Kansas

Kansas offers prairie hiking, paddling reservoirs and rivers, exceptional birding on the Central Flyway, and exploring the surreal rock formations of the high plains. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills, Monument Rocks and Castle Rock chalk badlands, and Cheyenne Bottoms anchor it.

Spring and fall are mild and ideal, with spring bringing peak shorebird migration at the wetlands. Summer is hot, and the Flint Hills green up after spring burns; winters are cold and windy.

Bison (restored at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve), prairie chickens, pronghorn in the west, and vast numbers of migrating shorebirds and waterfowl at Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira define Kansas wildlife.

The Flint Hills preserve the last large expanse of tallgrass prairie in North America, while shortgrass plains, wetlands, and riparian corridors complete the state's grassland-dominated ecology.

Kansas rises gently from eastern prairies to the high western plains (4,039-ft Mount Sunflower is the high point), featuring the limestone Flint Hills (the largest remaining tallgrass prairie), Cretaceous chalk formations, and sandstone buttes of the west.

The Kansa (Kaw), Osage, Pawnee, and Wichita peoples inhabited the plains. A flashpoint of the pre–Civil War 'Bleeding Kansas' era, Kansas became the 34th state in 1861.

Ranching and prairie heritage, a strong birding tradition at the great wetlands, and growing appreciation for the tallgrass landscape shape the outdoors.

Protecting the remaining tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills, maintaining the critically important Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira wetlands for migratory birds, and bison restoration are key efforts.

Wichita and Kansas City (just over the line) are the main gateways. The Flint Hills, wetlands, and western rock formations are reached by car across long distances.

Severe weather — thunderstorms, tornadoes, and extreme heat — is the chief concern on the open plains. Carry water, watch the sky, and beware of ticks in the tallgrass.

State parks require a vehicle permit, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks administers licenses; the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is a free NPS/Nature Conservancy unit.

Carry water on the open prairie, and watch for severe weather.

Visit the Flint Hills in late spring for green prairie and bison, time a wetland trip to spring shorebird migration, and explore the chalk badlands of Monument Rocks at sunrise or sunset.

Kansas borders Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado, linking the tallgrass and shortgrass prairies and the gateway to the Rockies.