Acorns Resort can be found in Milford, Kansas, located on the east side of Milford Lake. The resort has a campground with 61 RV sites and 37 pre-built living arrangements split amongst cabins and a lodge with hotel-like rooms. Acorns Resort also has a restaurant called The Cove that does catering for the resort's conference center, a place where guests can hold events like weddings, family reunions, and more. Acorns Wild is one of the most recent additions to the property and allows visitors to hire a professional guide to hunt wild pheasants and other game birds. The establishment holds daily scavenger hunts and may also have activities like fishing tournaments every so often.
Acorns Resort has a total of 61 RV locations, 26 cabins, nine lodge rooms, and three Mongolian-styled yurts. One of the cabins is called the Maple Grove School House, which used to be a schoolhouse before it was converted to a private residence, making it one of the largest living spaces available at the resort.
RV spaces are made available by way of a lottery-like system. If a person's name gets pulled, then they can choose to reserve an RV slot. Roughly 75% of them can be rented out seasonally in seven-month contracts during the summer. The other 25% can be rented out for three-month contracts during the winter months. All but two of the RV spaces come with full hook-ups, including water, sewage, and electrical.
The 25 cabins are all similar in design, but vary in location. Several are found closer to Lake Milford, while others are in more secluded areas of the resort, offering more privacy. The most popular cabins on the property tend to be numbers six and seven. These accommodations are located at the waterfront and can sleep up to 12 people at a time. Size may vary between cabins, but they all come equipped with a kitchen, microwave, coffee maker, basic cookware, silverware, plates, bowls, a full bathroom, wireless internet, and a television. Additionally, there is a charcoal barbeque grill and fire pit on the porch.
The lodges are all part of the same building and offer amenities like a kitchen, full bathroom, television, wireless internet, microwave, coffee maker, and a front porch that is shared with the other lodge rooms.
The property also owns a number of other features and amenities, including a shooting range called Acorns Wild. At Acorns Wild, visitors can hunt wild pheasants and other birds in the fields. There are several guides that they can choose from to take them out and show them how to hunt the area most effectively. For those staying at Acorns Resort, the business is able to bus people down to the Acorns Wild area, where they can go on a guided hunt with a local professional. Three meals are provided, and once the hunt is over, they will be brought back to the resort.
Fishing is another popular pastime in Milford, as Milford Lake is full of various fish like catfish, bass, walleye, wipers, crappie, and more. The property will sometimes hold tournaments for their guests to compete in regarding a specific fish. At Milford Lake, guests can take their boats out on the water and do some fishing, paddle boarding, water skiing, and other activities. Acorns Resort owns two beaches, allowing guests to stay on the shoreline and relax. A full-service restaurant called the Cove can be found near the lake, as well. The Cove is a bar and grill restaurant that serves hamburgers and tacos and is open during lunch and dinner times. In the summer, they set up a tiki bar that can serve drinks to those sitting on the patio. During the warmer months of the year, The Cove may have live music playing on the weekends.
For people that would like to hold events like family reunions or weddings, they can be held at the conference center, which the restaurant can cater for if they would like. The convenience store doubles as the information center and sells a variety of items including souvenirs, t-shirts, shot glasses, beer, wine, snacks, and toiletries. It is at the information center where visitors, whether they are staying at the resort or not, can rent items like paddleboards, pontoons, games, and more. Finally, there is a hiking trail that is about 3.2 miles long that begins on the property and takes visitors to the surrounding area and by the lake.
The owner of Acorns Resort, whose name is Mike, wants guests to feel like they are the only ones there. They try to make it so that even if they are at full capacity, it is still quiet, and guests can have peace of mind during their stay. One thing that helps visitors feel this way is that there are a large number of trees and the living spaces are relatively separate from each other. The manager explains that she interacts with her guests as often as possible and tries to help out where she can. Acorns Resort has what they call a "culture statement" regarding the kind of culture they would like to try to cultivate. The statement reads, "Care like a family, reliable, be ready, be professional, do it right, adaptable, adjust to succeed, communicate, be honest and kind, positive smile and be personable, accommodate, find solutions, accountable for your own results, collaborate, teamwork, integrity, sincerity, inclusive, better together, unique, be you."
Acorns Resort is able to host a wide range of activities and events, thanks to the convenience store, which also serves as an information center and a conference center. One of the managers runs the conference center, which is where visitors are able to hold weddings, family reunions, and more. There are a number of different packages, especially for weddings, that guests can choose from. For events that would like to have food, The Cove Restaurant can do the catering.
Something that is unique to Acorns Resort is that they hold a daily scavenger hunt called the Squirrel Club Scavenger Hunt. There is a specific pose, such as a salute or peace sign, that is chosen every day at 5:00 in the evening. Visitors must then find at least 10 of 20 chosen objects and take pictures of them while they do the pose. Once they have enough pictures, they turn them into the information center and will receive a wristband. Guests that do the scavenger hunt five days in a row and get all five colored wristbands can then trade them in for an Acorn's Resort squirrel stuffed animal.
A policy that Acorns Resort enforces is quiet hours, which start at 11:00 p.m. and goes on until 8:00 a.m. Additionally, a 25% down payment on all reservations is required. This goes for both living arrangements as well as renting things like kayaks and paddleboards. The resort is pet-friendly but does require a fee of 25 dollars per night per pet in their cabins or hotels rooms. There is no fee for those that are staying in their RVs. Dogs, cats, birds, and other animals, are allowed so long as their owners are responsible and clean up after them.
The manager of Acorns Resort explains that the property has a motto that they attempt to follow: "Be the clear choice for extraordinary lakeside resort experience that is inspiring, evolving, and cares for our guests, community, and team." Another specific quote that is stated to staff members at the resort is "Deliver high value, outdoor-based recreation, lodging, dining, and events." Hundreds of reviews have been left from people who have visited Acorns Resort in the past. Many of them mention the location and how close it is to the lake. One person writes, "The property is beautifully kept, and they have a great on-site restaurant with good food and fantastic outdoor patio overlooking the lake." The busiest time of the year for the establishment tends to be between the Labor Day and Memorial Day holidays.
Mike purchased the property in 2005 and is still the current proprietor today. In 2007, three cabins were added to the Acorns Resort and opened to the public, with more cabins being added over the course of the next few years. They began opening the lodge rooms in 2009, and the Mongolian-styled yurts were finished in 2018. The conference center and The Cove are five years old, and the store was expanded a couple of years after that.
Acorns Wild is their newest addition to the property, allowing guests to hunt while they are staying at the resort. Not only that, but Acorns Wild also holds history from when the area was first founded and the years before it was ever a resort and campground.
The establishment was initially built by Mike's parents, and it was passed down to him when they decided to leave the industry. His father used to be a state park ranger. This previous background of work led him to want to own a business where people can spend time in the outdoors. The manager of the location explains that one of her favorite parts about the job is meeting people from all over the world. Acorn Resort is built right next to a military base, so many people that come to the area are visiting a friend or family member who is currently stationed at the base.
The property has many plans in the future to try to make it a better experience for those who visit. One thing they would like to get done soon is to finish adding full hook-ups to the remaining two RV sites that don't have them. They also plan on adding more yurts and would like to add a shower and restroom closer to the current yurts as they currently only have a port-a-potty and no showers. Those staying at the yurts have to walk to the showers that are by the cabins if they would like to use those facilities. The owner would also like to build a new restroom that would be close to the lake and boat launch so guests do not have to walk to the information center. Finally, there are plans to add more cabins to Acorns Resort.
3710 Farnum Creek Rd.
Milford, Kansas 66514
United States
Campground
Mike
