Kansas Byways

Drive Smoky Valley Scenic Byway to see sunsets like this. Add a wheat field waving in the breeze, and we have a beautiful portrait of Kansas. https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/smoky-valley/

Visit Wilson Lake and see this stunning shoreline. The rock formations consist of alternating layers of limestone and shale. Wilson Lake is located on Post Rock Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/wilson-state-fishing-lake-%26-wildlife-area/57537/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/post-rock/

Alma is the City of Native Stone. Several retail businesses and the Wabaunsee County Historical Society & Museum are located in stone buildings. Visit Alma for a day of shopping, great food, and a dose of history. Alma is located on Native Stone Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/places-to-visit/cities/alma/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/

The Arikaree Breaks are located on the northern edge of Cheyenne County just a few miles east of Land & Sky Scenic Byway. The stunning views of the gullies and rock formations are comprised of loess rocks, which are a mixture of wind deposits from sand, silt, and clay. The breaks are 36 miles long and approximately two to three miles wide. https://www.travelks.com/listing/arikaree-breaks/16009/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/land-and-sky/

Visit Luigi's Pit Stop in Galena and see characters from the Pixar movie "Cars," including Lightning McQueen, Luigi, and the Sheriff of Radiator Springs. Galena is on Kansas Route 66 Historic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/luigis-pit-stop/48074/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/route-66/

Carry Nation lived in this house when she smashed her first saloon on June 1, 1900, in a town 20 miles away. The Carry Nation Home Museum is located in Medicine Lodge and is on Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/stockade-museum-%26-carry-nation-home/346/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/gypsum-hills/

Visit Atchison and tour the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum to see where the famed aviator spent her early childhood. Amelia's maternal grandfather began construction on the wood-frame, Gothic Revival cottage in 1861. She was born in the house on July 24, 1897. Atchison is located on Glacial Hills Scenic Byway. https://www.ameliaearhartmuseum.org/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/glacial-hills/

Drive along the rolling hills of Frontier Military Historic Byway and visit Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott. The fort was an active military installation from 1842 to 1873. This interpretive sign provides the details of a tragedy that occurred during the Bleeding Kansas era. https://www.nps.gov/fosc/index.htm https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/frontier-military/

Lower Fox Creek School overlooks Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. The limestone building, completed in 1882, is located in Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City. https://www.nps.gov/tapr/learn/photosmultimedia/virtual-tour-lower-fox-creek-school.htm https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/flint-hills/

Sunsets are beautiful at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. Sunrises, too. Drive along Wetlands & Wildlife National Scenic Byway and catch a sunrise or sunset at Cheyenne Bottoms or any other picturesque spot on the route. You'll have many such places to choose from. https://www.travelks.com/listing/cheyenne-bottoms-wildlife-area/23307/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/wetlands-and-wildlife/

Explore Monument Rocks, the first National Natural Landmark in Kansas. Rising up to 50 feet above ground and descending 300 feet below, this Niobrara chalk formation was created during the late Cretaceous Period. The area was covered by the Western Interior Seaway which extended from the present day Gulf of Mexico north through Canada. When the sea receded, it left behind marine sedimentary deposits and fossils. Monument Rocks is located near Western Vistas Historic Byway. https://www.visitoakleyks.com/monument-rocks https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/western-vistas/

Schoolhouses from the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be found throughout Kansas. Wilcox School was built of native limestone in 1886. For 60 years, the school served Wilcox Township, a rural settlement approximately 16 miles south of WaKeeney. The limestone was quarried along the south side of the Smoky Hill River, a half mile south of the building site, and hauled across the river on low-water bridges and natural fords. Wilcox School is located on Smoky Valley Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/wilcox-school/3581/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/smoky-valley/

Check out the amazing view from the top of Coronado Heights. Prairie is all around, and bison ocasionally graze in the valley below. The stone structure was built in 1936 as a project of the Works Progress Administration. Coronado Heights is located northwest of Lindsborg near Prairie Trail Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/coronado-heights/5914/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/prairie-trail/

