Backroads to Geary County Lake

The backroads leading to Geary County Lake south of Junction City are not promoted for what they are -- a beautiful scenic route to a marvelous lake. The usual suggested route is to take highway 77 south out of Junction City. I suggest you get off the highway at River Road and follow it west and south until you happen upon the lake and it's breath-taking beauty. Besides the beauty, this route will take you to a little used entrance that leads to some great hiking areas.

Quick Tips:

These are dirt and gravel roads so if you are worried about getting your vehicle dirty you will probably want to just stay on the highway and miss out on the more beautiful views of the lake.

Best Way To Get Around:

About two miles north of Geary County Lake in the month of December, 2000 we found a flock of wild turkeys at the far edge of a field. After spending a little time watching them we continued down the road and around a curve. To our surprise, there were more turkeys on the road. In an instant they were running and taking to the air. I guess I've watched too much TV because I've always remembered the WKRP episode where Less Nessman drops live turkeys out of a plane for a Thanksgiving promotion and finds that the birds can't fly. Because of that show, I truly believed that turkeys couldn't fly. Well, they do. It took a while for all of them to get into the air, but off they went, flapping their wings and rising into the air just like any other bird.

As we rounded the curve where the turkeys had been we were scanning the trees and landscape to see what else we might find. I thought that the original flock of turkeys we had seen might be emerging from the woods, but there was no signs of them. Instead, at the top of a large tree sat a wonderful eagle. I was able to get quite a few photos while the bird sat majestically on his perch. However, I just couldn't leave well enough alone and approached too close for the eagle's comfort and off it flew.

Despite the brevity of these sightings my husband and I both felt privileged to have witnessed what we did. How many people are lucky enough to see wild turkeys and an eagle within a 10 minute span of time?

Just as we came up to the crest where we could see the dam and the lake behind it, we discovered a flock of quail hiding in the brush at the side of the road. Actually, we saw these birds in approximately the same spot two days in a row. They were fun to watch as they scurried back into the deeper brush out of our view.

In our explorations of the backroads around Geary County Lake we found two entrances to the lake that few people use.

The first was up on the east bluff above the lake. There is a rusty, beat-up sign marking this entrance. We found a small parking area overlooking the lake beside some boarded-up outhouses. The approaches to the lake from this road all require hiking down a fairly steep incline, but are quite doable. We plan to return to this area in the spring to do a little hiking and exploring on foot.

We located a second out-of-the-way entrance the next day on the west side of the lake, just off of Kickapoo School Road. One of the forks of this road leads to the west side of the dam and some wonderful hiking areas. We didn't spend much time exploring this area as the sky was threatening snow again. As it was, we had to do a little digging and moving snow to get back on the main road again. As soon as the road allows (minimum maintenance) we will be back to this area for more exploration.

Geary County Lake has two legs to it, more or less shaped like a "V." The first few times we visited the lake, we arrived at the main entrance off of Highway 77. Though the map indicated that this was a "V" shaped lake, the main entrance allowed access to only one end of one of the legs. There were camping, picnicing and fishing areas at this east end of the lake. My husband and I assumed that the rest of the lake was off limits for some reason and we didn't really think much of what seemed to be the extent of the facility available to the public.

However, as we like to explore backroads and find out what is really "out there," we decided to explore the area around Geary County Lake on a couple of occasions. We managed to locate roads that gave access to the rest of the lake, some great hiking areas and beautiful scenery. What we found was that Geary County Lake was much more charming than we had first believed and a place that we will spend countless hours exploring in the future.

Many of the roads around Geary County Lake are minimum maintenance. To traverse these roads you either must be keenly aware of road conditions or have a vehicle that can navigate through mud, slush, etc. When the weather is dry, the roads are fine. Add a bit of water or snow and they can be treacherous. Of course, this feature of the roads is what adds the excitement and challenge.

My husband and I bop around in an old 1970 Dodge pickup and manage fairly well for the most part. We also try to always have a shovel with us and just in case always pack a small cooler with food and drink. We've had to back out of some situations on occasion and shovel a little gravel onto snowy roads so far, but with care have managed not to get ourselves totally stuck. I'm sure a 4 wheel drive would facilitate getting around on these roads.