HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Gov. Sam Brownback was in the Hutchinson area Thursday for the Kansas State Fair, but he was also present along with Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism officials to officially open the new campgrounds at Sand Hills State Park.
He told us that this is what we want: to get people outdoors, and parks like this allow them to do this. It will also allow people who come to this park and stay overnight something that wasn’t really possible before.
The park has been around for day-use for 40 years, but about four years ago, there started to be a plan developed for this camping area at Sandhills. With the campground open, it’s now available for overnight and extended-stay camping.
The park has always been known for its outstanding horse trails and fourteen of the park’s 64 camping sites include horse pens for those equestrian riders. There was also some talk on Thursday of adding some cabins on the south end of the camping area sometime in the future.
Despite the windy, cool conditions, about 40 people attended the event, including Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Nickerson and State Representative Steve Becker of Buhler.
Sand Hills State Park is located at 4207 E. 56th, about 2 miles east of K-61.