Kansas Visitor's Guide 2007/2008 - (Page 31) Cimarron National Grassland Check at the * headquarters office in nearby Elkhart to pick up a self-guided tour map and get information about the prairie chicken viewing blinds. In Elkhart, you can stay at the El Rancho Motel and have a steak at the motel restaurant. *Lake Scott State Parkat the Rent canoes and paddleboats park concession building near the beach. Visit the 1888 homestead of Herbert and Eliza Steele. In the Area In Meade, visit the home with an escape tunnel that the notorious Dalton Gang once used as a hangout. Cool off in the giant municipal swimming pool in Garden City. Just southwest of Garden City, guided car tours of Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area take visitors up close to a buffalo herd (by reservation only). * Guided bike trips in the Gypsum Hills take riders through expanses of private ranch land. (Above) A cactus blooms in the Gypsum Hills. (Right) You can pitch a tent along the old Santa Fe Trail, which follows the Cimarron River. w w w. T r a v e l K S . c o m 31 PHOTOGRAPHS, THIS SPREAD: JASON LINDSEY PHOTOGRAPHS, BACKGROUND: JASON LINDSEY. INSETS, FROM LEFT: LARRY FLEMING, JOHN NOLTNER land in Kansas. Gravel roads, including a 30-mile tour path that guides visitors to scenic overlooks and historical markers, crosshatch the area. The grassland is home to more than 360 types of birds, thanks to its remote and varied terrain. For birders, its most notable attraction is the lesser prairie chicken. The increasingly rare bird still thrives in the grassland, where the USDA Forest Service has erected two viewing blinds. Come in spring to see the males conduct their colorful courting dance: a mix of fancy footwork, bowing and a throaty gobble. The Companion Trail runs alongside the old Santa Fe route. You can hike, bike or ride horseback along the trail, and even camp alongside it. At Lake Scott State Park (about 45 miles north of Garden City), the gently rolling prairie gives way to a deep, rocky canyon. The canyon now shelters a small lake and groves of giant cottonwoods that shade a campground. (In the 1600s, it was home to the El Quartelejo Indian Pueblo, the most northerly pueblo on the continent.) About 10 miles northeast of the park, the towering sandstone pillars of Monument Rocks interrupt the plains. Look closely and you might see one of the small kestrel falcons that nap in sandstone niches. For more details and Ready-Made Adventures, visit www.TravelKS.com. *Gypsum Hills Red Hillsrides Adventures’ daylong bicycle pass through prairie-dog towns, wildflower meadows and a frontier homestead; helmets are required. After your ride, try the burgers and ribs at Buster’s Saloon in Sun City. Stay nearby at the Budget Inn in Medicine Lodge or a hotel in Pratt or Dodge City. In Medicine Lodge, visit the home of Carry A. Nation, the fiery, hatchet-wielding, early 20th-century temperance advocate. For more guided adventures and outfitters, turn to the Trip Planner beginning on page 84. http://www.TravelKS.com http://www.TravelKS.com
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