A dozen (plus one) scenic and historic byways traverse Kansas—a year’s worth of monthly adventures in different parts of the state. Each of the routes (organized east to west) reveals fresh aspects of Kansas terrain, history, and culture. Where to start? Follow the flow chart below to find the byway

Bring your special someone to Wichita for a tiptoe through the tulips of Bartlett Arboretum, a cozy field-to-fork dinner at Elderslie Farm, and an enchanting tree house overnight at The Barns at Timber Creek. Welcome to your new favorite romantic getaway.

Have a date-night dinner in the upscale

Get to know famous Kansans at attractions that share their life stories. These women and men left marks on history and culture with their courage, convictions, and creativity.

AMELIA EARHART BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM

ATCHISON

The life of the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic took off

Underground Attractions

STRATACA!

If Kansans seem like the salt of the earth, maybe it’s because their state sits atop 250 million-year-old deposits of sodium chloride. At Strataca in Hutchinson, put on a hard hat for the 650-foot descent into a museum carved out of an active salt mine. Expeditions

Follow the smoke. You’ll find the fire. It’s our hearts blazing with devotion for what makes life good. Saucy zeal for smoked local flavor. Endless support of our teams. Remembrance of momentous clashes that changed our nation forever. Rolling landscapes and glacier-made hills that are the

You’re Invited To A Land Of Free Spirits—Southeast Kansas,
A Corner Of The State That’s Always Throwing Delightful Curves.

Southeast Kansas is downright cool, and people are catching on. In 2022, The New York Times named Humboldt one of 52 Places for a Changed World, citing the work of A Bolder

Get glimpses of a time when grasslands covered much of Kansas—and the continent

"The unspoiled, nearly treeless expanses of the Flint Hills represent a natural beauty not found anywhere else."

Photography by Blaine Moats

Things To Do

Feel the wind in your face and watch smoke from a prairie fire

As you drive along Kansas’ main west-east stretch, pull off at these nearby attractions to see the state through history’s rearview mirror.

Photography by Zach Bauman

PRAIRIE MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY

COLBY

Indoor and outdoor exhibits shed light on pioneer life. See the Cooper Barn (Kansas’

Horse around at the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth by riding the ponies of a restored 1913 model made by Parker’s then-world-famous local company. Singer Melissa Etheridge, a Leavenworth native, donated a vintage band organ. The military town’s diverse culinary scene includes First Taste

The Game

Deer and antelope play on the Kansas range, including mule deer, white-tailed deer and pronghorn, a species unique to North America. Elk, common in presettlement Kansas, virtually vanished by 1900 but have since made a comeback in free-range herds.

If birds are more your game, the