Things to do in Kansas
25 places worth stopping for and 1 places to stay on a road trip through Kansas.
See and do
- Walk
Walk · Strong City
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Walk and bus-tour the last big piece of Flint Hills tallgrass prairie.
- Roadside oddity
Roadside oddity · OakleyHidden gem
Monument Rocks
Chalk spires and arches rising from the prairie like a small desert city.
Museum · HutchinsonHidden gem
Cosmosphere
A space museum with real Apollo and Soviet artefacts in a small Kansas city.
- Roadside oddity
Roadside oddity · LucasHidden gem
Garden of Eden
A civil war veteran's concrete sculpture garden, and his mausoleum, in a tiny prairie town.
Museum · HutchinsonHidden gem
Strataca (Kansas Underground Salt Museum)
Ride a lift 650 feet down into a working-salt-mine museum.
- Wildlife
Wildlife · Great BendHidden gem
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
One of the biggest inland wetlands in the US, packed with migrating birds.
- Scenic drive
Scenic drive · Cottonwood FallsHidden gem
Flint Hills Scenic Byway (K-177)
A slow drive across rolling tallgrass hills with almost no traffic.
- History
History · RivertonHidden gem
Rainbow Bridge, Riverton
The last surviving Marsh arch bridge on Route 66.
- History
History · Galena
Cars on the Route (Kan-O-Tex Service Station)
Restored 1934 service station with the old tow truck that inspired Mater.
Roadside oddity · MarquetteHidden gem
Mushroom Rock State Park
Tiny state park of mushroom-shaped sandstone boulders on the Smoky Hills.
Lake · Scott CityHidden gem
Scott State Park
Spring-fed canyon lake in western Kansas with a Pueblo ruin and hill views.
Roadside oddity · MinneapolisHidden gem
Rock City
Two hundred round sandstone boulders scattered across a pasture.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · LindsborgHidden gem
Coronado Heights
A small stone shelter on a hilltop with views over the Smoky Valley.
- History
History · Larned
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Remarkably intact 1860s army post beside the Santa Fe Trail.
Museum · Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
The Topeka school at the heart of the 1954 desegregation ruling.
- Roadside oddity
Roadside oddity · Cawker CityHidden gem
World's Largest Ball of Twine
A town-built ball of sisal twine that grows each August.
Museum · Dodge City
Dodge City Boot Hill Museum
A reconstructed Old West main street with gunfights and a saloon show.
Roadside oddity · GreensburgHidden gem
Big Well Museum
The largest hand-dug well in the world, with a spiral stair to the water.
Town · LindsborgHidden gem
Lindsborg
A Swedish-settled town with Dala horses, a bakery and a small arts scene.
- Museum
Museum · Hays
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Kansas inland-sea fossils, including the famous fish-within-a-fish.
- Museum
Museum · Abilene
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Boyhood Home
Eisenhower's boyhood home, museum and grave in a small Kansas town.
- History
History · Fort Scott
Fort Scott National Historic Site
Restored 1840s army fort with a tallgrass prairie and a brick Main Street.
- History
History · RivertonHidden gem
Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store
1925 roadside general store, still trading and home to the Kansas Route 66 association.
- History
History · Baxter Springs
Baxter Springs Route 66 Visitor Center
Tudor-revival Phillips 66 station turned into the Kansas Route 66 information stop.
- History
History · Pawnee RockHidden gem
Pawnee Rock State Historic Site
A sandstone outcrop on the Santa Fe Trail where travellers carved their names.
Food stops
Places to stay
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Plan the drive, not just the stops
Roadtrip works out what the drive costs in fuel for your car, splits it into days with the best stops and places to sleep, and finds the cheapest fuel on the way.
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