A Few Feet Off Trail: The Quiet Magic of Lake Georgia-Sue
A golf course turned horse rescue turned hiker refuge — and one of the most unexpectedly moving stops on the ADT. Here's the story Rhiis & Sara brought back.
Most of the best places on a long trail aren't on the map. You find them because you needed water, or shade, or a place to sit down for a minute — and then something keeps you there longer than you meant to stay.
That's exactly how Rhiis and Sara found Lake Georgia-Sue this month. They stopped to see if there was water. It ended up taking willpower just to leave.
A golf course, then 800 horses, then something harder to name
The land has had a few lives. It started as a golf course. Then a man named Fred bought it and turned it into a place to rehabilitate horses, and not on a small scale. Over roughly three years, the operation rehabilitated and rehomed more than 800 of them.
What it's becoming now is the part that sticks with you.
Fred has begun opening the property as a campground and has tied it to something bigger: a partnership with Good Samaritan and similar programs to give people without a stable place to land a base from which to work while they rebuild their lives. Not a handout — a footing. Somewhere to put your roots down for a while and be part of a working place.
You hear it in how the people there talk about it. Rhiis and Sara got a full tour thanks to a man called 'Cowboy.' Shane answered an ad to chop firewood and simply never left. That turned out to be a common thread: a lot of the folks working the property arrived for one small reason and stayed. As Rhiis and Sara put it, the place has "a very peaceful and almost magical atmosphere to it. Everyone is so friendly."
What's actually there for a hiker/biker
This isn't a someday project you admire from the fence line. It's already a real stop:
- A campground you're welcome to stay at
- A farmers market and an on-site antiques shop
- Trail rides with the horses in the works, plus kids' camps they've already run
- And the part every thru-hiker cares about: whether you're staying the night or just passing, you're welcome to stop in, grab a hot shower, and pull a cold water out of the fridge in the office.
Rhiis and Sara summed up the strange, good feeling of the place:
"It is kind of wild to think that, just a few feet off trail, there's a place like this where not only are you welcome to stay for a night, but you're welcome to put your roots down and become part of a team — the members of which are all very clearly happy to be here." - Rhiis Lopez
The ADT is full of road walks and county-road monotony where you put your head down and grind out miles. And then, a few feet off the trail, there's a place quietly doing something kind.
Worth slowing down for. ⛰️
Lake Georgia Sue
Rhiis & Sara
Westbound - Southern Route
Began: February 21, 2025 - Cape Henlopen, DE
Paused: November 5, 2025 - Julesburg, CO
Restarted: March 10, 2026 - Illinois/Indiana Line - Southern Route
Support Links: ImHikingAmerica, TrailJournals, YouTube, Venmo
'You enjoy the shade you can find in Kansas" - Rhiis Lopez
The rest of Segment 7 got a refresh, too
Rhiis and Sara didn't just find one gem — they sent in a stack of updates as they moved through this month, and we've folded all of it into the refreshed Guide and Gaia GPS data. A few of the highlights:
- Post office & general delivery details — confirmed hold windows and call-ahead requirements for Herington, Allen, Pomona, Baldwin City, and Lawrence (which has a generous 30-day hold), plus a heads-up on the stops that don't take general delivery.
- Current lodging & camping prices — fresh 2026 rates up and down the segment, including Pomona State Park, the Cottage House in Council Grove, Lamont Hill, and a lovely exchange with Carol at Salt Creek Ranch & Bunkhouse (used to thru-hikers, very kind — call ahead).
- Water status — what's flowing and what isn't: working pumps at Veterans Memorial Park (Osage City) and beside the Pomona post office, a reliable fill-up north of the Douglas County line, and a note that the Massachusetts Street fountain in Lawrence is currently out.
- Resupply & Amazon Lockers — verified stores through Osage City, Ottawa, and Lawrence, plus a long list of lockers for the mail-drop crowd.
- Little finds worth the stop — a patch of blackberry bushes, a roadside farm stand (homemade jams, bread, eggs; cash or Venmo), an underpass that doubles as a dry refuge in a downpour, and a couple of generous Warmshowers hosts around Lawrence.
Huge thanks to Rhiis and Sara for the field notes and photos that made this update — and this story — possible. The trail runs on hikers looking out for the hikers behind them.
And if you pass through Lake Georgia-Sue, tell Fred and the crew the trail sent you.
Hike Your Hike - John.
