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SPRING HILL − LOUISBURG − PAOLA

See big cats and other creatures with roaring appetites before you hydrate with fresh apple cider, a new-school cocktail and a glass of award-winning wine.

Total Drive Time: 45 Minutes

Start your day with a speciality latte or an iced coffee from The Bean Coffee and Cafe, an all-day cafe that also serves artisan beverages in Spring Hill. Then hit the road to Louisburg to hunt for all sorts of gems at Captain Cook’s Treasure Chest, a full 5,000 square feet of antiques, vintage games and toys, local art, handcrafted goods, and garden decor.

Just 3 miles east, Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory and Education Center provides sanctuary to lions, tigers, leopards and other displaced animals, including its newest residents: a lioness named Aurora and Eurasian lynx named Natasha and Punjali. Learn about the dangers these creatures’ counterparts face in the wild during a guided tour.

A 10-minute drive west brings you to Louisburg Cider Mill, famous year-round for apple cider doughnuts. In the fall, the mill’s Ciderfest overflows with arts and crafts booths, pony rides, and live music. Next, it’s back to school to test cocktails with names like Diploma (whiskey, grapefruit and honey) and sharables such as Teeter-Totters (loaded tots) at Somerset Schoolhouse near Paola. You can also enroll in a whiskey-tasting class at this grade-A boutique and speakeasy in a former schoolhouse.

Prefer vino? Just down the road at Somerset Ridge Vineyard and Winery, more than 8,000 grapevines of a dozen varieties flourish to produce blends like Buffalo Red (a Kansas State Fair champion) and seasonal Oktoberfest, a semisweet white.

Somerset Ridge and Schoolhouse - Miami County Wine Tour
Credit: Ryan Donnell

MCCUNE – INDEPENDENCE – COFFEYVILLE

A drive to these refreshingly down-to-earth attractions means a brush with famous names and rurally rooted flavors.

Total Drive Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes

Fuel up with biscuits and gravy, chicken and waffles, or pancakes at McCune Farm to Market, a farmer-owned cafe and grocery store in McCune. They serve breakfast and lunch every day—plus dinner Thursdays through Saturdays—using locally and regionally sourced meats, produce, and other ingredients.

About 45 minutes west in Independence, wander Riverside Park and Ralph Mitchell Zoo, beloved for more than a century. The zoo’s popular Monkey Island is the birthplace of rhesus monkey Miss Able, who flew into space in 1959. Take a ride on the vintage carousel and miniature train. On the outskirts of Independence, relive author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood at the Little House on the Prairie Museum, located on the site of the home she shared with Ma and Pa. See a replica of the Ingalls family cabin, an old post office and a one-room schoolhouse.

Drive 25 minutes southeast (and 120 years back in time) to the Brown Mansion in Coffeyville, the swanky home of natural gas tycoon W.P. Brown. Completed in 1906, it features a ballroom that takes up the entire third floor, plus original fine furniture pieces. A few years before the mansion was constructed, in 1892, the Dalton Gang tried to rob two banks in Coffeyville, but the Dalton Defenders took action to protect the town. Learn about the gun battle and aftermath at the Dalton Defenders and Coffeyville History Museum.

Wrap up your day by heading 45 minutes west to Sedan, sampling wheated whiskey and other potent potables at . Book a Saturday tour of the distillery (tastings included) and try a bourbon-based Kansas mule. Stay for dinner—their restaurant offers a meaty menu from Thursdays through Sundays.

Ralph Mitchel Zoo - Independence
Credit: Doug Stremel

LEBANON − COURTLAND − HANOVER − MARYSVILLE − WASHINGTON

Gallop back to the days of the Pony Express and ponder the next steps of your journey from the literal heart of the country.

Total Drive Time: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes

In 1941, before Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood, the citizens of Lebanon proudly marked the Geographic Center of the United States with a stone pyramid—a monument that still symbolizes the heart of the 48 contiguous states. Enter the landmark’s tiny chapel with pews for inner reflection before traveling 40 miles east to the Depot Market near Courtland. Select a juicy apple, sweet peach, or other healthy snack inside the former train station, then continue chugging east for about an hour to the Hollenberg Pony Express Station.

The visitors center at this state historic site in Hanover tells the story of the short-lived mail delivery system whereby fearless riders rode cross-country on galloping horses to deliver letters in the early 1860s. The station was the Hollenberg family’s home, where time stands still in its unaltered state and original location.

Ease 14 miles east to Marysville, where three unique, hologram-style murals feature images that transform as you walk through Pony Park near the Pony Express Barn and Museum. One mural shows a Pony Express rider’s long duster lifting in the wind, revealing mail pouches as he races across the prairie on horseback.

Backtrack west to Kansas Territory Brewing Company south of Washington to toast the end of your trip with pineapple-infused Life Coach Lager, voted one of the top beers in the country by Untappd users. It goes down easy with a ribeye, cheeseburger or garlic chicken pizza.

Depot Market - Courtland
Credit: ¸£ÀûÉ©

NORTH NEWTON – HUTCHINSON – LYONS – ELLINWOOD

This adventure-filled route turns tourists into bona fide explorers on land, underground and beyond Earth.

