The roads and rails of North Central Kansas take you deep into the heart of the state’s story with “Home on the Range” relics, lodging in an 1899 railroad hotel, and a ride across the Big Blue River on the Central Branch Railroad. The short journey between Waterville and Blue Rapids travels the same…
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PEDALING, PADDLING, AND PRAIRIE HIKES: THESE PARKS DELIVER OUTDOOR PERFECTION WITH A CAPITAL “P.” Photography by Dana Damewood Northeast Paddle And Roll A magnificent seven parks bustle with pedaling, paddling, and other popular pastimes. While many people know northeast Kansas for its urban…
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See Kansas through a pioneer’s wide eyes by watching bison wander the prairie at viewing spots around the state. Here are some of our favorite spots to watch the herds roam. The party of bison hunters piles into covered wagons for a trek across the prairie. Today, they come armed only with cameras…
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Extraordinary woodlands, sunny botanical gardens, and fragrant fields of flowers invite you down their paths for bouquets, inspiration, and show-stopping snaps. Photography by Aaron Patton BARTLETT ARBORETUM BELLE PLAINE Once a rarity on the treeless prairie, this woodland sanctuary flourishes a…
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Pack the camera (and good hiking shoes) to capture sand dunes, sandstone cliffs and pristine waters. Photography by Aaron Patton NORTH CENTRAL ROCKY SHORES Have a field day exploring the sandstone cliffs, jagged shores, and mushroom-shaped rocks at parks strewn across the region. The going gets…
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Explore the remnants of an ancient inland sea, now filled with geological and historical treasures in the western reaches of the state. NORTHWEST RUGGED REVELATIONS An ancient inland sea left behind today’s parklands on the prairie. Explore otherworldly chalk spires and cliffs and parks brimming…
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The wild spaces of southwest Kansas still cut loose today with captivating culture and genuine Western heritage. Towns corral their rowdy charm in bandits’ hideouts, Front Street gunfights, frontier forts, Old West museums and cavernous 109-foot-deep wells. Outside of town, life-filled landscapes…
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Though cattle and cowboys still roam these pastoral lands, there’s no need to saddle up to experience this last big stand of tallgrass prairie in North America. A rich blend of historic sites and modern attractions gets you knee-deep into the boundless beauty, saved from the pioneer plows thanks to…
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Things can get rocky in northwest Kansas, where the chalky pillars and craggy canyons of Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park, Arikaree Breaks and Monument Rocks interrupt the panoramas of plains. Set out from the college town of Hays and its bustling downtown. Just off Interstate-70, Hays forms the…
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Retrace the drama of freedom’s struggles and triumphs in the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area. Spread across 29 Kansas counties (and 12 in our neighboring state to the east), more than 200 museums and heritage sites highlight their roles in the Kansas-Missouri Border War and the shaping of…
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