Milford - Our Secret Getaway

Constantly changing throughout the seasons, this lake experience never duplicates itself. My husband and I find Milford Lake to be the perfect place to shake off the stress of weekday life. One of my greatest surprises upon moving to Kansas was learning that eagles spend the month of January resting at Milford Lake. What a majestic sight to see those regal birds perched high above your head, or better yet to watch it swoop into the water and scoop out a fish for lunch.

Each visit I make to the lake reveals new and wonderful aspects of nature. In the spring and summer the lake is abundant with Great Blue Heron, hawks, ducks and gulls. I've seen fox and deer also.

It is not just a lake for summer and summer activities, but provides enjoyment year-round.

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There are several places in Junction City that my husband and I enjoy dining either before or after we visit Milford Lake. The most casual is Denny's, of the Denny's national chain, located just off of Interstate 70. The usual fare of breakfast at any time, dinners and burgers are served, sometimes rather slowly. I'd recommend Denny's in JC if you're not in a hurry. Another restaurant we enjoy is Cracker Barrel. Attire here is also casual and you can get breakfast anytime or have a sandwich or full dinner. Cracker Barrel also has a very interesting store where one can buy toys, clothes, antiques and other items. My husband and I both highly recommend Cracker Barrel.

A third dining place in Junction that we enjoy is the Peking Restaurant just off the Washington Street exit of Interstate 70. They serve the best Chinese food around. When in a real hurry or just frazzled and wind-blown for a day outdoors, we stop at Taco Bell on 18th and Madison. The service here is good and the food up to par for a fast food restaurant.

If you're in for some quick dining after a fun day at the lake, A&W can provide this for you. How can you resist an old fashioned rootbeer float? The food at this location is fairly good as far as fast food hamburgers are concerned. The facility offers dining inside or a convenient drive-thru service. For those of us old enough to remember the drive-up service A&W used to provide, the atmosphere of the restuarant is a little lacking. However, the service is pretty good and the dining room very clean.

Milford Lake has a myriad of coves with camping and fishing possibilities. The secret is knowing how to find those areas officially designated as public access/wildlife areas. One that we happened upon recently is at the end of St. John's Road. To get to this area where camping is really "roughing it," take Hwy 57 northwest out of Junction City; turn west at the junction with 244 and stay on 244 for about 4 1/2 miles until you reach Dietrich Road where you should turn north and proceed for 1 mile, at which point you will reach St John's Road. Turn east onto St John's Road and follow it until you reach the wildlife/public access area. There is plenty of privacy here with a number of prime camping and fishing spots. And of course, there is always the possibility of viewing wildlife if you sit still and wait.

It was by accident that my husband and I discovered eagles at Milford Lake. Being nature lovers and having two dogs that need a lot of exercise, we have been visiting the lake frequently since moving to Kansas in June of 1999. It was in January, 2000 that we saw our first wild eagles. By the time we figured out that we were seeing eagles they were already leaving the area. I'm anxiously awaiting January to come around again -- I will be better prepared knowing what I am looking for.

There is no thrill quite like seeing eagles in the wild. I imagine what this land used to be like when eagles were abundant and it must have been such a marvelous sight.

Heron are a graceful, large bird that look like standing sticks on the shore from a distance. I was curious the first time I spotted one on the spillway side of Milford dam. With camera in hand I went tripping over the stone shore in an attempt to get close enough to snap a shot of it. I mistook the bird for a crane at first, but upon research have learned that it was a heron. Kansas is abundant with these heron, especially around Milford Lake.

One of the areas my husband and I like to visit is a wildlife and hunting area off of Rebecca Road. We've seen heron here on several occasions. We usually have to do quite a bit of walking to catch up with them, but there are those times when one flies directly overhead and gives you a thrill. Their wingspan must be at least 6' across.

We've seen both white and blue heron at Milford.

During the spring of 2000 my husband and I were driving toward Wakefield, Kansas at the northern end of Milford Lake. We were taking a route through the Kansas State Arboretum when we noticed a thick cover of smoke hovering in the air. Curious, we drove toward the smoke. As we neared a wooded area near a RV park on the lake at Wakefield, we saw flames on the east side of the road. Taking a chance, we continued on the road through the wooded area.

I'm not sure to this day if this was a controlled burn -- which happens frequently in Kansas -- or if it were an accidental fire, but several acres of wooded land were slowly burning. The flames and blackened earth came up to the roadside and we could feel the heat from the fire as we drove through. There was a grassy area between the woods and the RV park and here we saw one truck and a couple of men who seemed to be keeping an eye on the fire.

This was early in the season and there were only a few RVs in the park, so there was no danger to human life as long as the fire continued to travel toward the south and east.

It was eerie driving through the smoke and the nearby flames.

We have a Siberian Husky that absolutely needs to have exercise and room to run. We've found that even though he is supposed to be a snow dog, he loves attacking waves. And we find plenty of those at Milford Lake.

Because of the large size of the lake and the low population of humans in this area it is often possible for us to allow our Boris to run off a leash. We always scout out the area first before allowing him his freedom. He doesn't swim, just likes to stand in the water waiting for waves to come at him and then he bites at the waves. It's really rather funny.

So if you ever happen to be around Milford Lake and see a red Siberian Husky standing in the water biting waves, my husband and I won't be far away. Look us up.

