Thousand Hills State Park

Not a vacation destination by any means, but a great place to spend an afternoon or weekend.
Surrounding the City Lake of Kirksville THSP offers groomed camp sites, trailer and tent, a swimming beach, hiking trails, swim platforms, playgrounds and other outdoor activities.
There is a restaurant on site, open seasonally. As well as a small store and boat rentals, including pontoons and kayaks.

My other favorite place from my many years spent in Kirksville. A wonderful park to walk in, picnic, camp, swim, bike, fish, etc. I pretty much drove out there every day to walk around the trails or sit on a bench and read a book with a great view of the lake all around me. The woodland trails are nice and scenic. Pretty darn private. I walked all the time on them and rarely ran into another hiker. And there are trails that are short walks, under a mile, up to a few miles and hikes that would go all around the lake and take all day.
There is a lodge place with a gift shop, snacks and bathroom, and a restaurant which I never ate at. A part of the lake is sectioned off for swimming, good camping facilities, and a museum with Indian hieroglyphs. Also, some playground facilites and lots of picnic tables spread around.
They have cabins to rent which my family did on a couple of occasions, which were nice. The back door leads to a slope which goes directly down to the lake, which is great for a those interested in fishing.
This is a beautiful, peaceful location and I miss my walks here. Lots of deer roaming around as well. It’s a few miles outside Kirksville and the drive is curvy once you get off the highway, but it’s worth it.

This was a great place to go to if you’re already in the area (note: this is not a tourist destination, don’t be planning trips out here) to…
Swim/​take a dunk in the lake – There’s a ‘beach’ with lifeguards open Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Picnic – various areas throughout
Walk – Just watch out for the occasional cars if you walk along the road in the park.
Rollerblade – some areas were too hilly for me.
Water-​ski – Yes, I learned to water-​ski here… spent an afternoon with 2 of my classmates, & a classmates’ fiancé. I was up by the end of the afternoon & got a couple good runs in, after swallowing my share of lake water & getting lake water enemas (that’s what it felt like – I know, TMI) from multiple falls in the water. Of course, my instructor (my classmate who grew up by a lake) wowed us with his slalom waterskiing runs. Oh yeah, so they have boat rental here (motor boat & pontoon boats).
Boating – Pontoon boating around the lake. No, I didn’t learn how to drive (or whatever the correct term is) pontoon boats or motorboats during my stay Kirksville; I was merely a passenger.
Dine – There’s a restaurant here, American fare (like just about everything else around here), but I didn’t think it was anything to write home about. For those who like liver & onions, they do have that on the menu, I remember that! Only because liver is one of the few things I can’t stand to eat! Oh, it is located by the water.
You can also rent cabins & camp here, but I didn’t do either.
Located just outside of town (Kirksville), west of town off of route 6 (there are signs).
Anything that helps with variety of things to do besides study around here gets stars in my book!