Kansas The Sunflower State
Kansas the Sunflower State or the state that everyone wants to drive by as quickly as possible when cruising along I-70. Kansas gets a bad reputation since most people think of Kansas as being flat, boring, agricultural, and having no nature or attractions. I to had the same misconception regarding Kansas until I actually moved and lived there for nearly eight years. That’s right, I moved to the Kansas City area for work right after college and have a lot of wonderful memories of this state.
If looking at a map of the United States, Kansas is pretty easy to identify as it is nearly in the center of the Continental United States. It is a long rectangular state bordered by Nebraska to the north, Oklahoma to the south, Missouri to the east, and Colorado to the west. The capital of Kansas is Topeka, and other notable cities include Wichita and Kansas City, KS. For the most part Kansas is relatively flat and covered with a mix of agricultural lands and high plains. About one third of eastern Kansas is hilly with a surprising amount of forests and water. I was fortunate enough to live in eastern Kansas near the Missouri border and it was a beautiful area. By living in Kansas for almost eight years, I made an effort to explore the state as much as possible to show others that Kansas does have a lot to offer and isn’t as boring as we all make it out to be.
For starters, Kansas is a big state, so driving is a must. Like most US States it lacks any decent public transportation, so expect to drive and drive a lot. The towns are spaced out, so distances between cities/towns and any sort of attraction tend to be quite far. With all this in mind, I want to share some of my favorite cities/towns throughout Kansas, ones I feel are worth visiting and a few other attractions related to nature. My hope is that this post will motivate anyone driving through Kansas along I-70 to not just rush through the state and take some time to explore some of the sites that are not well known throughout Kansas.
Lets start with the Capital City of Kansas, Topeka. Topeka is a decent sized city yet is not really known for anything. Most people in the Kansas City area have never even been to Topeka. To be honest, I’ve driven by it a dozen times and never really stopped until one day I decided to take a day trip to Topeka and see the Capitol Building. While doing research, I found that Topeka is home to the Brown V. Board of Education Museum and the Evel Knievel Museum.
- Kansas State Capitol – Construction on the Kansas State Capitol began in 1886 and ended around 1903. Today, you can visit the capitol building and walk up 296 steps to the top of the dome. Although the tour is a guided one, the entrance is free.
- Brown v. Board of Education Museum – 1954. Brown v. Board, was a U.S. Supreme Court case decision stating that it was unconstitutional to segregate children in public schools. The museum was free to enter and explore. The staff working here was very intelligent and informative.
- Evel Knievel Museum – Who knew that Topeka hosted the Evel Knievel Museum. From a local radio station and others, I heard this was a really good museum and well worth a visit. To be honest, I’ve never really been an Evel Knievel fan, but my wife’s family seemed interested in it so we went. I am glad we did because I found it to be fascinating. The museum was two floors and was full of fun information and authentic memorabilia that belonged to Evel Knieval. The museum has “Big Red,” some of Evel Knievel’s original helmets, bikes, merchandise, and an interactive display showing all of his injuries. In his lifetime he had 433 fractures and other injuries. I wouldn’t say I am a big fan of Evel Knievel after visiting the museum but I do have a lot of respect for him now and find his stunts, personality, and lifestyle fascinating.
- Norseman Brewing Company – After spending a day sightseeing, a beer is always necessary. I love Vikings and Norse Mythology, so I was stoked that Topeka has a brewery named Norsemen Brewing Company. Why the name in Topeka and not some place in Norway? Who knows. Either way, this brewery lived up to it’s name. I felt like I was drinking ale in a long house. The beers were all satisfying!
Wichita
Wichita is the largest city in Kansas, about a three hour drive from the Kansas City area. While on a mission to see as much of Kansas as possible, I had to visit Wichita at some point. I was actually quite surprised by this city. It had quite a few attractions that were really memorable and quite a few good breweries. I would say a weekend in Wichita is plenty.
- Tanganyika Wildlife Park – This wildlife park or zoo is actually in Goddard, KS but it’s close enough to Wichita. What makes this zoo unique is that you can have small interactions with selected animals. Some of the interactions included feeding the giraffes, tossing carrots into a hungry hippo’s mouth, and Jill’s favorite, giving cranberries to the lemurs.
- Museum of World Treasure’s – I have a weird fascination with oddities and historical events and heard this museum had the scalp of George Custer’s nephew, Henry Armstrong Reed. Other then a scalp, this museum has a large collection spanning multiple floors. Other items on display include Ivan the T-Rex, shrunken heads, Egyptian mummies, American President signatures, Roman coins, and much more!
- Hopping Gnome and Central Standard Brewing – My first night in Wichita I stopped at Hopping Gnome brewery. I like this brewery mainly because their name and logo. A short walk from here is Central Standard Brewing which might be my favorite brewery in Kansas. Their beers were all strong and flavorful!
Kansas City, Kansas and the Metropolitan Area
I lived in the Kansas City metro area and greatly enjoyed my time here. The Kansas side does not have the attractions and entertainment like the Missouri side of Kansas City but there are quite a few things to do.
- Indian Creek Trail – The Indian Creek Trail is a 22.5 mile urban trail that follows the Indian Creek in Olathe, Kansas. There are many trails that branch off the main one. The trail is primarily wooded and goes by the occasional park and neighborhood.
- Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden – The Botanical Garden in Overland Park is quite nice. I went here a few times and really enjoyed how they incorporated the gardens with the surrounding nature. There is a large pond here with beautiful walkways and flowers/plants scattered throughout. Outside of the actual gardens there are nature trails where you can walk for miles. I highly recommend bug spray though during the summer as I always got bit by mosquitos here.
