At a wedding I attended not too long ago, someone asked the groom, a witty fellow, where he and his lovely bride were planning to honeymoon. He replied brightly, “I’m taking her to the Flint Hills!” Everyone stopped and stared at him as someone whispered, “Did he just say he was taking her to Flint, Michigan?” As we all tried to envision the bride, a well-traveled and cosmopolitan girl, blissfully exploring southeastern Michigan, the groom explained, “No, we’re going to the Flint Hills! In Kansas? The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is there, and when the wildflowers are in bloom, there is no place like it on earth!”
Actually, even when they are not covered in beautiful swaths of purple, orange and yellow, the rolling Flint Hills in eastern Kansas are still unique. Once upon a time, when bison roamed across everything between the Rockies and the Appalachians, there were over 170 million acres of tallgrass prairie in the United States. Today, only a small percentage of that once-vast ecosystem remains, and a significant chunk of what is left lies in the Flint Hills’ Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. The centerpiece of the 48-mile-long Flint Hills Scenic Byway, this 10,840-acre preserve features hiking trails that wind among hills covered with over 400 species of grasses and wildflowers, as well as animals ranging from a newly-introduced bison herd to white-tailed deer and birds of prey. The preserve also includes interpretive exhibits at Spring Hill Farm and the Stock Ranch—both of which illustrate prairie life during the frontier era. You can tour the preserve on foot or via organized bus tours, and the National Park Service (who runs the preserve in partnership with The Nature Conservancy) even has a cell phone and internet-based audio tour for visitors. As you explore the preserve, you can call their special line (or log onto their website) and listen to pre-recorded information covering a dozen specific sites around the preserve. (More information is available at the NPS Tallgrass Preserve website here.)
But the tallgrass prairie is not the only attraction along the Flint Hills Scenic Byway. The Kaw Heritage National Park in Council Grove teaches visitors about the local Native Americans and how they interacted with the settlers heading west on the Santa Fe Trail. Take a walking tour of that town and see many fine examples of Kansas’ famous limestone architecture before stopping off at the newly renovated (re-opening May 18, 2012) Hays House for some world-famous pie. Stop off in Cottonwood Falls and explore the shops and cafes in the shadow of the imposing Chase County Courthouse. Or heck, spend the night at the Grand Central Hotel (Kansas’ only AAA Four Diamond Historic Inn) and take their sunset Prairie Drifter tour out onto the preserve. Oh sure, you won’t get to see many wildflowers after dark, but the night sky overhead is sure to entrance and enthrall. Come to think of it, that sounds awfully romantic. Who knew? Not only does the Flint Hills Scenic Byway make for a great Sunday Drive, but it also sounds like, dare we say it, the perfect roadtrip honeymoon!
Kate Edwards – Sunday Drive
Photos courtesy of KSByways.org
View Flint Hills Scenic Byway: Cassoday, KS in a larger map
