Are you looking to discover new places, get outside, and learn a thing or two about the great state of Kansas? If you answered yes, you’ve come to the right place, as today we will be taking a look at 13 incredible places in Kansas that are guaranteed to bring out the explorer in you, including:
1. Coronado Heights (Lindsborg)
Channel your inner Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and imagine searching for the seven cities of gold at this recognizable landmark. (Don't give up like Coronado did. We have faith in you!)
2. Castle Rock (Quinter)
and...
3. Monument Rocks (Grinnell)
Both Castle Rock and Monument Rocks are two of the last things you'd expect to see in Kansas, which makes the 80-million-year-old chalk formations that much more fascinating.
4. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Chase County)
What once covered 400,000 square miles of the U.S. is now primarily in the Kansas Flint Hills... what I am referring to is, of course, the tallgrass prairie. Fortunately for us, this 10,894-acre preserve keeps the beautiful and scarce ecosystem protected.
5. Cimarron National Grassland (Morton County)
Let's just say that the Great Plains have never looked greater than they do at this 108,176 acre grassland.
6. Botanica (Wichita)
Become an amateur horticulturist at Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, which features over 17.6 acres of diverse gardens and thousands of different blooms, trees, and plants.
7. Strataca (Hutchinson)
Hop aboard the tram and discover how salt is mined at the only salt mine in the country that allows tourists to visit their facilities.
8. Gypsum Hills (Medicine Lodge)
These hills are alive with a red hue caused by an arid continental closed basin from millions of years ago.
9. Arikaree Breaks (Cheyenne County)
There is nothing bad about these dramatic badlands, which are a three-mile break along the plains caused by erosion some 10,000 years ago.
10. Cosmosphere (Hutchinson)
For a real "out-of-this-world" experience, you will want to check out the amazing Cosmosphere, which houses not only the world's largest collection of US and Russian spaceflight artifacts, but a series of informative classes and lectures as well.
11. Konza Prairie (Manhattan)
With nearly 9,000 acres of the gorgeous native tallgrass prairie, your senses are sure to get swept away by all the sights, sounds, and smells that the Konza Prairie has to offer!
12. Quivira National Wildlife Refuge (Stafford)
You never know what kind of wildlife you'll see at this 22,135 acre paradise! (By the way; did you know that that the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas?! We can certainly see why!)
13. Mushroom Rock State Park (Minneapolis)
Are you still in Kansas or on some strange planet full of these mushroom-like dwellings? Find out for yourself when you visit this historic Kansas marvel.
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