Please call  785-545-3345 for daily office hours due to staffing and budget cuts. Normal office hours are 8 - 4:30 M-F.

NOTICES:

A Reminder to campers regarding gray water -- It is ILLEGAL to drain gray water in the park. Violators will be ticketed. This is a form of pollution that can not be allowed. Use your holding tanks and dump them regularly at the dump stations.

Please Help Us make Glen Elder State Park a more appealing place for campers and RV use.  Greater emphasis is being placed on 14 day stay compliance. In addition, there are 5 new Long Term utility campsites available in the Prime Site areas. You can apply for the long term sites and obtain an agreement at the park office. These sites are first come first served, require you to maintain the campsite, and save some fees in the process. This is a nice option that is working very well at other parks.

Cabins at Glen Elder State Park

Cabins are becoming a viable recreation alternative for many people at an increasing number of  Kansas State Parks. Most are already reserved for the majority of the camping season at various locations. For some, the idea of “roughing it” in a tent or camper is not an appealing prospect.

Two reservable cabins are nearing completion just below the Visitor Center at Glen Elder Sate Park. The first will be available in March or early April. The second should be available soon thereafter pending installation of access ramps, parking, and the access road.

Cabin amenities include: a kitchenette, refrigerator, shower, microwave and stove/oven, heating and air conditioning, rustic décor, access ramps and parking, and weather alert/alarm radio, and hard surfaced  parking and patio area with a picnic table and camp-stove. The fees are $100.00 deposit, $75 per night, and a $10.50 reservation fee.

A weekly rate of $450.00 is available (excluding holiday weekends). Each cabin sleeps six and has a Murphy bed, futon, couch, and full size bed.  Bedding and toiletries are not supplied. You are responsible for any missing items , damages, trash removal, and cleaning during your stay. A trash dumpster is located nearby.

You must be 18 years of age to reserve a cabin. Fee prepayment is required for reservations at least five days in advance. Inclement weather, natural disasters and other situations are not the responsibility of the park or KDWP. Sub-leasing is not allowed. Smoking and pets are not allowed inside the cabins.    
 

State Park Funding -- Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks’ future funding is very unpredictable, to say the least. Budget reductions will be addressed at Glen Elder based on its visitation and demand. Services such as mowing, office hours, and overall facilities open, will be reduced as needed in order to maintain our Parks  overall operations.

However, the Glen Elder Staff wishes to ensure our constituents that we will  continue to do everything within our means to provide you with the best-kept park and services that our limited funding will allow. Kansas Wildlife & Parks implemented reduced price   vehicle permits in 2007, and these fees will remain unchanged for 2009. The fee reduction occurred with the 2006 Kansas  Legislature’s plan to provide enhanced funding support for state parks.

Permit prices and dedicated funding sources will continue to be a concern in the coming years. Discussions will most certainly continue  regarding park entrance and camping fees, and fishing and hunting licenses. Peak and Off-Peak pricing schedules provide for savings on vehicle and camping permits if  purchased before April 1.

Walleye Length Limit Change Proposed For 2009 -- Glen Elder Reservoir has historically been known as one of the best walleye angling reservoirs in the state of Kansas with high popularity among anglers from the late 1970’s until the early 1990’s. Over the last 10-15 years, walleye numbers and walleye anglers have both been declining at Glen Elder. Catch of age-1 and older fish reached an all time low in 2004 and the period 2004-2007 recorded four of the five lowest totals in the reservoir’s history. Additionally, a creel survey conducted in 2007 indicated the number of anglers fishing Glen Elder reached an all time low, and percentage of anglers targeting walleye declined to 22%.

In addition, Glen Elder was known as one of the most consistent egg production reservoirs and was relied on many years to supply 20 to 50 million eggs toward the statewide goal. Walleye egg collection efforts have not occurred at Glen Elder since 2003 due to the declining quality of the walleye fishery. Egg collection for the statewide walleye production should be an important consideration for management of the Glen Elder walleye population.

Attempts to improve walleye numbers have been made in recent years by stocking the maximum number of fry allowed (12 million), and by stocking a combination of both fry and fingerlings. While average catch of age-0 walleye has improved in the last 4 years (7.2) versus the prior 5 years (2.0), the results are not yielding increased numbers of adults during fall sampling, likely due to high angling mortality.  Also, all stocked walleye in 2007 were chemically marked to determine the percentage of stocked fish to the population.  Results indicated the 67% of young fish were naturally produced, 33% were from fry stockings, and none were from fingerling stockings.  It appears that natural reproduction can far outweigh stocking contributions in most years.

If the proposed 18 inch minimum length limit is accepted, we will closely evaluate the effects it has on walleye population dynamics including recruitment, density, mortality, and growth over a 5-year period. At the end of this period a determination will be made as to whether any additional regulation changes are necessary to achieve management objectives.