The waterfall at Cowley State Fishing Lake in Arkansas City (aka Ark City) is a fun place to explore, and not too far from Wichita! Read about our family day trip and get a few helpful tips to make your visit fun and successful.
Don’t want to miss out on all the free deals? We don’t want you to either. Join our subscribers-only Facebook group and subscribe to our FREE newsletter for the latest daily deals. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends!
When to Go
While the waterfall is open and accessible pretty much year-round, you won’t always find water in the waterfall! When the Cowley State Fishing Lake is low, the falls will be dry. (That could be a good time to look for fossils, though.) So if it’s possible, pick a day for your visit when we’ve had some rain.
How to Get There
The Cowley County falls are approximately 80 miles south of Wichita or 10 miles from Henry’s Candy Co. in Dexter, Kansas (if you are continuing on your adventure from there).
From Wichita, Cowley State Fishing Lake is 16 miles south of Arkansas City, just off Highway 166. It takes approximately 1 hour to get there. The exact address of Cowley State Fishing Lake is: 20467 Us Highway 166, Dexter, KS 67038.
From Henry’s Candy Co., head south on K-15 for 5 miles. Then go west on US-166 for another 4.5 miles. From there, you will see the signs for the lake. There will be a small sign directing you to the west end of the lake where there is a small dirt parking lot above the falls. Because of all the trees, you won’t actually be able to see the falls until you get out of your car. There is only a small chicken wire fence separating you from the waterfall drop off so be careful, especially with young kids.
From here, you can climb down some big rocks and boulders to get down to the bottom of the falls. It is pretty precarious so watch out! If you don’t want to climb down the boulders, you can also drive down a dirt road that runs about 100 feet west of the falls. It takes you to the bottom of the falls but about 200 feet downstream. So to actually see the waterfall, you’d need to walk back to them. There is no paved path or trail. You can walk next to the creek on the baseball and softball sized rocks along the stream.
I would recommend wearing water shoes or old tennis shoes that you don’t mind getting wet and muddy. Once at the bottom of the waterfall, the view is breathtaking. The falls drop approximately 25 feet to a shallow pool below.
Our Family Day Trip to the Waterfall in Cowley County
Read about our visit to the Cowley County State Park waterfall below, and see the video slideshow of our trip!
We went over spring break last year on an unusually warm spring day. The kids had on old tennis shoes and swimsuits. We had a lot of fun climbing on the rocks. The kids also stood in the freezing cold waterfall too. I wasn’t quite that brave, but I did touch the water. That was enough for me! We did stand behind the waterfall and that was a really neat view.
The waterfall is a large horseshoe shape. Since it was early spring when we went, only a part of the fall was flowing. I hope to return again after the rainy season to see the waterfall in all its glory! After playing at the falls, we decided to walk further down the stream. We chose to walk right in the middle of the stream. It was cold, but fun. If you choose this method, be aware that there are rocks and it is very muddy too which makes it slippery. Just remember to go slow and hold onto the hands of small children. For the most part, it is pretty shallow, but there were a couple of spots that got waist deep. At those spots, we chose to walk on the rocks around the stream. There is a lot of limestone in this part of the state and we actually found some really neat shell fossils in the rocks!
We walked as far as the road that crosses the stream. Past that, the water gets really deep and was still. Okay, so some of the older kids actually did go into that part and swam! However, they didn’t stay there long because they stirred up some water snakes. Creek-ing rule number 101 in Kansas: Never go into still water. That’s where snakes and sometimes leeches live! Don’t worry, everyone was fine, but they did run really fast and my son lost his shoe. (See, now you know why I told you to wear OLD shoes!) Even the smallest of trips always turn into an adventure with my family!
After all of the hiking, everyone was tired so we chose to go home. Next time I hope to go check out the lake too. I hear it is really beautiful. If you still haven’t had enough fun at this point, you can also stop at the awesome Island Park in Winfield on the way home.
Also, don’t forget to check out my post on Kansas Road Trip Essentials for a checklist of things to pack when travelling the backroads of Kansas.
Have fun and get out and explore Kansas on the cheap!
