Kansas (KS)

Kansas State Flag

 

"The Sunflower State"

"Jayhawk State", "Midway State" and "Wheat State"

Why visit Kansas?

A low key and relaxed atmosphere destination to enjoy auto racing, biking, birdwatching, cowboy heritage, farmland, fishing, glacial hills, hiking, hunting, military forts, museums, pioneer history, rolling tall grass prairie, space flight history and walking.

Kansas City, KS. Photo Credit: Colton Sturgeon/Unsplash

At a Glance

• Capital: Topeka
• State Bird: Western Meadowlark
• State Dessert: None
• State Flower: Sunflower
• State Gemstone: Jelenite
• State Mammal: Buffalo
• State Rock: Greenhorn Limestone

Fun Facts

• In 1910, the first state to institute Workers' Compensation.
• In 1911, the first state to regulate the Securities Industry.
• At 650 feet below the earth’s surface underground salt caverns store Hollywood films and documentation from around the world.
  
• Larger than a football field Garden City hosts the world's largest concrete pool, "Big Pool" which is 72,000 square feet holding 2.6 million gallons of water.
• Produces high yields of corn, sorghum, soybean and wheat.
  
• Has our country's third largest state highway system.
  
• Features 24 State Parks.
• Read tales about the state are featured in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and  Little House on the Prairie (1935).
• The fictional town of Smallville is the childhood home of Superman (Clark Kent).
  
• Plaza Cinema (Ottawa) is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest operating cinema in the world.
• Hollenberg Pony Express Station, aka: Cottonwood Pony Express Station (Hanover) is the most preserved station of the Pony Express.
  
• Stunt Performer, Robert Craig Knievel (1938-2007) "Evel Knievel" ran his first race in Winfield.
  

Kansas Praire. Photo Credit: ramaxeymiles/Pixabay 

Thank You!

• Spotlight Celebrities: Barry Sanders (Athlete), David Dwight Eisenhower (Late President), Eric Stonestreet (Actor), Jordy Nelson (Athlete), Kristie Alley (Actress) and Martina McBride (Musician), just to mention a few.
• Movies to Inspire You: All Roads Lead Home (2006), Different Flowers (2017), New Girls on the Block (2015), The Tree (2017) and Winding Roads (1998), just to mention a few.
• Reads Set in Kansas: Keeping Faith (written by Jodi Picoult), Sprout (written by Dale Peck), The Topeka School (written by Ben Lerner) and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (written by L Frank Baum), just to name a few.

Sandstone Monument, KS. Photo Credit: Alan Parker/Pixabay 

Good to Know

• Only small and medium-sized man made recreational lakes.
• Copperhead and rattlesnakes (poisonous) are residents.
• There's 10% Liquor Drink Tax collected for liquor consumed on the licensed premises and an 8% Liquor Enforcement Tax at retailers.
  
• Dodge City is our nation's windiest city with recorded winds up to 14mph.
• A flat state best traveled by car. Anticipate long distances between sites.

Subject to dust storms, flash floods, humidity, supercell thunderstorms, snowstorms and tornadoes.

• Best Time to Visit: June - September
• Coldest Month: January
• Hottest Month: July
• Peak Season: June - August

