Smithville Lake

We have only been to the shore a few times so my son can fish. He has not caught any fish from the shore but it is a beautiful lake. We will explore more areas around the lake in the future.
I have seen ski-do’s and water skiing and lots of boats on the lake.
There are also beaches for swimming in the campground so this lake must not have water moccasins and that is a good thing.
Highly recommended.

Looks to be an okay lake, and close to home to get away for the day. But if you are bringing your boat, stay away! Submerged trees are every where and not marked! Most are a 1′-2′ below the waterline. I’ve have been boating for over 25′ years and have never seen so many submerged trees without markers especially for a lake of this size and being a Army Corp. Engineers Lake…

This review is strictly for the beach only — seriously a muddy disgusting mess (with cigarette butts everywhere) with a Walmart crowd! Do not waste your time!

This is the ideal time to come to Smithville Lake to hike, walk on the beach and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors! Life is grand!

Very pretty area, overall. Great to walk or just hang out and enjoy the outdoors. Quiet and relaxing.

Great Lake to hang out at just outside of Kansas City. Trails for bike riding, both paved and dirt. Beautiful place to be in the summer.

Wonderful scenic lake that requires quite the scenic drive to get out there but well worth the trip! Many sheltered picnic areas with charcoal grills available, great hiking and biking trails. Boat rental available and not a bad lake for swimming either! This is one of the places that makes living up north worth it!

Beautiful Lake!!! Crow Creek RV Campground is on the lake with gorgeous views, bike & hiking trails all around the lake, docks & marinas, and well maintained. Wish it was back near where I live in Virginia !! Plan to return as much as possible!

Wonderful hiking biking and running. We love how many miles u can log here. Great place to train for a marathon

Last time I was here there was a couple doing it in the lake, dead fish on the beach, and the shore was full of the Midwest’s answer to the beach bum. Sunburned overweight moms trying in vain to wrangle their out of control brood. «Dammit Travis, now you quit hittin that girl now ya’here?»
If you’re in any way a germ a phobe, avoid the lake, or at least the designated swimming areas.
Otherwise this is just your classic little lake; pretty scenery, good camp grounds, and a small lake for your party pontoon boat. The place is scattered with those permanent BBQ grills that you see in parks, and they charge you by the car to enter. This is pretty standard for campgrounds and helps them keep the place clean and will kept.
I remember a baby sitter taking my sister and I here to go tubing when I was in grade school, and I had an unbelievable time. The rush of an elementary school child being pulled behind a boat at what felt like a hundred miles an hour was an unexpected joy that holds a unique place in my heart, we all have these moments, no matter how shitty our childhood, these are the moments that strive to cancel out the bad times. My day ended when I freaked out after my goggles fell into the lake. That upset me more than it really should have, and is probably a testament to the fact that my own childhood wasn’t so bad.
The other Smithville memory that comes to mind, is a house party I went to. I recall a swarm of wasps threatened to ruin the last minute house party until someones mom busted out several cans of raid. I’m not proud that I drove home that night, I was in no shape to, but high school kids are not known for their great decision making skills. I was able to miss out on my friend Brandon peeing on my other buddy Craig in the back of yet another friend of mine, Brian’s Jeep Cherokee. If I had a night to get urinated on, that was not it. Maybe later.
Anyway, as gross as the public swimming area here is, this spot has so much to offer that if you can’t have a good time here, then you are obviously a robot.

Thanks K.N., –it never occurred to me to review Smithville Lake! It’s the best place I’ve found for riding my road bicycle and in-​line skating! Smokin’ Dave and Bonebender trails are the bomb. If you park at either of those, a donation isn’t required, although it is encouraged (if you park at the campground area, $ 5 to a park ranger is required),. I always stick to the paved trails, although a buddy of mine likes to do the mountain biking thing there. Clean, quiet, great views of the lake, glimpses of deer and other wildlife. Cell phone works on the trails I’ve ridden, which is reassuring. My only complaint is that I have to drive to Smithville to enjoy it, but I couldn’t rationalize subtracting a star for that.

Smithville Lake is yet another dam located in Missouri created by the Army Corp of Engineers. Several activities are a bound here including fishing, boating, sailing, camping, hiking, biking, and horse riding. I chose hiking as my Smithville Lake activity. We, my partner and I, found Smokin Davey’s trailhead located off of W highway past Paradise Missouri.
The main trail is paved and is an easy walk, there are several off shoot trails so it is easy to control the length of your hike as well as challenge, some off shoot trails were unpaved, rocky, and very muddy. We stayed on the paved trail and walked for about three miles around sailboat cove, which had some sailboats in it.
As with all hiking trips, what you see is based off of the season. Because of it being late fall and early spring we saw mostly just mud and dried grasses with some hawks flying around.
It was an excellent hike, and I plan to return to try the other trails.