Total Drive Time: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes

In North Newton, start your day with a blend of natural beauty and stories of faith at the Kauffman Museum. Cultural artifacts, a primitive cabin and farming tools emphasize immigrant resilience and the simple lifestyle of Mennonites who settled in the region. During spring, the exhibit Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War details stories of conscientious objectors during World War I. A garden with produce for sale sets a 19th-century farmstead scene.

Drive 40 miles west to Hutchinson’s Dillon Nature Center, a 100-acre respite with trails winding past sculptures. Peer into the pond’s thriving ecosystem or head indoors for hands-on learning. For an out-of-this-world experience in town, the Smithsonian-affiliated Cosmosphere boasts a renovated Hall of Space Museum with the Apollo 13 and Liberty Bell 7 capsules, plus astronaut suits and rocket engines. Children burn fuel at CosmoKids, and all ages are awed by the planetarium and 4K dome theater shows. For a tasty break, follow the smell of smoked ribs to Roy’s Hickory Pit BBQ, serving finger-lickin’ meals and stacked sandwiches since 1960. (Don’t skimp on the sinfully good sauce.)

After your meal, make a seasoned stop in Lyons at the World’s Largest Salt Shaker (it’s 15 feet tall) before traveling 21 miles to Ellinwood for Underground Tunnel Tours. Once frequented by immigrants and cowboys, the tunnels hold remnants of shops and a bathhouse. On Friday and Saturday nights, request a cocktail at the subterranean saloon before overnighting at The Historic Wolf Hotel.

Historic Wolf Hotel - Ellinwood
Credit: Andrea Etzel

NICODEMUS − HOXIE − COLBY − GOODLAND

Roll westward on a nostalgic trek packed with prairie artifacts, a historic Black settlement, and cowpoke bling. It’s easygoing: US-24 leads you straight through this territory.

Total Drive Time: 2 Hours

Set out with a story of new beginnings at Nicodemus, founded by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. At the oldest remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River, Nicodemus National Historic Site shares a story of resilience with exhibits in the Township Hall and self-guided tours of preserved buildings. Around 20 descendants of settlers still reside in the town.

Caramel macchiatos provide a nice midmorning pick-me-up at Oscar’s in Hoxie, 45 miles west of Nicodemus. Named for the owner’s childhood bull (Oscar’s statue poses out front), the Main Street eatery offers coffee, tea, and raspberry scones early in the day, adding weekly specials of salads, sammies, and wraps come lunchtime.

Another 34 miles west, the Cooper Barn looms large at the Prairie Museum of Art and History. The lofty barn on the 24-acre complex in Colby is Kansas’ biggest. A 1930s farmstead, sod house, country school, church, and prairie preserve also shed light on plains life. Shop for Western fashion and jewelry at Barnwood and Bling, a stylish boutique located on a Colby ranch that also offers home decor, repurposed furniture, and even some ranch-raised beef.

Call it a day in Goodland, 38 miles west of Colby. The High Plains Museum recounts 100 years of homesteading, railroading, farming, and military stories. The showpiece, a full-size replica of America’s first patented helicopter (1910), was invented by two Goodland residents. Catch the latest flick at The Sherman Theatre, once a venue for silent films and vaudeville acts. Original peacock and rose wall paintings set a sentimental scene. The Sherman celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2026, with monthly classic movies.

Nicodemus National Historic Site
Credit: ¸£ÀûÉ©

LARNED – KINSLEY – GREENSBURG – COLDWATER

You’re invited on a journey to the 1800s. Traverse the plains to follow the stories of pioneers and soldiers—then round out the day with pizza and pinball.

Total Drive Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes

Immerse yourself in the routine of a soldier at Fort Larned National Historic Site. Nine sandstone buildings from the 1860s showcase the soldiers’ sleeping quarters, commissary, and arsenal. A stroll through officers’ row reveals a stark—and luxurious—contrast to the soldiers’ humble digs.

Drive 30 minutes south to Edwards County Historical Museum and Sod House in Kinsley to experience pioneer life inside a sod house—a collection of antique farm machinery invites you to imagine what it was like working the land. Unpack your lunch at picnic tables near a retired 1920s train engine. Traveling with little ones? They can stretch their legs at the playground.

Next stop: Greensburg. At the Big Well Museum, a winding spiral staircase descends into the 109-foot-deep well—an engineering marvel from pioneer days. Head to a second-story observatory to view the mile-wide radius of a 2007 tornado that leveled Greensburg, which has since been rebuilt with sustainable, eco-friendly infrastructure. Then walk one block east to the Kiowa County Historical Museum and Soda Fountain. Perk up with shaved ice or a black cow from the cherry-red bar. Afterward, visit a miniature model of a round barn and peruse local exhibits with artifacts dating back to the Louisiana Purchase.

As day turns to dusk, make one final drive south to Lake Coldwater, a popular destination for swimming, hiking, and camping. Reflect on your adventures while walking along a tranquil nature trail. Then sit down to a cheesy pizza or meatball sandwich at Dave’s Pizza Oven—and enjoy one final slice of (recent) history playing a round of vintage pinball.

Lake Coldwater - Coldwater
Credit: Doug Stremel