts. The reservoir covers 4,000 acres and offers excellent fishing and boating opportunities. Keep reading

Recreation

Fishing, boating, picnicking,and hunting are favorite activities on and around Pomona Lake. The lake's fish and wildlife resources provide ample opportunities for sportsmen and women. Three nearby trails meander around Pomona Lake, providing visitors with hiking and nature study opportunities. Deer Creek Nature Trail and Witches' Broom Trail are short trails for hikers. The Black Hawk Trail offers a 33 mile loop with several trailheads and is a popular hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking path.

Facilities

Michigan Valley Campground offers 87 campsites, 51 of which have electric and water hookups. Three additional group picnic shelters have electric hookups. Other amenities include flush and vault toilets, a shower building, playground, basketball court, swim beach and dump station.

Natural Features

Pomona Lake is situated among the rolling hills, mixed grasslands, croplands and forests of eastern Kansas. Wildlife and numerous species of birds can be observed at this secluded, heavily shaded campground. Bald eagles, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkey, crappie, walleye, channel catfish and other wildlife can be found here.

Nearby Attractions

Numerous parks lie on the banks of Pomona Lake, offering additional boating, fishing, swimming, hunting and hiking opportunities. The town of Lyndon, Kansas is 20 minutes away, with limited restaurants and shops. This small town is home to 22 historical sites and the smallest Carnegie library still in use.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Visitors are expected to be aware of park general rules

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.

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 78 · 1 group
Hookups: 52 electric, 52 water, 9 sewer
Longest rig: 114 ft
Accessible sites: 1
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Vault Toilets; “…Other amenities include flush and vault toilets, a shower building, playground, basketball court,…”
Showers: Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind; “Other amenities include flush and vault toilets, a shower building, playground, basketball court, swim beach and dump station.”
Dump station: Yes
Playground: Yes
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Reservoir, Lake, Creek, Beach; Boating; Swimming
Night sky · 39th darkest of 57 in KS: Bortle 4

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

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

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 1, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 1, 2027.recreation.gov Add to calendar (.ics)

Max stay14 nightsthe facility record

A night$14–$26plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$36–$60DerivedFriday 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.

Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

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 · 16

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers

A night, per site$14–$26

Standard Nonelectric$14

Standard Electric$22

Standard Electric$24

Standard Electric$26

Group areas, a night$30–$60

These are next season’s rates, May 1, 2027 to Sep 29, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.

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$22–$34

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$36–$60

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $14–$26 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

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Oct 1, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

81 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 79 mapped sites

62 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomLoop MVAL SHEL#5 685 ftLoop MVAL SHEL#3 379 ftF 01 240 ftLoop MVAL SHEL#4 133 ftLoop MVAL WIGGER 133 ft

Least roomA 27 30 ftA 28 30 ftA 26 37 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 81 records

79 of 81 records located

Standard24RV / electric51Group1Day use3

A 01 A 02 A 03 A 04 A 05 A 06 A 07 A 08 A 12 A 13 A 14 A 15 A 16 A 17 A 18 A 19 A 23 A 24 A 25 A 26 A 27 A 28 A 29 A 30 A 31 B 1 B 2 B 3 B 4 C 01 C 02 C 03 C 04 C 05 C 07 C 08 C 09 C 10 C 11 C 12 C 13 D 1 D 2 D 3 D 4 E 1 E 2 E 3 E 4 E 5 F 01 F 02 F 03 F 04 F 05 F 06 F 07 F 08 F 09 F 10 F 11 G 01 G 02 G 03 G 04 G 05 G 07 G 08 G 09 G 10 G 11 G 12 G 13 G 14 G 15 SHEL#3 SHEL#4 SHEL#5 WIGGER

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 79 of the 81 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 78 of the 81 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.