On July 26 and 27, join the fun at the annual After Harvest Czech Fest in Wilson as the town honors its Czech heritage. See the parade, Czech dancers, and the Miss Czech Princess Pageant. LIsten to live music. Check out the carnival rides, arts and crafts booths, and add a tasty treat from a food vendor. Wilson is located on Post Rock Scenic Byway. https://wilsonczechfest.com/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/post-rock/

Check out the giant grasshopper located in Goodland on Land & Sky Scenic Byway. Local farmer Lloyd Harden created the metal insect from worn-out machinery parts. http://www.getruralkansas.org/Goodland/210Explore/1802.shtml https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/land-and-sky/

Colorful murals brighten the exteriors of several buildings along Kansas Route 66 Historic Byway. Many feature the history of the Mother Road in Kansas. This mural is in Miner's Park in Galena. https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/route-66/

Visit a Kansas lake this weekend! Most state parks include a lake, as do many municipalities. Lake Coldwater is a gem managed by the City of Coldwater, located near Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway. https://www.coldwaterks.org/coldwater-lake.html https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/gypsum-hills/

Haying season begins soon in Kansas. Drive Glacial Hills Scenic Byway to see fields of hay bales like this one near Atchison. https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/ https://www.travelks.com/places-to-visit/cities/atchison/

Wamego's annual Independence Day celebration includes a parade, car show, carnival, and fireworks display. It's an Oz-some fun time! Wamego is located near Native Stone Scenic Byway.
Holiday events are scheduled all across Kansas. For more information, visit the Events page at TravelKS.com. https://www.travelks.com/events/holiday-events/ https://www.travelks.com/places-to-visit/cities/wamego/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/native-stone/

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site is the only remaining stagecoach stop on the Santa Fe Trail preserved for the public. Discover what life was like in the years following the Civil War. Take a stagecoach ride, explore the 1865 Mahaffie house, lend a hand with farm chores, visit the animals, and listen to the blacksmith hammer iron. The Mahaffie site is located in Olathe near the Frontier Military Historic Byway. https://www.mahaffie.org/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/frontier-military/

The 113-feet tall French Renaissance Chase County Courthouse is the oldest working courthouse in Kansas. It was built with native limestone and completed in 1873. The courthouse is located in Cottonwood Falls on Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/chase-county-courthouse/12129/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/flint-hills/

Visit the 22,135 acre Quivira National Wildlife Refuge featuring a unique combination of rare inland salt marsh and sand prairie. Big Salt Marsh (pictured) looks like a small lake but smells like the ocean. In Spring and Summer, the wildlife refuge is home to nesting bird species such as snowy plovers, American avocets, black-necked stilts, interior least terns and blue-winged teal. Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is located on Wetlands & Wildlife National Scenic Byway. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/quivira https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/wetlands-and-wildlife/

Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park showcases a mile-long stretch of 100-foot-tall spires and cliffs of eroded Niobrara Chalk, a layer of rock deposited 85 million years ago. Niobrara Chalk was formed by sediment that settled at the bottom of an inland ocean called the Western Interior Seaway which covered most of central North America 140 to 70 million years ago. Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park is located near Western Vistas Historic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/little-jerusalem-badlands-state-park/35972/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/western-vistas/

Beat the heat with a spin around Cedar Bluff Reservoir on jet skis or in a boat. Then pitch a tent in the campground at Cedar Bluff State Park and enjoy the stars in the wide open night sky. Located on Smoky Valley Scenic Byway. https://www.travelks.com/listing/cedar-bluff-state-park-reservoir-and-wildlife-area/665/ https://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/Locations/Cedar-Bluff https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/smoky-valley/

Take a drive on Prairie Trail Scenic Byway and visit Mushroom Rock State Park to see some of the most unusual rocks. The Dakota formations are the remains of beach sands and sediments of the Cretaceous Period, the interval of geologic time from 144 to 66 million years ago. Sandstone and sedimentary rock are held together by natural cement. The largest rock measures 27 feet in diameter. https://www.travelks.com/listing/mushroom-rock-state-park/442/ https://www.travelks.com/things-to-do/byways-and-highways/byways/prairie-trail/