HEARTLAND COVE NEWS AND UPDATES (This is from the February HNC monthly Newsletter)
As we all know the weather is getting warmer (even though we all know Mother Nature still can’t make up her mind as of yet)! This means that soon more of us that prefer the warmer temperatures will soon be leaving the confines of our homes and venturing out into the great outdoors more often, especially those of us who use/ frequent Heartland Cove. As a service to all of our new and existing members that may not be familiar with the Heartland Cove the HNC Officers are dedicating a little space to talk about the Cove in this edition of the newsletter.
Heartland Cove is an isolated cove on the northwest side of Smithville Lake. It is located approximately 8 miles north of Smithville and just 2 miles off of Highway 169. For complete directions please see the Heartland Cove web page at
http://cirrus.kcsky.net/cove/. Heartland Cove has been used for nude sunbathing and skinny-dipping since 1997 it is however not an officially signed or sanctioned area for nude use. Other Smithville Lake users may be present or show up while you are out at the Cove, as may members of any of several different law enforcement agencies. So far there has been no known citations issued for any of the Heartland Cove visitors, and we Cove users generally do not have problems from anyone.
As of Sunday March 6th, 2005 there was plenty of beach space for anyone to layout on that wanted to probably in the range of 15 to 20 ft (this is being conservative as I didn’t actually measure it, just my guestamation). The water level is at 862ft so this will give you a good idea of how much beach there is at this level of water. My family (wife, our 2 kids, and myself) all spent probably close to an hour to an hour and a half out there on Sunday. We had two others, who were out there at the same time, as we were (Six of us on the beach all at once).
Some things for all of us to remember when we are out at the Cove is that our use of the Cove has been tolerated/ overlooked by the law enforcement community because we don’t cause problems while we are out there. We respect the land and the people who do live out there on the road on which we park. So long as we are respectful of the land and the residents we should continue to not have any problems out at the Cove.
With this in mind here are some simple rules/ etiquette for us to all remember. (Borrowing some of the word from the Nude Beach Etiquette Link)
1) Stay clothed until you are down at the beach area of the Cove, and please be clothed when you return to your vehicle.
2) The Cove area that we use extends from the inside of the point on the north side of the beach to the inside of the point on the south side of the beach please stay within these two landmarks as these are the Cove boundaries. (Our cove is shaped like a crescent moon)
3) The Cove and any other naturist location ARE NOT a place for overt sexual activity of any type. This type of activity undermines our image and only strengthens what society as a whole already thinks about us, and could cost us our freedom and enjoyment of the Cove.
4) Please respect the privacy of others who maybe out at the Cove. As stated before this is not a signed and sanctioned area and there may be other Smithville Lake users present.
5) What you pack in you pack out, if you see trash on our beach, the trail to the Cove or where we park pick it up and take it out with you. (And even better take out more than you took in, I always bring a spare trash bag along with me for picking up trash from the Cove area)
6) Wear water shoes when in the water, and check the area you are swimming in before performing any water acrobatics or diving. There could possibly be tree branches, hooks, or glass below you.