A	A 01	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		54 ft	860 ftPomona Lake	987 ft	$22–$26
A	A 02	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		54 ft	821 ftPomona Lake	970 ft	$22–$26
A	A 03	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		62 ft	775 ftPomona Lake	941 ft	$22–$26
A	A 04	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		52 ft	748 ftPomona Lake	918 ft	$22–$26
A	A 05	standard electric	65 ft	50 amp		52 ft	728 ftPomona Lake	902 ft	$22–$26
A	A 06	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		55 ft	705 ftPomona Lake	891 ft	$22–$26
A	A 07	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		55 ft	680 ftPomona Lake	878 ft	$22–$26
A	A 08	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		69 ft	613 ftPomona Lake	879 ft	$22–$26
A	A 12	standard electric	96 ft	50 amp		53 ft	905 ftPomona Lake	889 ft	$22–$26
A	A 13	standard electric	98 ft	50 amp		40 ft	877 ftPomona Lake	865 ft	$22–$26
A	A 14	standard electric	100 ft	50 amp		39 ft	858 ftPomona Lake	848 ft	$22–$26
A	A 15	standard electric	102 ft	50 amp		39 ft	848 ftPomona Lake	827 ft	$22–$26
A	A 16	standard electric	104 ft	50 amp		45 ft	812 ftPomona Lake	813 ft	$22–$26
A	A 17	standard electric	106 ft	50 amp		43 ft	766 ftPomona Lake	803 ft	$22–$26
A	A 18	standard electric	108 ft	50 amp		43 ft	724 ftPomona Lake	791 ft	$22–$26
A	A 19	standard electric	114 ft	50 amp		64 ft	659 ftPomona Lake	782 ft	$22–$26
A	A 23	standard electric	63 ft	50 amp		47 ft	1,065 ftPomona Lake	799 ft	$22–$26
A	A 24	standard electric	66 ft	50 amp		38 ft	1,018 ftPomona Lake	760 ft	$22–$26
A	A 25	standard electric	63 ft	50 amp		38 ft	981 ftPomona Lake	735 ft	$22–$26
A	A 26	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		37 ft	943 ftPomona Lake	713 ft	$22–$26
A	A 27	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		30 ft	908 ftPomona Lake	693 ft	$22–$26
A	A 28	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		30 ft	878 ftPomona Lake	672 ft	$22–$26
A	A 29	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		59 ft	824 ftPomona Lake	650 ft	$22–$26
A	A 30	standard electric	51 ft	50 amp		61 ft	739 ftPomona Lake	627 ft	$22–$26
A	A 31	standard electric	48 ft	50 amp		61 ft	689 ftPomona Lake	653 ft	$22–$26
B	B 1	standard nonelectric	50 ft			91 ft	186 ftPomona Lake	1,305 ft	$14
B	B 2	standard nonelectric	33 ft			91 ft	105 ftPomona Lake	1,302 ft	$14
B	B 3	standard nonelectric	33 ft			98 ft	176 ftPomona Lake	1,340 ft	$14
B	B 4	standard nonelectric	55 ft			129 ft	261 ftPomona Lake	1,283 ft	$14
C	C 01	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		88 ft	484 ftPomona Lake	958 ft	$22–$26
C	C 02	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		51 ft	408 ftPomona Lake	980 ft	$22–$26
C	C 03	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		51 ft	385 ftPomona Lake	1,016 ft	$22–$26
C	C 04	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		47 ft	331 ftPomona Lake	1,071 ft	$22–$26
C	C 05	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		47 ft	289 ftPomona Lake	1,118 ft	$22–$26
C	C 06	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp					$22–$26
C	C 07	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		58 ft	280 ftPomona Lake	1,149 ft	$22–$26
C	C 08	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		55 ft	307 ftPomona Lake	1,152 ft	$22–$26
C	C 09	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		55 ft	344 ftPomona Lake	1,148 ft	$22–$26
C	C 10	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		56 ft	388 ftPomona Lake	1,136 ft	$22–$26
C	C 11	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		51 ft	424 ftPomona Lake	1,122 ft	$22–$26
C	C 12	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		51 ft	438 ftPomona Lake	1,118 ft	$22–$26
C	C 13	standard electric	54 ft	30/50 amp		70 ft	485 ftPomona Lake	1,090 ft	$22–$26
D	D 1	standard nonelectric	30 ft			117 ft	185 ftPomona Lake	880 ft	$14
D	D 2	standard nonelectric	40 ft			117 ft	302 ftPomona Lake	842 ft	$14
D	D 3	standard nonelectric	30 ft			115 ft	204 ftPomona Lake	756 ft	$14
D	D 4	standard nonelectric	50 ft			115 ft	319 ftPomona Lake	707 ft	$14
E	E 1	standard nonelectric	40 ft			61 ft	536 ftPomona Lake	432 ft	$14
E	E 2	standard nonelectric	40 ft			61 ft	544 ftPomona Lake	376 ft	$14
E	E 3	standard nonelectric	40 ft			61 ft	545 ftPomona Lake	318 ft	$14
E	E 4	standard nonelectric	35 ft			103 ft	379 ftPomona Lake	297 ft	$14
E	E 5	standard nonelectric	45 ft			103 ft	312 ftPomona Lake	286 ft	$14
F	F 01	standard nonelectric	40 ft			241 ft	534 ftPomona Lake	86 ft	$14
F	F 02	standard nonelectric	35 ft			62 ft	481 ftPomona Lake	184 ft	$14
F	F 03	standard nonelectric	40 ft			62 ft	425 ftPomona Lake	222 ft	$14
F	F 04	standard nonelectric	40 ft			81 ft	555 ftPomona Lake	155 ft	$14
F	F 05	standard nonelectric	40 ft			63 ft	371 ftPomona Lake	272 ft	$14
F	F 06	standard nonelectric	40 ft			83 ft	369 ftPomona Lake	201 ft	$14
F	F 07	standard nonelectric	40 ft			63 ft	353 ftPomona Lake	329 ft	$14
F	F 08	standard nonelectric	40 ft			73 ft	279 ftPomona Lake	321 ft	$14
F	F 09	standard nonelectric	40 ft			76 ft	327 ftPomona Lake	365 ft	$14
F	F 10	standard nonelectric				73 ft	276 ftPomona Lake	386 ft	$14
F	F 11	standard nonelectric	40 ft			93 ft	314 ftPomona Lake	294 ft	$14
F	F 12	standard nonelectric	40 ft						$14
G	G 01	standard electric	40 ft	30 amp	yes	40 ft	808 ftPomona Lake	563 ft	$22–$26
G	G 02	standard electric	40 ft	30 amp		40 ft	848 ftPomona Lake	589 ft	$22–$26
G	G 03	standard electric	45 ft	30 amp		65 ft	823 ftPomona Lake	520 ft	$22–$26
G	G 04	standard electric	45 ft	30 amp		51 ft	897 ftPomona Lake	617 ft	$22–$26
G	G 05	standard electric	30 ft	30 amp		68 ft	955 ftPomona Lake	641 ft	$22–$26
G	G 07	standard electric	45 ft	30 amp		79 ft	962 ftPomona Lake	601 ft	$22–$26
G	G 08	standard electric	40 ft	30 amp		65 ft	878 ftPomona Lake	537 ft	$22–$26
G	G 09	standard electric	60 ft	30 amp		77 ft	798 ftPomona Lake	390 ft	$22–$26
G	G 10	standard electric	45 ft	30 amp		85 ft	883 ftPomona Lake	457 ft	$22–$26
G	G 11	standard electric	55 ft	30 amp		87 ft	718 ftPomona Lake	281 ft	$22–$26
G	G 12	standard electric	45 ft	30 amp		67 ft	833 ftPomona Lake	374 ft	$22–$26
G	G 13	standard electric	50 ft	30 amp		67 ft	796 ftPomona Lake	311 ft	$22–$26
G	G 14	standard electric	50 ft	30 amp		75 ft	771 ftPomona Lake	250 ft	$22–$26
G	G 15	standard electric	50 ft	30 amp		83 ft	721 ftPomona Lake	174 ft	$22–$26
MVAL	SHEL#3	day use		15 amp	yes	379 ft	954 ftPomona Lake	829 ft	$30–$60
MVAL	SHEL#4	day use		15 amp	yes	133 ft	336 ftPomona Lake	850 ft	$30–$60
MVAL	SHEL#5	day use		15 amp	yes	685 ft	1,034 ftPomona Lake	156 ft	$30–$60
MVAL	WIGGER	group standard nonelectric	25 ft			133 ft	211 ftPomona Lake	980 ft	$40

