photo by: Clinton State Park

Clinton State Park staff begin laying out the route of a new 1-mile trail located at a day-use area near a children's fishing pond.

A new approximately 1-mile, accessible day-use trail is coming to Clinton State Park along with improvements to two existing boat ramps.

The trail is a loop with minimal inclines, and Chris Orton, park manager at Clinton State Park, said the project is a part of a larger effort to revamp a day-use area in the park. The area has two picnic shelters and a children’s fishing pond, but it has received less attention than some of the other areas within the park.

“Over the years, it’s not been an area that’s had a lot of attention given to it because it gets used less than some of our camping areas and things like that,” Dakota Nipko, assistant park manager at Clinton State Park, said.

The goal is to make the area – located near East 775 Road and North 1415 Road, or about a mile southwest of the park’s main entrance – more inviting, and to also improve the shelters while adding amenities, with the trail being central to that effort.

“(The trail) should be fully accessible no matter what anybody’s mobility is to enjoy,” Nipko said.

Prior to the project, Orton said the area allowed a hay operator to mow and cut the grass each year, however, staff removed the area around the new trail from that hay lease so they could instead restore it with native plants and prairie vegetation.

photo by: Clinton State Park

A new 1-mile, accessible trail is coming to a day-use area in Clinton State Park.

Nipko described the area as an “ecotone,” where eastern deciduous forest meets the tallgrass prairie that historically covered much of Douglas County.

“There’s still a few patches of remnant prairie … and (we’re) just really trying to bring back some of that to the area,” Nipko said.

The park also plans to plant 20 to 40 trees and establish a pollinator habitat to attract monarch butterflies and bees. Orton said they hope to work with the University of Kansas on educational opportunities and maintenance related to the habitat.

Another feature along the trail will be a bird blind overlooking the children’s pond. It’s a small, three-walled structure with observation windows that will allow visitors to watch birds without being as visible to them. One of the park’s maintenance workers designed the structure, which Nipko said will give visitors another way to interact with the natural resources in the area.

“As people are walking the trail, they can stop and it’ll be kind of a lean-to structure,” Nipko said. “People can go inside and look out the little windows and watch the birds over the pond.”

The trail was funded through the federal Recreational Trails Program grant – which can not only go towards maintenance and restoration of existing trails, but the construction of new ones.

Park staff began actively working on the project in September, and while the trail itself is substantially complete, there are still some finishing touches that remain. Orton said staff are waiting for the right time to plant the trees and the native seeds. In addition, the bird blind still needs to be constructed.

Park staff are anticipating the trail will be open to the public beginning in spring 2027.

photo by: Clinton State Park

A new 1-mile, accessible trail is coming to a day-use area in Clinton State Park.

In the future, park staff hope to add interpretive signs along the trail explaining what visitors are seeing, similar to interpretive trails at other nearby parks. That feature wasn’t covered by the grant, so they are looking for other ways to fund it.

The park has also been working to improve boater access at two existing boat ramps – known as Boat Ramps 1 and 2. Both ramps are located on the northern shore of the Clinton Reservoir near the Clinton Marina area. The ramps are being repaired because years of heavy use and significant flooding caused the launch areas to deteriorate.

The work includes new concrete for the launch areas and modifications to the existing courtesy docks, including new bumpers and safety features. Staff also mentioned the possibility of adding fish-cleaning stations and other features to improve fishing access. Each of these ramps are expected to be completed by spring 2027.

Orton said he’s looking forward to bringing more native species to the area and finishing up the habitat restoration surrounding the trail. He’s also glad there will be more and safer boater access in the area.

“Having (the ramps) for the community to use is going to be nice because that’s one of their biggest concerns over the past few years, is like having better boating access,” Orton said. ” … I’m gonna be happy that they’re gonna be happy.”

Nipko said his passion is creating an inviting and safe place for people to come and enjoy the natural resources that Douglas County has to offer.

“This trail is going to be a huge part of that, offering a space for anybody to come out and enjoy a native habitat and learn more about it,” Nipko said.

photo by: Clinton State Park

Clinton State Park staff begin laying out the route of a new 1-mile trail located at a day-use area near a children’s fishing pond.