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| Lake Scott State Park |
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Cimmaron National Grassland - I hiked at this grassland on Memorial Day weekend of 2007 and I was really impressed
with the place. The grassland is located in the southwest corner of Kansas just north of Elkhart. The trail I
hiked was the Companion Trail. Unfortunately, this trail is 19 miles one-way so hiking it
all on a Saturday afternoon was obviously not going to happen. So I instead drove up K-27 to the a picnic area on the right
just south of the Cimarron River. From here, we walked on K-27 north for about a third of a mile to a forest service
road on the left. From here you can pick up the Companion Trail. However, the trail
is extremely hard to find. It is located to the left of the road and it runs paralell to the river. We found a trail, but I'm not really sure it was the Companion Trail. (If you
don't find the trail then you always have the option of walking the road.) The trail we did pick up was off
of the first service road to the left. The trail runs through fields of Yucca, Prickly Pear, and Sand Sagebrush.
Even though it is a grassland, there appears to be more cacti and things that go ouch than actual grass most of the time.
The pricks on the prickly pear were so sharp that one of the spikes went through my wife's boot and jabbed her. So when
you do walk on the trail be careful!
The trail/road eventually starts to gradually move uphill
towards an old windmill. There is even a trail that leads to the windmill but I would not recommend it due to overgrowth
and an abundance of dead sagebrush. After the windmill you will pass Point of Rocks Pond. The trail then follows
along the fence to the left and somehow along the way branches to the left over a fence through another pasture. We
missed this turnoff so we ended up on the road. Either way, both the road and the trail continue up an incline past
Middle Springs. By this point you should see Point of Rocks, a Santa Fe Trail landmark. Also, there will be posts
marking the Santa Fe trail every quarter of a mile or so until you get to point of rocks. You can follow these posts
and the trail will curve to the left of Point of Rocks to a historic marker. There is a small trail that winds up the
cliff to the top of Point of Rocks. Despite being a rather short cliff the views are magnificent. You can see
the trail ruts wind around the landmark as well as a good portion of the Cimmaron River Valley. There are also interpretive
boards that explain the historic importance of the Santa Fe Trail and of Point of Rocks. After getting your fill of
trailblazing history, you can either take the trail or the road back to the parking area.
Elk City Lake WMA - This park
is located in Southeast Kansas and has a variety of hiking trails to choose from (Including the trails in the adjoining Elk
City Lake State Park). My wife and I hiked the Elk City Lake National Recreational Trail. This 15 mile
trail starts in the park and follows the Elk river for 15 miles passing a backcountry site midway between the two main trailheads. Unfortunately,
we only did about half the trail. We parked off of US 160 and hiked east towards the state park. It was late April
and flowers were just beginning to bloom making it a very colorful hike. The first 2 miles were very up and down
as you passed various limestone formations along the riverbanks. Eventually you ascend a final time and follow the bluff
for the rest of the way to the park road. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We turned around when we
came to the park road (and another trailhead). We walked back the way we came making the the hike a total of 10.25
miles.
Kanpolis State Park - I really am not
sure what I have exactly hiked in this park. I can tell you that there are over 25 miles of trails at this park,
however, due to rain and the overabundance of beaver dams last year, I have yet to hike a complete trail here. However,
if one wants to try to complete a trail then all power to you. The park is located southwest of Salina and has many
canyons and is quite hilly. The most popular trail is the Buffalo Trace Trail which is
about 2 miles total and is rich in history and has many caves and rock crevaces to look at. On the back side of
the park on the other side of the water crossing are better trails that wind around in the canyons and past rock formations.
However due to all of this fricking rain we have had, part of the trail is closed off. Also to note is that horse
riders have severely eroded the trails here. There are places where they eroded a rut so deep that it came up to my
chest! And now that they have eroded one path really bad, they started to work on the next path. So be aware that
you will have to be one with horse crap and mud if you want to hike back here.
I finally was able to hike to the backcountry part of the park this weekend (9-28-07).
The Blue horse trail that had been closed due to flooding has recently opened, however, the water crossings are still brutal.
(I fell in the water again). The path to get to the backcountry (called Smoky Hills Wildlife Area) is about 1.9 miles.
There are three water crossings along the first leg of the trail but each can be done without taking off your shoes and socks.
At the first water crosssing walk to your right for about 125 feet or so to the second beaver dam you come to. At
the second water crossing walk to your left about 75 feet to amother dam. The third crossing is accessed just to the
left of the trail. Once past the third crossing the going is easy until you get to the gate for Smoky Hills Wildlife
Area. There are two trails that branch from here. There is a blue Prairie Trail that
goes to the left however it is completely overgrown. Then there is an orange trail that branches to the right that leads
to Redrock Canyon. While this trail is overgrown, it can still be hiked if you can tolerate 7 ft tall bluestem
grass hitting you in the face. This trail follows a fence line and then winds around and through a canyon. Eventually
you will come to yet another water crossing. It was at this water crossing that I became one with the water and mud.
As a result of this muddy mishap, I had to turn around at this point and hike the way back I came (for a hike of about 4.5
miles). But according to the map, if you cross the creek and proceed to your left on the blue Prairie
Trail, (you meet up with this trail at this crossing) you will first come to Eagle Hack Tower and then a large
Prairie Dog town. Both of these points of interest sound really nice. I hope to get there someday. Some
good however did come of this. Half-way down the hill I spotted a White Pelican and I was able to take a half-way decent
picture of the bird. The picture is posted below.
