Beach
Being a landlocked Midwesterner in a humid city like ours can be more of a bitch than bitchin’. You could keep your undies in the freezer to beat the heat, as Marilyn Monroe did in The Seven Year Itch. Better yet, check out this list of cool places guaranteed to get you wet.
Do the Swim
Bluejacket Pool
10101 Bond, Overland Park
913-327-5671
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Brush Creek Community Center
3801 Brush Creek Boulevard
816-513-0738
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday
Budd Park
5600 Budd Park Esplanade
816-784-2600
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday
Gillham Pool
41st Street and Gillham
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Gregg Klice Community Center
1600 John Buck O’Neil Way
816-784-1163
12:30-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Grove Park
Truman Road and Benton Boulevard
816-784-2500
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday
Line Creek Community Center
5940 Waukomis Drive
816-513-0760
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday
Marty Pool
7405 Conser, Overland Park
913-327-5672
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Roe Pool
10400 Roe, Leawood
913-327-5673
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Roeland Park Aquatic Center
4830 Rosewood Drive, Roeland Park
Noon-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday,
noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Stonegate Pool
9701 Antioch, Overland Park
913-327-5674
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Swope Park Pool
Swope Park, 67th Street and Lewis Road 816-513-8915
12:30-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
Tomahawk Ridge Aquatic Center
11950 Lowell, Overland Park
913-327-5675
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Tony Aguirre Community Center
2050 West Pennway, 816-784-1300
Noon-8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday
West Terrace Park
16th Street and Jarboe
1-6 p.m. daily
Young’s Pool
8421 West 77th Street, Overland Park
913-327-5676
Noon-8 p.m. daily
Slide, Sally, Slide
Great Wolf Lodge
10401 Cabela Drive, Kansas City, Kansas, 800-608-9653
The stupid-huge indoor water park at Cabela’s Great Wolf Lodge boasts 38,000 square feet of soaking-wet thrills, including Totem Tower, a three-story body slide; Alberta Falls, a 626-foot-long tube that twists and turns all over the park; and Fort Mackenzie, a five-story treehouse that would make the Swiss Family Robinson pant with jealousy. Thunder Bay is a giant outdoor pool with spray geysers and water basketball for the kids and poolside beverage service for grown-ups. The Bay’s Oasis Bar and Grill books live music on Saturdays. Call for rates.
Oceans of Fun
4515 Northeast Worlds of Fun Drive
816-303-5065
Kansas City’s largest water park offers 60 acres filled with twisting slides and other attractions. Rent an inner tube at Toobie or Not Toobie and zip around Aruba Tuba, a slide with a 43-foot drop. Test your canoe and kayak skills at Buccaneer Bay, or check out Paradise Falls, where little squirts get doused in 1,000 gallons of water every five minutes. Adults can find a boozy oasis at Castaway Cove, the swim-up bar that serves frozen piña coladas and other tropical delights. Regular admission is $26.95, but check the Web site for group rates and discounts.
Springs Aquatic Center at Tiffany Hills Park
9400 North Congress
816-880-0279
This modern aquatic center boasts slides, splash playgrounds, an Olympic-size competitive pool and a lazy river with a vortex — which sounds scary but is actually pretty relaxing. Center staffers teach fun fitness classes such as water aerobics and lap swim, and there’s competitive swimming for children. Daily admission costs $5 to $8, with discounted twilight rates after 5 p.m. The park also offers bargains on group admission, birthday parties and season passes.
Super Splash USA
53rd Place and Raytown Road, Raytown 816-356-5300
Super Splash bills itself as “the finest little water park in America.” This quaint Raytown wet spot is filled with activities for everybody. Ornery pipsqueaks will love water-balloon battle station Water Wars. Old-school video gamers will dig the Okefenokee Romp, where challengers test their navigational skills by leaping across lily pads and floating logs — it’s like “Frogger” for people. Adventurers will be drawn to Super Splash’s latest attraction, Rocky Mountain Avalanche, where thrill seekers jump on a three-person raft and hot-dog it down 35 feet of superfast slide action. The park offers cheap family, single day and season passes; birthday-party rates for kids ages 2 to 12; and group discounts on weekdays.
Go Fish
Relax, toss back a few and get in some heavy-duty bonding time with the old man as you cast your rod into these local fishing-friendly lakes. We hate to get heavy on you, but whether it’s a local fishin’ hole or a lake marina, you need to get a permit before you bait that hook. In Missouri you can purchase permits online at wildlifelicense.com/mo, by phone at 800-392-4115 or at a local permit vendor. In Kansas, call 800-918-2877 or see kdwp.state.ks.us.
