Karl Janssen - Central and Western Kansas

Central and Western Kansas

Artworks inspired by this location

Most people think that Kansas is pretty boring, just someplace to drive through on your way to Denver. For a lot of people I can see how that might be true. On the other hand, for those who love natural beauty and good old-fashioned small-town life, Kansas is a state like no other. What I enjoy about Kansas is that the state is so thinly populated, you're always only 15 minutes away from the middle of nowhere. Despite its flat reputation, Kansas has a varied landscape with several distinct ecosystems. Below is a list of some of my favorite spots in central and western Kansas.

Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms
These two wetlands are the best places in Kansas (and perhaps the Great Plains in general) for birdwatching. Kansas is a great state for birding. It boasts over 400 species of birds, one of the five highest state species counts in the nation.

Konza Prairie
A definite contender for most beautiful spot in Kansas is this nature preserve, managed by Kansas State University. There are five miles of hiking trails through rolling limestone hills and lushly wooded bottomlands. It's a great place to spot prairie wildlife.

Kanopolis Reservoir
Another candidate for most beautiful spot in Kansas is this reservoir, located near Lindsborg and Salina. Activites include camping, boating, and about 20 miles of hiking trails through a variety of habitats: rolling prairie, sandstone and limestone formations, thickly wooded canyons and lovely lakeshore. There's even a prairie dog town. It's my favorite place to hike in Kansas.

Lindsborg
Lindsborg is a charming little town which calls itself "Little Sweden". It's main street attempts to look like a small Swedish village, and there are shops and restaurants selling Swedish wares. Birger Sandzén, a Swedish immigrant, taught here at Bethany College, and the school is now home to the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. This gallery contains a large collection of his work, as well as those of other Kansas artists, including the Prairie Printmakers. Recently Lindborg has become home to the World Champion Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess, and no one seems to know why. Just outside Lindsborg is Coronado Heights, a scenic picnic spot at the top of the tallest hill in the region, overlooking the surrounding countryside. It is named after the Spanish conquistador Coronado who ventured into this region over 1541 years ago. There is a small stone castle built there, and some concrete and stone picnic areas, all part of a WPA project back in the great depression.

Chalk Pyramids / Scott State Park / Gove County
One of Kansas's most unusual natural sites are the Chalk Pyramids, aka Monument Rocks, in Gove County. In the midst of miles of flat grazing land stands this odd natural Stonehenge of chalk pillars. About a half an hour from here is Scott State Park, a nice place to camp. It is an odd little oasis in the midst of flat, dry, barren western Kansas. The State Park and its lake lie in a lush canyon with terrain resembling more New Mexico than Kansas. Some interesting birds can be found here, like Orchard Orioles and Yellow-breasted Chats.

Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, McPherson County
This refuge is home to a managed herd of 150-200 bison, as well as a herd of up to 50 wild elk. You can take a tram ride out into the middle of the prairie where you are surrounded by buffalo like a scene from Dances with Wolves. (The elk are much shyer.) Adjacent to the refuge is McPherson State Fishing Lake, a pretty little spot to have a picnic or camp.

Cottonwood Falls / Chase State Fishing Lake / Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
The town of Cottonwood Falls lies in the heart of the Flint Hills, one of the few remaining stretches of tallgrass prairie left in this country. The area is sparsely populated by cattle ranchers and cowboys. Cottonwood Falls has a quaint main street about two blocks long, ending at an historic courthouse (pictured at left). Chase State Fishing Lake is a lovely, placid lake nearby, nestled amongst rolling grassy hills. I've often spotted Bald Eagles and Wild Turkeys here. In the Spring you can see the ranchers burning the grasses of their pastures, which aids in the regeneration of the soil and vegetation. The Talgrass Prairie National Preserve is a relatively new national park which features an old cattle ranch and hiking trails.

Chase State Fishing Lake

The Z-Bar Ranch house at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Garden of Eden / Wilson Lake
The Garden of Eden is Kansas's most famous piece of bizarre folk art. It was the home of S.P. Dinsmoor, who created a menagerie of concrete animals, people, and angels. Wilson Lake is a reservoir in the area that offers camping, fishing, and hiking.

Fort Larned
This pre-Civil War army fort has been beautifully restored. It gives you the feeling of what it was like to be a soldier in "Indian Country" in the days of the Santa Fe Trail.

Red Hills / Medicine Lodge
The only attraction here is the landscape which, with its red earth and sandstone bluffs, resembles a mini-Grand Canyon. This area is a good spot for wildlife watching.

Southwestern Kansas / Cimarron National Grasslands / Black Mesa
What might be considered a wasteland by some is a paradise to others. The Cimarron National Grasslands are basically a whole lot of nothing, but that nothing is filled with mule deer, pronghorn antelope, a large number of bird species, and a plethora of wildflowers and grasses. Southwestern Kansas in general is one of the best places in Kansas to watch birds, since it lies at the nexus of three diverse regions--the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Southwest (you're not far from New Mexico here). Nearby in the Oklahoma panhandle is Black Mesa, that state's highest point. It offers some good hiking, beautiful scenery, and primitive camping in the middle of nowhere.

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchinson
This museum contains the largest collection of space paraphernalia outside of Cape Canaveral. The highlight of its collection is the Apollo 13 capsule.

All artwork and photographs in this site ©Karl Janssen, unless otherwise noted.
No reproduction of images without permission.