Lake Miola is a 200-acre reservoir on the north edge of Paola, Kansas, inside Lake Miola Park, a city park of roughly 560 acres run by the City of Paola. The lake also serves as the town's municipal water supply, and city code dedicates the park to recreation only so far as that use doesn't conflict with the water system. Swimming is allowed in one place: the sandy swim beach on the west shore near the south end of the lake, which maps label Miola Beach. A pair of sand volleyball courts sits on the grass just behind it.

The park entrance is at 299th Street and Hedge Lane Road, and the caretaker's office is at 22470 W 299th St. From downtown Paola it is about a five-minute drive north. Lake Miola Drive runs up the west side of the lake past the beach, the picnic tables and both campgrounds, and the boat ramp and trailer parking are a short distance southeast of the sand. Park hours are sunrise to sunset every day, with only registered campers allowed to stay overnight.

There is no entry or parking fee and no charge to swim. The city's posted fee schedule covers only camping ($15 a night for primitive sites, $20 with electric, $22 with sewer), private dock leases, and boats with motors over 10 horsepower ($7 a day for Paola and Miami County residents, $15 a day for everyone else). Kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and fishing boats with small motors pay nothing. The city's own rules page says swimming and wading are restricted to the designated swim area, plus within 25 feet of a boat anchored in a no-wake zone. Swimming is daylight only, and the beach has to be cleared whenever the light beside the boat ramp nearest the caretaker's house is switched on. Pets must stay leashed on the grass above the sand, glass is banned on the beach, and alcohol is not allowed on the beach or in the swim area even though it is permitted elsewhere in the park.

This is an open lake beach, not a pool. The city does not list lifeguards, so plan on watching your own group. A 51-year-old man drowned at Lake Miola over Labor Day weekend in 2023. The lake is busy with motorboats, jet skis, water skiers and tubers in summer, so stay inside the swim area. Zebra mussels have been confirmed in the lake since 2015, and their shells can be sharp underfoot on rocks and hard surfaces, so water shoes help. Like other Kansas lakes, Miola can develop blue-green algae in hot weather; skip the water if it looks like green paint or scum, and check KDHE's harmful algal bloom list before a trip. The city reserves the right to close the lake at any time.

Beyond the beach, the park has trails around the lake (the West, South and East Miola Lake trails, with trailhead shelters on either side of the south end), a pirate ship playground, shaded picnic tables with grills, a dog park near the south end, and fishing for largemouth bass, channel and flathead catfish, crappie and bluegill. The campground on the west side runs April 1 through October 31 with a shower house, dump station and a summer camp host, and sites can be reserved online or at the caretaker's office, which is staffed weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at (913) 259-3620.