Wabasis Lake Park started with 38 acres and a vanished cave

Kent County began Wabasis Lake Park in 1930 by buying 38 wooded acres on the lake’s west shore for $2,000. The property had a bubbling spring, a scenic overlook, and a limestone cave. The county says the park was named for Chief John Wabasis, who had lived in the area.

The cave carried a local story about hidden treasure. People searched for it for years, but Kent County says nothing was ever found. Road construction later filled most of the cave. The county records the tale as a legend, not a proven event.

The park kept growing. Its campground and swimming beach opened in 1974, when beach admission cost 50 cents per car and a campsite cost $3.50 a night. Today’s park covers about 104 acres with more than a mile of shoreline on the 400-acre lake.

Wabasis now has 75 campsites, eight rental cabins, a lakefront cottage, a sand beach, a boat ramp, and wooded trails. The old cave is mostly gone, but the land around it became one of Kent County’s fullest lake parks.