Antioch Park
65th Street and Antioch, Merriam
Bales Lake
In Blue Valley Park, East 24th Street and Topping Avenue
Bonner Lake
126th Street and State Avenue, Bonner Springs
Chaumiere Lake
In Chaumiere Woods Park, Northeast 43rd Street and North Indiana Avenue
Englewood Lake
In Englewood Park, Englewood Road and North Troost Avenue
Heritage Park
16050 Pflumm, Olathe
Kill Creek Park
11670 Homestead Lane, Olathe
Klapmeyer Lake
In Klapmeyer Park, West 126th Street and State Line Road
Lake of the Woods
In Swope Park, Gregory Boulevard and Oldham Road
Lakewood Greenway Lakes
In Lakewood Greenway, Northeast 46th Street and North Norton Avenue
North Terrace Lake
In Kessler Park, Chestnut Trafficway and Cliff Drive
Penn Valley Lake
In Penn Valley Park, West 27th Street and Broadway
Pierson Lake
55th Street and Douglas, Kansas City, Kansas
Shawnee Mission Park Lake
79th Street and Renner Road, Shawnee
Smith Lake. In Smith Park, East 135th Street and Prospect Avenue
Spring Valley Lake
In Spring Valley Park, 27th Street and Brooklyn
Thomas S. Stoll Memorial Park
12500 West 119th Street, Overland Park
Troost Lake
East 29th Street and the Paseo
Wyandotte County Lake
91st Street and Leavenworth Road,
Kansas City, Kansas
Giddy’up Guppies
Kids Fishing Rodeo
This 10th-annual event for kids 12 and younger kicks off Saturday, June 16, at Shawnee Mission Park Lake (79th Street and Renner Road, Shawnee). Registration for the two-hour contest begins at 8 a.m. near the marina, where the first 100 lucky kids get goodie bags filled with fisher-friendly booty. After the competition, prizes go to young buckaroos who wrangle the biggest and heaviest catch. Call 913-438-8075, ext. 1362, for more informatiaon, or e-mail the park ranger at info@jcprd.com.
Kids Fishing Derby
On Saturday, June 23, kids ages 5 to 15 are invited to the Kansas City Parks and Recreation and Urban American Outdoors Second Annual Kids Fishing Derby at Spring Valley Park (27th Street and Brooklyn). Grown-ups must preregister and accompany the young participants gunning to catch the most fish. Organizers provide the worms, but fishers need their own rods and reels. This free event runs from 9 a.m. to noon. Call 913-334-5177 for more information and to register.
Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead
138th Street and Switzer in Overland Park. A scenic sanctuary for flora and fauna, the Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead holds its third fishing tourney on Saturday, August 25. Admission is $10 a person, and the Web site suggests registering before July 5 because the competition is limited to 60 teams. In this contest, fishers make like Huck Finn with old-fashioned cane poles and a bucket of worms provided by Farmstead. Each team gets two gift bags, and after the two-hour contest, trophies go to the winners of each category. Check-in time is 7:30 a.m. Call 913-897-2360 for more information.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Wipeout!
There’s no surf on our turf, but we do have all kinds of lakes to perfect our barefoot water-skiing moves.
Blue Springs Lake Marina
1500 Northeast Bowlin Road, Lee’s Summit 816-795-1112
Fishing boats, pontoons and water skis abound on this 720-acre stretch of water. The Blue Springs Lake Marina offers conveniences such as boat rental, concessions, lakeside gasoline pumps, and bait and tackle for sale.
Lake Jacomo Marina
7401 West Park Road, Blue Springs
816-795-8888
On Saturday, June 23, Lake Jacomo hosts “Lake Fest,” a family-friendly celebration of all things lake. Festivities include live music, a massive water-balloon contest, boat rides and a fireworks finale. Lake Fest begins at 5 p.m., tickets cost $7 a vehicle. Call 816-503-4876 for more info.
Longview Lake Marina
9898 Longview Road
816-966-0131
Rent a pontoon for an all-day lake party or go tubing on a boat built for speed at this 930-acre stretch of water located minutes away from the metro.
Smithville Lake
17201 Paradesian, Smithville
816-407-3400
This massive 7,200-acre lake is a popular summer stomping ground for jet-skiing, power boating and sailing. Two full-service marinas offer boat and slip rental, fuel and equipment sales. Other amenities include swimming beaches, campgrounds and fishing.r
