thousand hills state park

The food and service is usually good. They have an early bird special which is good but needs to add more items too it.

My husband and I chose Thousand Hills State Park for an early morning walk when traveling through Kirksville a few months ago. Perfect choice! Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. As we walked along the lake, I noticed a woman serving breakfast to a gentleman in a wheelchair, with a stunning sunrise over the water. It was such a touching scene! I don't know what their relationship is, whether wife and husband, daughter and father, friend and friend. What a wonderful caregiver to choose this setting to begin their day! I'll always remember that loving visual, and that lovely walk through Thousand Hills!

Nice Park! great facilities, beautiful lake, fishing boating, small marina. Marina store open in season. nice picnic areas, good hiking trails. Peaceful and quiet.worth the visit

We have camped here a few times and have always had a good experience. The camp sites are the best but they are adequate. Close to Kirksville but far enough away to make it secluded. There is a nice lake, marina and restaurant.

Missouri State Parks have no admission fee. There are fees for camping and boat rentals. This park has a large impoundment-type lake, two campgrounds, rental cabins, picnic grounds, and a restaurant (but check the hours and days). There is an extensive trail system with options for a morning stroll to a major hike. There is a shelter protecting a good set of petroglyphs.Despite one reviewer's comment, there are NO Cottonmouth snakes in northern Missouri. Non-poisonous northern watersnakes are easily misidentified, and are present.Thousand Hills is a birder's delight. The lake and the varied habitats around it draw many species of birds and the roads and trails provide very good access. Birders should be sure to take the short hike between the petroglyph shelter and campground #2 for Pine Warblers and (in invasion years) crossbills, redpolls and Red-brested Nuthatches. The park has a bird checklist of more than 182 species. The park checklist may be downloaded from the Audubon Society of Missouri website, www.mobirds.org.

We were with a large group that had arranged a lunch at the marina restaurant. They were gracious enough to open early for us that day; they are ordinarily not open for lunch on week-days. But...the service was terrible! At our table of about 20, half received their meals while the other side of the table just watched. The same happened at other tables in our group. By the time the second side of the table got their food, the first side was finished and had to sit there and wait. We got no explanation, apology or anything about why this happened. If they had agreed to open during "off hours" they should have seen that there were enough kitchen staff to serve our group of about 60 people in a timely manner. The food, when it arrived, was good and the $9.99 price for lunch was certainly reasonable. Hopefully the service is different when people dine in the evening in smaller groups.

The main attraction is the lake, which seems clean and relatively uncrowded - we didn't boat. The beach looks clean also - we didn't swim. We really went to hike. We took the Redbud Trail which is not a long trail. It goes through some lovely woods, but the trail itself needs maintenance. Most of the steps are washed out to where you can no longer use them (so much for the stay on the trail concept) and it is poorly marked with their "Blaze" trail marking system. We were going to hike more but decided not to after the Redbud trail. We wanted to see the Native American petroglyphs but the building was closed. Really? The day before one of the busiest park days of the year - July 4th? This is a nice park that seems to be going down hill due to budget cut lower maintenance and management. What a shame.

We camped for three nights. The site pad was nice for our small trailer. The table, however, was down the hill a bit and it was muddy. The previous campers had left some trash behind and the management does not clean it up. It rained our entire second day, so we did not get a chance to rent a kayak or canoe or really hike at all :( We did have dinner in the lodge and the food was fine, but seemed a little pricy. We are hoping to return in the fall.

We made reservations to celebrate the graduations of our grandson and his wife. The service was wonderful, quick, and the food was prepared well. The view from the dining area windows made it extra nice.

This park has it all! The drive has beautiful hills, views of a glassy lake, an opportunity for fine food, a marina and camping & cabins. I've enjoyed swimming, camping and dressing up for a good dinner at Thousand Hills Park

Wow can't wait to visit this place in the summer. The trails looked amazing. The cabins had an amazing veiw.

Awesome park, great restaurant, fun lake. We loved the cabins on the lake which feature the quietest air conditioners I've ever (not) heard. The restaurant is pricey but the food is great and the view is priceless. And an excellent, patient waitstaff.

We stayed at Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville, MO and this cam pground was clean and had spacious RV campsites. The campsites were clean and the campfire pits were clean. The shoers and bathrooms were v ery, very clean. We were at campground 1 and although extremely hot weather, we enjoyed our stay.

If you travel a lot in Missouri and are looking for a great place to camp, fish, boat or hike here is a perfect destination for you. Thousand Hills has it all. The camping is sweet, quiet it has nice tent, RV or pop up tent camping sites. There are a lot of electric hookups in campsite 1 and a few in campsite 2. There are nice bathrooms in campsite 1 with...........showers!!!! so you don't have to go a few days without one unless you want to!We live in Kirksville and even though it is so close we camp there often because it is so close and so nice!It is well patroled by the Ranger and the Adair County Sheriff's Offce, so no worries about safety there.The hiking trails are nice, not too short or too long. There is a primitive hike in camp site on the south side of the lake.Free (WIthout life guard) swimming area, and the petroglyphs left by the native inhabitants many years ago. If you wish there are cabins to rent as well and yes a VERY nice restaurant! With VERY good food.Toss in a marina where you can rent canoes, kayaks, fishing boats or pontoon boats and you can see it has it all!!Come and enjoy one of the best kept secrets in Missouri!

If you visit the Kirksville area, do not miss out on having a nice pic-nic by the shores of the Thousand Hills Lake....The Lake itself, I do not advice to swim in because the waters are quite chilly and murky and cottonmouths snakes, have been seen in it........But, great for boating or fishing.....It is the best place, I can think of in the Kirksville area to get some nice alone time with nature.....In the Fall, it is very beautiful, since the leaves turn into many different colors.....