Kansas Visitor's Guide 2007/2008 - (Page 61) PHOTOGRAPHS, FROM FAR LEFT TO TOP RIGHT: JOHN NOLTNER, HARLAND J. SCHUSTER, PER BREIEHAGEN, JOHN NOLTNER, ROY INMAN serve as durable fenceposts along parts of this 18-mile stretch of K-232 (45 miles west of Salina), and elsewhere in the region. The route connects Wilson, just south of I-70, with Lucas north of the interstate (for more about those towns, see pages 53 and 56). The byway also runs along the eastern shore of 9,000-acre Wilson Reservoir, renowned for its striking rock formations, as well as for bass and walleye fishing. Campgrounds edge the lake’s shores. hills and bluffs the Smoky Hills because of the haze that seems to settle on them at sunrise and sunset. The 60--mile byway loop in westcentral Kansas (120 miles west of Salina) crosses the Smoky Hill River Valley in a region where mixed-grass prairie begins giving way to the short-grass prairie able to endure the hot, arid summers of the western High Plains. You’ll see spiky yuccas, colorful coneflowers and sky blue pitcher sage. Limestone markers stand at two crossings of the frontier Butterfield Overland Despatch freight and passenger wagon trail. Cedar Bluff Reservoir gets its name from the chalky bluffs and cliffs that edge the deep blue water. This boating and fishing lake also offers hiking trails and campgrounds. *Smoky Valleyregion of steep, grassy Settlers dubbed this At the northern edge of this national scenic byway, the 20,000-acre Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve draws clouds of geese, sandhill cranes, even ocean shore birds. At the byway’s southern edge, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 22,135 acres of prairie grass, salt marsh, sand dunes and forest. At both, you can drive or walk along dike roads for up-close views of pelicans, egrets, bald eagles and hundreds of other species. Both also offer educational programs for visitors. In Hudson, stop in at the Stafford County Flour Mill store for a sack of its acclaimed Hudson Cream baking flour (see page 68). Hills *Gypsumclay loaded with gypsum, rocky Buttes of red spires, grassy meadows and canyons make up the landscape along this nearly 42-mile byway, along US-160 (about 75 miles southwest of Wichita) from Medicine Lodge west to Coldwater. An ancient sea carved these mesas and ravines 65 million years ago in what is now cattle-ranching country. In Medicine Lodge, visitors can tour the home of Carry A. Nation, the ax-wielding temperance advocate who started a movement to close frontier saloons and drugstores that sold medicine containing alcohol. The Marais des Cygnes State Historic Site on the Frontier Military Scenic Byway. one of the busiest migratory bird flyways on the continent. And a lot of those birds take breaks at two vast wetlands along the 76-mile route that unfurls just east of Great Bend along K-4, CR2-30, K-156, RS-980, RS-554, RS-506 and RS-636. * zigzagging, north-south byway follows This Wetlands and Wildlife *Route 66of legendary “Mother Road” Thirteen miles slant across the southeast corner of Kansas. In Riverton (20 miles south of Pittsburg), buy Route 66 memorabilia and souvenirs at the Old Riverton Store, opened in 1923. Near Riverton, view the 1923 Marsh Arch Rainbow Bridge, the only structure of its type that can be driven on along Route 66. Birds at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge on the Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway. Limestone fencing along the Post Rock Scenic Byway. w w w. t r a v e l K S . c o m 61
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