The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Oct 1, 2026

25 of 81 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate38.66472, -95.54889

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone785-453-2201

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Wolf Creek (KS)1.3 mi

Outlet (Pomona Lake)1.4 mi

Carbolyn Park7.1 mi

Outlet(Melvern)14 mi

Coeur D'alene15 mi

Arrow Rock17 mi

Getting there

From US 75 and K-268 junction, proceed east on K-268 for 7 miles to Pomona Dam Road. Turn north and travel 2.5 mi across the dam. Turn west on Wolf Creek Pkwy for 500 feet, then turn south and proceed to park entrance.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Today54°Partly Sunny

Tonight34°Mostly Clear then Patchy Frost

Saturday58°Areas Of Frost then Sunny

Saturday Night37°Clear then Patchy Frost

NWS forecast for Vassar, KS

Source: National Weather Service, TOP forecast office · Oct 16, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 46°F, day 70°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°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: POMONA LAKE, KS (USC00146498), 2 miles away and at about the same elevation

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Michigan Valley 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.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publishes no season and no closure for this campground, and it takes no bookings we can read. That’s a gap in the record and not a locked gate: the number below is the only way to be sure.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026 and November 2026. It names 81 of the 78 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 14, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 79 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.52 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 57 rated federal campgrounds in Kansas · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

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.

Nearest place of any size: Vassar, KS, 1.6 mi ENE (a census designated place). Straight line.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026