Lake Scott State Park - This park is located in far western Kansas just north of
Scott City. It really has only one trail but it is 7 miles long and circles Lake Scott. I highly recommend this
trail, at least the western side of it. Along this trail you will come across old Pueblo ruins (In Kansas!), an old
homestead, and numerous hills that give an overlook of the lake below. It is very pretty and there are many cacti such
as Yucca and Prickly Pear. Towards the far side of the lake there are sheer rock bluffs, some reaching as high as 100
feet near the Horse area. However, all of the cool stuff is on the west side and the east side part of the trail just
runs along the road and through campsites and it is very easy to lose the trail (but getting lost is impossible of course).
Eventually it will circle back around and you will end up where ever you chose to start on the west side.
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
- In this park, I did the Red House Trail which can be accessed from the barn/visitor center.
The tallgrass prairie is located in the middle of the rolling Flint Hills and is really spectacular because it's the largest
remaining area of tallgrass prairie in the US. Anyways, the Red House Trail is 6.4 miles and you can
choose at the beginning to walk along the mowed route or follow the road. I chose to take the road. But it's not
really a road per se, because the only cars you will see on it are tour buses and the occasional ranger vehicle. The
trail starts out climbing a gentle hill as you pass wildflowers and prairie grasses. What's different about the Flint
Hills is that unlike other prairies, this area has much more green than the others. I didn't see any animals, but I
did see some dung beatles pushing balls of poop up the hill along with grasshoppers the size of mice - I kid you not!
After a mile or so you come to a junction and the trail follows a mowed path through another pasture (the park is broken up
in to pastures since it's often grazed in the summer by Texan cattle). In about another mile or so you will split to
the right and enter another pasture passing along the way exposed areas of flint. In the distance you can see a small
stream replete with huge cottonwood trees that surround it. You descend the hill and enter this grove and if you are
tired then this is a good place to rest. There are huge downed logs that make a good place to sit and it's also shady.
The stream was dry when we were there, and I'm guessing it's dry most of the time except for spring. The trail then
proceeds out of the grove, loops around, and crosses the stream again where it has much more water, but not enough to hinder
crossing. The trail climbs back up the hill and then splits to the right in a new pasture. It loops around on
a ridge and then begins it's decsent towards the barn that you will be able to see by now. It runs along a fence and
meets up back with the road. This was a very fun hike. There were very few people there on that sunday
morning on Labor day weekend - about the only place that didn't have anybody around. I highly reccomend it!
Another trail I did recently was the Scenic Overlook Trail. It isn't really on a trail at
all, but rather follows the road for about 3.2 miles to a high hill overlooking the flint hills. The day I went there
was a drought and it was overcast so the scenery was kind of drab. The park bus passes you every once in a while
on this road, but this will be the only traffic that you will have to deal with. At the overlook the road loops
around and you simply follow back the way you came in for a total of about 6.5 miles.
If
you are short on time or it is after 3:30 PM (The backcountry trails are closed after this time) then you might want to hike
the 1.75 Southwind Nature Trail. This path starts off across the road from the barn and
climbs up the hill to the icehouse. If you wish, there is an interpretive map you can pick up at the barn
that narrates the path as you hike along. However, if you have taken the house tour before then I would not recommend
this because you will know everything the brochure tells you anyhow. After the icehouse, the trail continues along the
miniature ridge until you break out into the open prairie. The trail winds along a barbed wire fence
eventually cutting away to head down the hill to the creek bed below. The trail leads to a bridge that crosses
the creek passing by a 2 foot cascade of water. The path winds through the woods and emerges only to
climb the hill to the one room school house. The school house was closed when I was there, and I think it
usually is closed, but you can still peer in the windows to see the educational system of days gone by. When you
are finished filling your instructional needs, follow the trail back trhough the woods. At the other side of the
creek you will reach a junction. Bear to the left and the trail will wind through the prairie and will emerge
down the hill from the mansion.
Wilson Lake Wildlife Management Area - This area is located in north-central kansas about
50 miles west of Salina. Although there are a lot of trails in the state park located at the Lake, I have yet to hike
any of them. The trail I did is the Rocktown Trail located on the north side of the lake in
the wildlife area. The trail is quite hilly and winds its way up and down the yucca and tumbleweed strewn prairie to
an awesome canyon lined with red rocks. The trail then hits the lake and there are some strange hoodoos standing
upright on the sandy beach. After taking these in, the trail heads back into the hills and winds its way back up to
the parking lot. This trail is kind of hard, especially if the temperature is 105 degrees. There is absolutely
no shade at all, and the sun is very punishing on this trail, at least in the summer.
Wilson Lake State
Park - There are two trails in this park. One is a one-miler called the Dakota Trail
and the other is a general bike trail. The trail we hiked was the bike trail which starts off near the end of the road
at a showerhouse parking lot. This trail is actually 20 miles or so long, however, since it is a bike trail it
winds,winds, and winds around some more. But it is still very pretty and worth the effort. I estimate that it
is about 4 miles from the start to the shore of Wilson lake and along the way you wind under rock bluffs, on top of rock outcrops,
and through fields of prairie grasses and prairie flowers. The best part of the trail is when you reach the shore of
the lake. Rock bluffs rise out of the water creating a wall around a crystal clear cove. At this point we turned
around because we had probably gone 4 miles on the trail and only moved 1 mile as the crow flies. We walked the road
back and headed back to Wichita. However, on the way out, I noticed that the trail continued on the other side of the
road and wound its way around narrow ledges on rock bluffs rising above Lake Wilson. Therefore, I will have to take
a trip back to this park to give the other portion of the trail a trial run.
| Tallgrass Prairie Preserve |
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| White Pelican |
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| Kanapolis Lake - Smoky Hills Wildlife Area |
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