One of the drawbacks of letting Boris have some freedom is that once he found a mouse nest and dug it up and killed the mouse. I don't like to see things die unnecessarily, but the deed was done by the time I arrived on the scene.

All in all, we have a very enjoyable time with our wonderful Boris at Milford Lake.

Hawks are another of the wonderful birds that we see at Milford Lake. April 30, 2000 was an especially good day for watching hawks. My husband and I arrived at the lake in the early evening. Our main focus that day was simply to sit back at the lake and let the sounds and sights wash away the cares of the week.

As we sat on the shore a couple of hawks soared lazily overhead and swooped down into a nearby tree. The gracefulness of their flight and seeming air-ballet only added to the peace we absorbed from being at the lake.

Another day, in August of 2000, we saw what we believe to be an osprey. We first spied the white head far up in a dead tree, and so we thought it might be an eagle. But this was not the usual time of year to be spotting eagles at Milford. After studying the not-too-sharp photos I took and my bird field guide, we came to the conclusion that it must be an osprey. We're not bird experts, so we could be wrong in this. Check out the photo and see what you think.

There is a part of me that is reluctant to share Milford Lake with the rest of the world for fear of drawing too much attention to it and increasing the amount of water sport activities on the lake. This area of Kansas is not heavily populated and the lake is very large, allowing for both nature lovers and water sports enthusiasts to enjoy the lake together. Maybe the level of water sport activity will not increase to where it affects the wild life -- I sure hope not. It's good to see people using the lake for their own particular form of relaxation and entertainment -- and the way the lake is now there is room for both the nature nut and the water sport nut.

I've been told by long-time residents of Kansas and people in the know that most of the large, long-legged birds in this area are blue heron.

I was quite surprised to find large, long-legged white birds around Milford lake. Consulting my trusty Audubon field guide, I found that white heron were grouped with the blue heron. So, when early one morning while watching the sun rise over Milford Lake, I saw a white bird standing in the shallow water, I figured it was a heron. It wasn't until I examined my photos later that I discovered that the bird I filmed had black legs, not a heron attribute. This bird was clearly an egret.

I've only seen one at Milford so far, but you can bet I'll be keeping an eye out for more as time goes by.

It was on an early morning in August 2000 that I saw four heron flying together over Milford Lake. They flew together within my sight for at least 20 minutes, beginning off to the north and circling around to the east and south. They flew out of sight toward the south, still maintaining a sort of formation.

Prior to this, I had never seen more than two heron together, so this was quite a sight.

On this same morning I was able to film a single heron landing at a point toward the east, almost directly in front of me across a span of water. When these birds are landing is when one most gets an impression of their great wing span.

One of the funniest events that happened to us at Milford Lake began when we were on the road home. As we drive along the edge of the lake I always keep an eye out for wildlife -- never know what you are going to see.

The point at which we were traveling was fairly wooded, with breaks here and there. As we passed one break of about 30 ft between trees I noticed a field with some kind of large bird in it. We whizzed past at about 50 mph so it was hard to tell what I had seen. I told my husband that there was something in the field that we should check out, so at the next available turn-off he turned the truck around and headed back toward the clearing.

When we first entered the clearing I didn't see anything and thought I must have been mistaken, but then my husband called out 'There they are -- wild turkeys.' Before I had a chance to say much he gunned the truck and set off across the field.

Farmers plant the fields around the lake and this one was full of furrows and stubble from cut wheat. We went bouncing across the field, doing about 30 mph -- which is pretty fast considering where we were. I aimed the camera and hoped I was actually getting some pictures because we were being bounced and jostled because of the furrows over which we were driving.

It didn't take those turkeys long to figure out that something was after them. They made a beeline across the field for a wooded area nearby. We had almost reached the spot where they had been when they were gone into the thicket. I tried to follow on foot, but the weeds and grasses were almost shoulder high on me. I heard them fluttering in the distance, but did not find them again.

Curtis Creek is entered via Trail Road and is one of the more developed areas at Milford Lake. There is a well-kept boat ramp and camping facilities here, as well as lots of paved parking. Normally, this is the type of area that we shy away from. During the winter however the camping grounds are closed off and the parking area and boat ramp are deserted, so we often stop to check out what wildlife might be around. January 2001 was such a time for us. We were on a quest for eagles, but found none. To our delight though we rounded the bend coming into the parking area and right in front of us were four marvelous deer leaping across the road. What a marvelous surprise. We were able to watch them for quite a distance as they bounded off to parts only known to them.

Pristine beauty is what can be found at Milford on a snow-covered winter day. That and much wildlife. Hawks and eagles both reside at the lake during the winter and I have also seen several blue heron still lingering around the partially frozen lake.

There are several wildlife areas specifically set aside for viewing the creatures of nature. The roads in these areas are gravel or dirt and are not maintained, so you enter at your own risk, but if you feel confident your vehicle will get around in snowy conditions it's well worth exploring the winter lake.

In late August a local oldies radio station sponsors an annual car show at the Milford Lake Thunderbird Marina. My husband being a car nut (and what guy isn't?), convinced me that we should go.

There were about 40 vehicles set up for show when we arrived -- classic cars of all types. I enjoyed taking photos and my husband enjoyed looking over every aspect of each one of the cars.

There was a dance scheduled to be held later in the evening but we did not stay for that event.

Thunderbird Marina consists of the park area where the car show was held, a marina, beach, picnic grounds, and camping grounds. It is a lovely area of the lake, located off the West Rolling Hills exit to the lake.