Kansas

Top 10 Places

(Pictures and places in bold are places I have been to.)

Kan-O-Tex Service Station
Kan-O-Tex Service Station

10. Kansas’ portion of old Route 66

      • Kan-O-Tex Service Station & Diner in Galena
      • Eisler Brothers General Store in Riverton
      • Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge in Riverton
      • Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station in Baxter Springs

9. Lindsborg “Little Sweden USA”

      • Downtown: Wild Dala Horse Herd, Fitz Overalls Ghost Sign inside The Ivory Thimble, and City Hall
      • Restaurants: Blacksmith Coffee Shop & Roastery with Swedish Phone Booth, The White Peacock Tea & Coffee Company, and Crown & Rye
      • History: 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion, McPherson County Old Mill Museum, and Stenhuset
      • Art: Small World Gallery, Birger Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery, and Red Barn Studio Museum
      • Shopping: Hemslojd, Trollslanda Toy Store, and The Good Merchant
      • Nearby: Mushroom Rock State Park, Coronado Heights Castle, and Hoglund Dugout

8. Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison

      • Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum
      • Amelia Earhart Memorial Statue
      • Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum
      • Amelia Earhart Earthwork

Ritchie House Underground Railroad Site, Topeka
Ritchie House Underground Railroad Site, Topeka, Kansas

7. Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (partially in Missouri)

      • Constitution Hall and Ritchie House Underground Railroad (Topeka)
      • Quindaro Underground Railroad Museum (Kansas City, Kansas)
      • Black Jack Battlefield from the Kansas-Missouri Border War
      • Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie
      • Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site
      • Thematically related: Nicodemus National Historic Site

Keeper of the Plains sculpture
Keeper of the Plains sculpture, Wichita, Kansas

6. Wichita

      • Keeper of the Plains sculpture
      • Old Cowtown Museum
      • Wichita Art Museum
      • Frank Lloyd Wright Allen House

Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, Topeka, Kansas

5. Topeka


Santa Fe Trail Shortgrass Prairie
Santa Fe Trail Shortgrass Prairie

4. Santa Fe Trail Shortgrass Prairie

      • Santa Fe Trail Shortgrass Prairie
      • Santa Fe Trail Tracks
      • Santa Fe Trail Tracks Trail
      • Santa Fe Trail Interpretive Plaques

Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas
A gunfight reenactment at Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas

3. Dodge City

      • Boot Hill Museum
      • Old Dodge City National Historic District – Trail of Fame
      • Historic Santa Fe Depot
      • Mueller-Schmidt House – Home of Stone

West Traps Pasture
West Traps Pasture, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

2. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

      • Bottomlands Nature Trail (0.9 miles)
      • Spring Hill Ranch
      • Southwind Nature Trail (2.9 miles)
      • Lower Fox Creek School
Monument Rocks (Chalk Pyramids)
Monument Rocks (Chalk Pyramids), Kansas Badlands

1. Monument Rocks-Kansas Badlands

      • Monument Rocks (Chalk Pyramids) (private land – 0.9 mile trail)
      • Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park – Life on the Rocks Trail (2.4 miles)
      • Smoky Valley Ranch (Nature Conservancy – 1.4 miles short loop or 5.3 big loop)
      • Little Pyramids

State Info

A wheat field of Kansas
A wheat field of Kansas – Amber waves of grain

A) State Nicknames

      • The Sunflower State
      • The Wheat State
      • The Central State
      • The Cyclone State
      • The Battleground of Freedom
      • Bleeding Kansas
      • The Jayhawk State

B) State Symbols

      • Flower: Sunflower (Helianthus)
      • Bird: Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
      • Tree: Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
      • Song: “Home on the Range”
      • Animal: American buffalo (Bison americanus)
      • Grass: Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
      • Mineral: Galena
      • Fish: Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

C) Major Metros

      1. Overland Park-Kansas City (suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri)
      2. Wichita
      3. Topeka (state capital)

D) Just for Fun

      • Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz in Liberal
      • OZ Museum in Wamego
      • Little House on the Prairie Museum
      • Sunflower Fields of Kansas
      • Smallville (sure, it doesn’t actually exist, but who cares!)

E) Historic Sites

      • Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, & Boyhood Home
      • Fort Larned National Historic Site
      • Fort Scott National Historic Site

F) Iconic Foods

      • Burnt Ends
      • Barbecue Ribs
      • Z-Man brisket sandwich
      • Hearty Beef & Cabbage Pockets (Bierocks)
      • Bread

G) Famous People

      • Amelia Earhart
      • Dwight D. Eisenhower