C2T Ranch on the Saline - Primitive

This site should be the standard to which all other Hipcamp offerings should be held! No matter if you are are primitive leave-no-trace-type, a car camper, backpacker, or RV/Van camper, C2T Ranch has spots that will cater to you.

Chad and Cynthia are extremely welcoming, and their property is designed with enjoying the outdoors in mind.
There are tons of hikable trails, from mild to wild, a beautiful river full of fish, Limestone bluffs that will make you think you are in Wyoming, and much much more.

I spent hours upon hours exploring both the river bottoms and the tops of the bluffs. The views are incredible. I saw no light pollution from Plainville to the north, and just the faintest "lowglow" for Hays to the south east. There is zero road noise.

Each site is set up for different styles of camping, from RV hook-ups to just a picnic table and fire pit. Wood is available on site, ready to use, so leave your axe and saw at home. All sites are both family and canine friendly*, and is readily accessible in any vehicle. I encourage you to contact Chad and Cynthia before you reserve a site, as they will be able to match you to the perfect one for your camping style.

I went early in the season, so I did deal with a bit of rain, and even some snow and ice. this worked out to my advantage as I had the entire ranch to myself. I greatly enjoyed epic sunsets and brilliant sunrises. Each evening and night I got a private opera of coyotes and numerous night birds (I saw many tracks, and heard many many of our canine friends, but never saw one, nor did they bother my campsite!) Raccoons and lizards and reptiles and amphibians abound... though the trash pandas never came close to my campsite !) It was so early in the season not many wild flowers had bloomed, but I bet in just a few weeks, the property will explode in colors.

There are fossils and interesting minerals to explore and innumerable photography opportunities. If you are a night sky-watcher, you will be pleased to know that light pollution is at a bare minimum and the opportunities for telescope and photography abound!

Water is available on site, so no need to fill up your jugs at home. I hiked around and checked out most of the other sites, both primitive and RV. I know nothing about RV hook-ups, but there is modern power and such available at them.
The picnic tables are solid, wooden, and brand new. Each fire pit is large and well built. Trash and recyclable receptacles, along with port-a-potties are available through out.

Tent sites are all well mowed, level, and dry, even in the rain. The soil is a bit sandy, so if you are a tent camper, be sure to bring appropriate stakes!

All sites are well spaced, so you have a bit of privacy. You are never more than a few hundred yards from the ranch house, but you would never know it. I had one to two bars of LTE cell service and didn't roam the entire time I was there. (Something I am not used to!) The main driveway in can be muddy after rain and snow, so I advise caution getting in. I was in a rental Toyota sedan and had no issues, however, go slow and take your time. Once on the ranch proper, the routes to the sites are easy, even when wet.

As someone new to the hipcamp concept, I couldn't have picked a better "first time"! It is only about 6 hours from my home, meaning I can follow through with my plans to visit many many more times!

If you need supplies on the way in, the usual amenities are just a few minutes drive away in Plainville or Hays. There are also various things to explore in town. The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is a kid friendly gem in Hays- full of fossils and other interesting artifacts of Kansas.

In short, whether you are a local or an out of towner, C2T Ranch is an easily accessible location to enjoy the outdoors life. I cannot wait to go back again!

*This is a working ranch, so there are cattle and horses around. Please be respectful and make sure your dog will behave around such animals.

Response from Chad and Cynthia, the Host, on April 20th, 2021

Wow, Johnny, thank you! We really appreciate the wonderful review, not to mention all the time you put in while you were here exploring the ranch. Thank you for coming, and we look forward to seeing you again! - Chad

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My wife and I really enjoyed our two-night stay at one of the primitive sites (#22) at the C2T Ranch. Chad was very helpful with arrival instructions and made us feel quite welcome during our stay. The C2T Ranch is located in a scenic and sparsely populated section of Kansas with deep rolling hills and cliffs along the Saline river. We enjoyed walking along the river on the ranch property (next time I will bring my mountain bike for even more fun) and driving along the roads 10-20 miles up and down the river. Our campsite was a good distance (50-100 yards) from other sites. Some sites in other areas of the property are closer together, but in any case, you definitely have lots of spacing and are not close together like you would be in a state park, etc. We stayed in an off-road tear drop trailer pulled by a pickup truck. The road/path from the owner's house out to the camping sites is a little rough, but if you go slow you will be fine -- even with a low clearance vehicle. The facilities at the primitive site were good (strong picnic stable, nice fieldstone fire ring, trash can), and the setting by the river with the cliffs in the background was beautiful. We were about 20 yards from the river (through the trees, down a couple of banks). This site (#22) is a bit more wooded than some of the others. It would be ideal for letting some middle school or high school kids sleep in their own tent back under the trees closer to the river while the adults slept closer to the picnic table and fire ring. While there are some portable toilets, they were least a 10-15 minute walk away from our site and not something that some folks would want to walk to in the middle of the night. This was fine for us, since we anticipated that and were prepared with our own portable toilet. So my suggestion would be to bring your own toilet facilities (e.g., small toilet tent or toilet in your RV), or choose a different site that is closer to one of the portable toilets.

Overall, I would say that the C2T Ranch is the epitome of the HipCamp concept, and I've grateful to Chad and Cynthia for making their unique property available for camping. We would definitely like to come back again -- probably multiple times a year. Especially recommended for people that like RV boon docking or "overlanding" style of camping.

Wow! What a great place to stay. We camped at site 20 and had our own private beach along the river. We will definitely be returning for a longer stay next time.

Response from Chad and Cynthia, the Host, on May 2nd, 2021

Thanks, Greg! We would love to have you back any time!

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My partner and I booked a spot here for Memorial Day weekend and had a wonderful time.

Chad and Cynthia were great hosts. They provided more than enough firewood for our stay.

We stayed at campsite 43 and the views of the bluff were amazing. Even though we could see other campsites, we still had privacy and were apart a good distance.

To get to the top of the bluff you have to cross the saline river. We took the adventure and got a little wet to get across and hiked up to the top. Totally worth it! Bring river shoes or just take yours off and cross barefoot like we did. The bottom is mostly sand and rock.

We loved it here and will be back!

These are very private and spaced out sites. We walked most of the property after arriving and there isn't a bad spot on it. Very generous amounts of firewood available at each site. Beautiful views, tons of nature, birds, animals to see. This a real gem of a hipcamp.

Simply splendid. We were met and escorted to our site. Wish we could have had another night. Will definitely find this place and stay again!

The place was very secluded and peaceful. We enjoyed sleeping under the stars with only the sounds of an owl at our camp site.

Response from Chad and Cynthia, the Host, on May 2nd, 2021

Thanks, Thomas!

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This was a great place to camp. My site was private and near the river. It had a picnic table, fire ring, beautiful old trees, and lots of birds. Beautiful sunset and sunrise. The owners were very gracious. This was a special place to camp.

Response from Chad and Cynthia, the Host, on May 2nd, 2021

Thanks for staying with us, Dale!

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Chad and Cynthia have beautiful land. We camped Fri-Sun and had a blast! No issues whatsoever! We took our pop up camper and kayaks!

Response from Chad and Cynthia, the Host, on May 3rd, 2021

Thanks for staying with us, Jordan! Glad you enjoyed it!

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