More Kansas Road Trips
Prather Creek Falls (Chase State Fishing Lake Waterfalls)
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Henry’s Candy Co. in Dexter, Kansas
Barn Sales, Craft Fairs and Flea Markets in Kansas
Photo Credit: Mike Mattal (Used with permission)
Photo Credit: Lane Pearman (Used with permission.)
Kansas Scenic Drives
Take the family for a scenic drive, day trip from Wichita, or inexpensive weekend getaway in Kansas. First, check out the extremely handy list of Kansas Road Trip Travel Essentials so you're prepared for everything!
One of the great things about our state is that so much of it has been kept in its natural state or close to it. This makes for some great outdoor adventures. Of course, with outdoor adventures, that means we need to be prepared for anything, especially since many of these sites are in rural parts of the state where modern conveniences are not always easily accessible.
Enjoy this picnic area known by locals as Coronado Heights Castle. Find out how to get there, what you can do at Coronado Heights, and how to prepare for your trip.
Kids need to get the wiggles out? Take them for a hike and a swim at Kanopolis Lake and then let them run around to view the unusual rock formations at Mushroom Rock State Park.
What's more "Kansas" than bison roaming the prairie? Bring your friends from out of state on this day trip. If you go at the right time of the year, you could show them bison and sunflowers in the same trip.
Hidden away behind Chase State Fishing Lake along the Kansas Flint Hills Scenic Byway is a glorious natural area with several levels of rushing waterfalls. This isn't child-proofed - or even adult-proof - so be sure to take care as you explore this stunningly beautiful area.
One of America's national parks is just a short drive up the Flint Hills Scenic Byway from Wichita. At Tallgrass National Preserve you can see a historic home and barn and a portion of one of the largest remaining stand of tallgrass prairie in existence today. And it's always FREE.
Check out Monument Rocks in western Kansas and spend a day at Lake Scott State Park on this affordable weekend getaway from Wichita. Our family had a great time on this trip and we can't wait to go again.
A fun and easy trail tucked away inside Cheney State Park. The treasure at the end of the trail is a beach! Less than an hour from Wichita.
You might be surprised next time you're taking a late summer drive on the highways of Kansas. The sunflower fields bloom from late July to early October, depending on when they were planted. Here's where we keep track of several fields we know of!
Check out the state and local tourism resources for more information about places to visit in Kansas. TravelKS has released its latest Kansas guide books and they’re as pretty as they are informative. They are also FREE for the asking.
7 Responses
I plan on going this weekend Saturday (September 22nd) hope we can see the waterfall as I see there is rain in the forecast Friday! Thank you so much for Wichita on the cheap!
I hope so too! Take lots of pictures! (And if there isn’t any water, you still might find fossils. But hopefully there will be water!)
If you do take photos, feel free to share them on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WichitaontheCheap/
I think it is worth mentioning that the water fall is dried up and it will take a massive rain to get the water flowing again. If you are making the trip like we did this past weekend just be prepared that the water is not flowing.
Thanks for letting us know, Steven! When my family went, the falls were also dry, which is why I asked Emily to mention that in the article. But I’m surprised that it’s dry now – I guess we hadn’t gotten enough rain to make them flow! Did you guys find any fossils? When we went, we didn’t even know to look for them.
The one thing that made up for lack of water in the falls for us was that we passed a sunflower field on the way there. 🙂
There’s another waterfall nearby that I was going to write about soon, and it might be more reliably flowing. (But then again, we visited right after a downpour, so it’s hard to tell!) That’s a beautiful drive up into the Flint Hills to Chase State Fishing Lake. The falls are back behind the lake and quite fun to see. Like the Cowley waterfall, it isn’t “childproofed” in any way so if you’re with little ones you have to be careful walking down. But well worth the drive and there’s some other fun things to do when you’re in that area.
My husband and I just went to the Chase State Fishing Lake this past weekend (August 25, 2018) and it was just a small trickle of water coming down the falls. The lake is also low (but clean).
Oh wow, thanks for letting us know. I’m surprised after all that rain we’ve had! And it makes me realize how awesome it was that the falls were really flowing the day we went. (The downside to that: It had just stormed, so all the trails were muddy and slippery.)
Thanks, might try and visit
.