Kansas Hills. Photo Credit: CJMcCay/Pixabay 

Your Must-See & Do

• Historical Sites: Anton-Woodring House, Battle of Punished Woman's Fork National Historic Site, Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Buffalo Bill's Well on the Santa Fe Trail, Castle Tea Room, Constitution Hall State Historic Site, Coronado Cross, Dwight D Eisenhower Boyhood Home, Far West Temple Site, First Territorial Capitol State Historic Site, Fort Hays State Historic Site, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Fort Scott National Historic Site, Historic Chisholm Trail Cattle Pens Site, Historic Chisholm Trail Mulberry Tree Marker, Historic John & Mary Jane Ritchie House, Historic Santa Fe Depot, Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site, Johnson House, Kaw Mission State Historic Site, Keebler-Stone House, Little Stranger Church & Cemetery, Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site, Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site, Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield State Historic Site, Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark, Nicodemus National Historic Site, Nike Missile Site KC-80, Old Imperial Brewery, Pawnee Rock State Historic Site, Red Rocks State Historic Site, Santa Fe Trail Tracks, Sauer Castle, Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site, The Geographic Center of the United States, The Lane Trail and Union Station Kansas City.
• Museums: Alexander Majors Historic Museum, Arabia Steamboat Museum, Barbed Wire Museum, Big Well Museum, Booth Family Hall of Athletics, Boot Hill Museum, Carry A Nation Home & Museum, Cloud County Historical Museum, Combat Air Museum, Coronado Quivira Museum, Cray Historical Home Museum, C. W. Parker Carousel Museum, Dalton Defenders & Coffeyville History Museum, Dietrich Cabin, Dorothy's House & the Land of Oz, El Quartelejo Museum, Eudora Community Museum, Evel Knievel Museum, Exploration Place, Fick Fossil & History Museum, Fort Bissell Museum, Fort Wallace Museum,Frontier Army Museum, Ft Harker Museum, Gardner Historical Museum, Goodnow House, Great Plains Transportation Museum, Greyhound Hall of Fame, Grinter Place Museum, Heritage Center, High Plains Museum, Jackson County Museum, John Brown Museum, Kansas Auto Racing Museum, Kansas African American Museum, Kansas Aviation Museum, Kansas Children's Discovery Center, Kansas City Automotive Museum, Kansas City Museum, Kansas Museum of History, Kansas Oil Museum, Kauffman Museum, Kiowa County Historical Museum & Soda Fountain, KU Natural History Museum, Lincoln County Kansas Historical Museum, Little House on the Prairie Museum, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, McPherson County Old Mill Museum, Mid-America All-Indian Museum, Museum at Prairiefire, Museum of World Treasures, National WWI Museum & Memorial, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Old Cowtown Museum, Old Depot Museum, Old West Wax Museum, OZ Museum, Parsons Historical Museum, Paul Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings, Pawnee Indian Museum, Pioneer Krier Museum, Red Barn Studio Museum, Richard Allen Cultural Center & Museum, Riley County Historical Museum, Salt Mine Tours, Shoal Creek Living History Museum, Smoky Hill Museum, Sternberg Museum, Stockade Museum, Strataca, The John Wornall House Museum, Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio, Trego County Historical Society Museum, US Cavalry Museum, Watkins Museum of History, William Allen White House, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, The Original Pizza Hut Museum, Trego County Historical Society Museum, Wizard of Oz Museum, Wolf House Museum, Wonderscope Children's Museum of Kansas City, Wonder Workshop Children's Museum and Yesteryear Museum. 
• Popular Attractions: Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, All Star Sports, Amelia Earhart Birthplace, Asylum Bridge, Big Brutus, Birger Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery, Bluemont Scenic Overlook, Boot Hill Cemetery, Boot Hill Distillery, Bowl Plaza, Buffalo Soldier Monument, Candycane Lane, Castle Rock Badlands, Coronado Cross, Coronado Heights Castle, Cosmosphere, Cyclone Day Memorial, Dalton Gang Hideout, Dargatz Park, Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead, Dodge City Trolley, Erie Dinosaur Park, Exploration Place, Flint Hills Discovery Center, Fort Riley, Frank Lloyd Wright's Allen House, Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area, Friends of Sandsage Bison, Gage Park, Giant Reproduction of Three Sunflowers in a Vase, Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo, Great Overland Station, Great Wolf Lodge Water Park, Guardian of the Grove Statue, Guard of the Plains, Gyp Hills Scenic Drive, Hays Aquatic Park, Hermit's Cave, Historic Lecompton, Hoffman Grist Mill, Home of Stone, Huron Indian Cemetery, Hutchinson Zoo, Indian Rock Park, Indian Treaty Kansas Historical Marker, Jurassic Art, Kanopolis Lake State Park, Kansas City Museum, Kansas City Workhouse, Kansas Historical Marker, Kansas Landscape Arboretum, Kansas Originals Market, Kansas Speedway, Kansas State Archives, Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame, Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park, Keystone Gallery, Kiddieland Amusement Park, Lake Scott State Park, Lakewood Park, Last Chance Store, LEGOLAND Discovery Center Kansas City, Liquid Art Winery & Estate, Madonna of the Trail, Matt Dillon Statue, Miami County Historical, M.T. Liggett's Political Sculptures, Mushroom Rock State Park, Neosho Riverwalk, Oakdale Park, Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, Prairiefire, Quindaro Ruins Overlook Structure, Rainbow Bridge, Riverside Park & Ralph Mitchell Zoo, Rock River Rapids Aquatic Park, Rolling Hills Zoo, Safari Zoological Park, Salsa Man, SEA LIFE Kansas City, Sedgwick County Zoo, Seelye Mansion, Smithalo, S. P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, Suitcase Tombstone of a Traveling Salesman, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Tanganyika Wildlife Park, The Ewing & Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden, The Fire Hydrant House, The Keeper of the Plains, The Lewis & Clark, The Wichita Gardens, Topeka Zoo, Veterans Memorial Park, Wamego Dutch Windmill, Ward-Meade Park Botanical Gardens, Wheat Jesus Billboard, Wildwood Adventure Park, Wilson State Park, Windsurfer Beach, World's Largest Ball of Twine, World's Largest Baseball, Worlds Largest Czech Egg, St Fidelis Basilica, Sunset Zoo, World's Largest Easel, World's Largest Spur, World's Largest Things, Worlds Of Fun, Wright Park and Wyatt Earp Statue. 
• Popular Cities/Towns to Visit: Coffeyville, Dodge City, Garden City, Hutchinson, Kansas City, Lawrence, Lenexa, Manhatton, Olathe, Overland Park, Salina, Shawnee, Topeka and Wichita.
• Special Events: (January) Kansas Day, (March) Naka-Kon, NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Annual Championship, Planet Comicon, (April) Antique & Barbed Wire Festival, Kansas City FilmFest, (May) Brookside Art Annual, NASCAR, Square Fair, Tumbleweed, Turkey Creek Festival (June) Anime Festival Wichita, Crown Center Antique Festival, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Jazz Walk of Fame, Kansas City Renaissance Festival, Miss Kansas' Outstanding Teen, (July) Amelia Earhart Festival, Dodge City Days, Grand Carnivale, KC RiverFest, (August) Heart of America Hot Dog Festival, Jazzoo, Middle of the Map Fest, Roots Festival, (September) American Royal World Series of Barbecue, Ciderfest & Craft Fair, Dancefestopia, Kansas City Renaissance Festival, Kansas City Irish Fest, Louisburg Ciderfest, Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival, Paxico Blues Fest, Peace Treaty Festival & Pageant, Plaza Art Fair and (October) WaterFire Kansas City. 

Kansas Sunflowers. Photo Credit: sara14n/Pixabay 

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All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.