 segments between Missouri and New Mexico.
The Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area (a half mile south of Garden City) offers the chance to see bison (commonly called buffalo) in a setting of native prairie reminiscent of what pioneers saw 150 years ago. A volunteer group, Friends of the Sandsage Bison Range, leads free guided tours of the 3,670-acre refuge. Visitors bump along the roads in a truck or open-air trailer, eager to spot the 100 or so bison that roam among feathery sage and blooming wildflowers.
- Webster State Park
Webster State Park fun
“Roughing it” is relative in Webster State Park (eight miles west of Stockton). A new knotty-pine cabin, one of many for rent in Kansas State Parks, stands atop a hill with a vast lake view. It makes a great base for exploring the park, where 3,700-acre Webster State Lake spills across the Solomon River Valley. Anglers and pleasure boaters share the waters, casting for walleye and bass, and skimming across the surface on wakeboards and water skis.
On shore, sand beaches and docks rim protected coves. Recreation areas provide plenty of diversions for campers, with a baseball diamond, sand volleyball court and horseshoe pits. The cabin provides the perfect respite after a day filled with activity. Stoke up a blaze in the fire ring, ready the fixings for s’mores for the kids, and settle back on the wide covered porch to watch a pastel sunset transform into a star-filled sky.
- Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge
The skies themselves seem to be in motion during spring and fall migration at Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge (15 miles southeast of Phillipsburg). Thousands of sandhill cranes and tens of thousands of geese—Canada, snow and white-fronted—settle at the refuge in February and March, and again in October and November. Occasionally, birders here thrill to the sight of a whooping crane, one of the most endangered birds in the nation.
The birds come to rest among 10,800 acres of prairie grasses, creeks and bottomlands. Visitors seek refuge in the landscape, too, biking on dirt roads and walking along dikes and interpretive nature trails, accompanied only by the trill of meadowlarks and the mutter of ducks. Many species make Kirwin their year-round home, including the greater prairie chicken and songbirds like Bell’s Vireo, Dickcissel and a variety of warblers. Overlooks and observation platforms with binocular stands provide good viewing opportunities. The best way to experience the beauty of this remnant prairie land is as the birds do—down among the waving grasses and wooded riverbanks.
- Kuhrt Ranch
The rumble of your car down a rural gravel road is enough to flush pheasants in northwestern Kansas, a region rich with the ringneck beauties. And, Kuhrt Ranch (20 miles northeast of Goodland) puts hunters right in the middle of the action. The four-generations-old working ranch covers 4,000 contiguous acres of prime bird habitat, a mix of pastures, creek bottoms, woodlands and fallow farm land. Pheasants, turkey and quail begin roaming the fields in the pre-dawn darkness. So do hunters. With ranch owner Brent Flanders as their guide and a good bird dog at their side, they seek out the birds’ favorite hiding places, hoping to flush them from cover to the broad and brightening skies above. Successful hunts end with a fine feast, gathered around the table at the ranch’s stately hand-quarried limestone “Prairie Castle” house or the casual apartment-style lodge next door.
- Gypsum Hills
Ride the outback
The subtle beauty of the Gypsum Hills really resonates from the seat of a bicycle. Surrounded by red-rock buttes and deep canyons, it’s easy to hear the cluck of a wild turkey, catch whiffs of honeysuckle and spot the occasional glare of a prairie falcon perched on a fencepost in this region known as the “Kansas Outback.” West of Medicine Lodge (75 miles southwest of Wichita), backcountry trails strike off into red-rock country: buttes, rocky spires and canyons thick with cedars that resemble the set for an old western.
Cyclists also can ride along the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway, whic