- Shawnee Mission Park – This urban park consists of 1,250 acres of nature, trails, and other fun outdoor recreational activities. Shawnee Mission Park has a 150 acre, visitors can access the lake for fishing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, and they even have a beach for swimming. Shawnee Mission also has a 44 acre off leash dog park with trails and access to a dog beach.
Lawrence
A 30-40 minute drive west of Kansas City, is the college town of Lawrence. Lawrence is most known for being home of the Jayhawks. I’ve been to Lawrence several times, it is a nice escape from the KC metro area.
- Massachusetts Street – or Mass St, is the main street in Lawrence where you can find all the shops, restaurants, and bars. It’s fun to walk up one side and down the other and pop into a couple local stores.
- Watkins Museum of History – This is a free museum and is located in a beautiful historical building. There are three different floors, visitors can freely walk around. The information and exhibits are primarily local to Lawrence and Douglas County and range from Civil War artifacts to local sports memorabilia.
- Free State Brewery – Free State is supposed to be the first brewery in Kansas and is very popular amongst locals. This brewery is two stories and serves tasty beer and fantastic food.
- Grinter’s Sunflower Farm – Just outside of Lawrence is Grinter’s Sunflower Farm. This farm has become a very popular attraction in the area and visited by many people come August time frame when the sunflowers are in bloom.
Lindsborg
Lindsborg’s claim to fame is their connection with their Swedish heritage. Every other year the town of Lindsborg hosts the Svensk Hyllningsfest. The Svensk Hyllningsfest is a town festival where people gather to eat traditional Swedish cuisine and participate in traditional events. I came to Lindsborg for the fest and I felt a bit underwhelmed. Another nearby attraction is Coronado Heights which is a small castle perched on a hilltop. It is said that the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado ended up here before returning to Mexico.
Hutchinson
Hutchinson Kansas is a typical farming community located about an hour north of Wichita. For being in the middle of Kansas, Hutchinson has a few surprising attractions that are well worth a visit.
- Strataca – This is America’s only underground salt mine that is open to visitors. I’ve been to salt mines in Europe (Sondershausen, Germany and Wieliczka, Poland), and this one was just as impressive. You take an elevator 650 feet below the surface and then can freely wander the mines.
- Cosmosphere – The Cosmosphere is a space museum and is a pretty amazing museum. It has 13,000 items on display. Some of the more noticeable items on display are a SR-71 Blackbird, Mercury-Redstone 4, the Command Module Odyssey from Apollo 13, and many more.
Dodge City
Dodge City has a wild reputation with the Wild Wild West. Fort Dodge was established here in the 1860’s to aid and protect travelers from local Indian tribes. Since then, it’s been known as your typical western town. “Get the Hell out of Dodge.”
I took a road trip from the Kansas City area to Santa Fe to meet family there and stopped in Dodge City for lunch and to see some what this town had to offer. Since I was in Kansas, I have wanted to visit Dodge City. I remember reading one of those travel lists of the best small town in every state and Dodge City was the representative for the state of Kansas. In all honesty, it did not live up to my expectations. There was a fun museum and brewery in town. But other then that the down town was less then desirable and there was not a whole lot else going on. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend visiting Dodge City from I-70, but if you find yourself a little farther south then visiting the Boot Hill Museum is worth an hour of your time.
- Boot Hill Museum – This is an open air museum replicating Dodge City during 1876. There are a few buildings to enter like a jail, saloon, and a school.
- Dodge City Brewing – This was the highlight of my stay in Dodge City. This brewery at the time was fairly new. The inside was nice and open and their beers were very good. The best part of this brewery is their logo, it’s a little cowboy with a hop as his beard.
Nature and State Parks
- Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark – About 25 miles to the south of the town of Oakley, KS is Monument Rocks. Technically, the park is on private land, but the owners are kind enough to open it to visitors during the daylight hours. So definitely treat the area with respect and leave no trash behind. These rocks are upwards of 70 ft tall and were created by the erosion of ancient seabed some 80 millions years ago. Today visitors are welcome to wander around the formations and take pictures of one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.
- Mushroom Rock State Park – This is probably my favorite of the parks in Kansas, mainly because the rock formations are so unique to this area, I’ve never seen anything like it. Mushroom Rock State Park is considered to be the small State Park in Kansas at a whopping 5 acres. There is a parking lot here and a few rock formations on either side of the lot. The name comes from, you guessed it! The rocks look like giant mushrooms.
- Rock City Park – Similar to Mushroom Rock State Park, Rock City is a natural collection of Dakota sandstone formations. The rocks look similar but these do not have the stem like the rocks at Mushroom Rock State Park. Here, you can freely walk around and even climb on top or within the rocks.
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve – This preserve is located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas and is set aside to preserve a portion of the tallgrass prairie that once blanketed the Midwest. According to the National Park Services, only 4% of Tallgrass prairie remain today, it has been taken over by agriculture. Today, visitors can explore the house and barn on the Preserve, hike the many trails, and if lucky spot a herd of Bison that call this National Preserve home.
6 Comments
Gary Bridgford
Got an education just watch this….and only been a Kansas resident since 1974! Thanks!
zimminaround
Kansas has a lot to offer. I was there for 8 years and there are still some things I missed out on.
Lyn Perry
Nice quick overview of some highlights around the state. Yes, Kansas has a lot of offer and isn’t just a flat flyover state, haha! Thanks for sharing some great pictures as well.
zimminaround
Thanks! I agree, there is a lot more to do and see around Kansas then people think. Pretty nature as well!
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