Four access points with boat ramps – including sites at Lecompton and De Soto – have been added to the Kansas River.

Wildlife and Parks built the Lecompton Rising Sun access and has provided some technical assistance, as well as $10,000 grants, to De Soto and Edwardsville and a $40,000 grant for Manhattan.

¢ The Rising Sun access, actually a year old, is on the northwest side of the Lecompton Bridge on Lecompton Road south of U.S. Highway 24.

¢ The De Soto access is northwest of downtown. Take the Lexington Avenue exit from K-10 and go north. Turn north on Ottawa Street. Go over two railroad tracks to the city park entrance two blocks on the right. Current access is blocked temporarily, however, because of additional construction.

¢ The Edwardsville access is southwest of the corner of Woodend Road and 9th Street. Take the Woodend Road exit from I-435 north of the Kansas River and go west several miles to the access park

¢ The Manhattan access is under the U.S. 177 bridge on the southeast edge of town. The Manhattan site is owned by Riley County, while the other sites are municipally-owned.

Most of the technical assistance on these sites has been provided by the Friends of the Kaw, a nonprofit group dedicated to the river.

While the Kansas River is open to the public for fishing and boating, permission must be obtained to cross private ground to gain access to the river. Therefore, access points are usually on public land or on private land opened to the public through state programs.