Glen Elder State Park

About this park

Glen Elder State Park sits on the north shore of Waconda Lake, formally known as Glen Elder Reservoir, one of the larger lakes in the Kansas state park system at roughly 12,500 acres. The reservoir was built across the Solomon River in the 1960s for flood control, and its rural setting in north-central Kansas gives the park a notably quiet, unhurried atmosphere. Before the dam was built, the lake covered what had been Waconda Springs, a sacred mineral spring long used as a ceremonial gathering place by numerous Native American tribes of the central plains, including the Pawnee, Wichita, Kaw, Kiowa, Sioux, Arapaho, and Comanche. The Kanza people reportedly called the spring "Wakonda," meaning Great Spirit, and the park's Waconda Springs Replica pays tribute to this history, alongside the nearby Waconda Heritage Village living-history museum and the historic Hopewell Church. Beyond its historical and cultural significance, the surrounding 13,200-acre Glen Elder Wildlife Area draws visitors for wildlife photography, with wintering bald and golden eagles, deer, pheasant, and migrating waterfowl all regularly sighted, making the park a destination for both history-minded visitors and wildlife watchers.