Articles

Two for the Road

THE farmers who plowed up most of the American Midwest spared the Flint Hills, which in aerial photos look like immense green ocean swells, because the rock was too close to the surface for plows. The buffalo were replaced by cattle, but in an area roughly the size of Vermont, the tallgrass prairie survives, a remnant of what most of the midsection of North America once must have looked like.

Heavenly places without the hype

Why people ignore it: It's Kansas, and we get excited about Kansas only during March Madness, if at all.

Long Weekend: Winter on a Silver Platter

Bed and Breakfasts serve up warmth and comfort in the Flint Hills

Lazy T Ranch

Lazy T Ranch Opens Historic Barn Doors to Visitors Escape to the serenity of the Flint Hills and experience its magnificent vistas at the Lazy T Ranch. Located just minutes away from the heart of Manhattan, the Lazy T Ranch is one of the Flint Hills’ best-kept secrets.

Midwest Living - Kansas Flint Hills

Savor the open grasslands of this gorgeous expanse.

Restoration Row

PAWHUSKA, Okla. - It is hard to love a land you don't understand, and for most of my life I had no idea why anyone would ever live in the Great Plains - let alone love the place.

Flat, featureless, boring. Those were the words I heard growing up whenever someone would mention the plains. My view was informed by Dorothy's Kansas, which looked scary and Gothic even before the twister took her house and Toto, too.

Artist's filming of Flint Hills fires captures prairie cycles

Louis Copt watches the TV screen, which shows a roaring, crackling fire rushing through brown grass in the Flint Hills.

All that's missing is the smell of smoke and the terror of actually being there.

"It was way too windy to be burning that day," Copt says with asmirk.

He would know -- he was the one holding the video camera.

Bill Kurtis: In Praise of the Prairie

On his ranch in the Flint Hills of Kansas, Bill Kurtis walks among cows grazing on big bluestem and other prairie grasses. "Eat up, girls," he says in a resonant voice familiar to millions of Americans from his hosting roles on the A&E Network programs Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files.

Recreation Finder - Kansas

Looking for a Place to Hike, Bike or Camp in Kansas?
Recreation Finder is now online. This online resource allows users to search a database of more than 450 trails, 3,500 parks and 12,500 recreation facilities across the state. Users can search for parks and facilities by name, location, park type or facilities available.

Recreation Finder is a collaborative effort of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association, the Sunflower Foundation, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas State University and hundreds of park and recreation professionals and other city and school district staff members statewide.

Rancher works to preserve Kansas' scenic Flint Hills

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP)--If you asked Jane Koger what she'd do if given the choice to go to heaven or stay in the Kansas Flint Hills, she'd tell you she'd rather stay in the Flint Hills.

Koger is the owner of the Homestead Ranch in Chase County, a 4,000-acre privately owned ranch. She has turned her love of the Flint Hills into a lifelong dedication to preserving the Flint Hills pristine ecosystem.

Wildlife, Wildflowers and Waterfalls - Symphony in the Flint Hills

A travel blog recounts experiences of the symphony in the Flint Hills.

Old Kansas, Still Growing Tall

THINK all of Kansas is flat? Think again. The Flint Hills, in the eastern part of the state, fan out over 183 miles from north to south, stretching 30 to 40 miles wide in parts, the land folding into itself, then popping up in gentle bumps, with mounds looming far off on the horizon.

Lazy D Outfitters

Dan and Carla are the owners/operators of the Lazy D Outfitter in Madison, Kansas. The Lazy D hosted Babe Winkleman, the outdoor legend that has been teaching people to fish and hunt for 25 years on his award-wining programs; "Good Fishing" and "Outdoor Secrets" as well as numerous television shows.

Traveling Exhibit Debuts at Kansas State Capitol

The National Geographic Society and the Kansas Division of Travel and Tourism are sponsoring a traveling exhibit of 32 large-scale versions of the photographs featured in National Geographic's April 2007 issue article titled The Flint Hills: A Kansas Treasure.

National Geographic - April 2007 - The Flint Hills: A Kansas Treasure

The Prairie's Grip is Unbroken in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

Human Nature: Big-Sky Prairie

Learning to see the nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

KSNT Blog and Clip on National Geographic

Read the KSNT Blog and Film Clip regarding the Kansas Flint Hills coverage in the April National Geographic.

Flint Hills National Heritage Area

This is a document from the Kansas House Committee on Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, on February 16, 2005 in support of House Resolution No. 6016 which requested support for designation of the Flint Hills as a National Heritage Area. (PDF)

Elk County Courthouse Tower Clock

Newly installed courthouse tower clock in the Elk County Courthouse after waiting 100 years!

Flint Hills tourism is means to an end

"Disney's not coming to the Flint Hills," Ted Eubanks told his audience Thursday afternoon. "Large industry? Not coming." But tourists could be and, by using the right tools, they should be coming in droves.

Kansas - a place of discovery

Kansas… “Home, home on the range”…these are more than just words in the Kansas state song. They are words that describe the experiences and down home hospitality vacationers will discover when they visit Kansas.

Finding Passion for the Plains

Endless vistas and teeming wildlife await travelers who visit a pair of scenic Kansas byways for a wide-open brand of fall driving.

Ode to Kansas

It's stridently anti-abortion, fervently behind creationism, considered flat, bland 'flyover land' to most left-leaning Americans. But, finds Paul Harris, there's plenty to love about Dorothy's homeland.

Flint Hills Kansas - Nature Field Guide

This article is a brief description and history of the Flint Hills.:)

Flint Hills - Yahoo's Top 10 Travel Destination

The Flint Hills was named in a list of travel destinations in America. Author Rolf Potts puts it this way: Most folks consider the Great Plains fly-over country — and that's a shame, since the prairies are home to America's subtlest charms and scenery.  Mostly treeless, and curving gently across the eastern Kansas landscape, the Flint Hills are home to the largest remnant of native tallgrass prairie in the world.

The Flint Hills - Tales out of School

Characteristics, history and life over the last two centuries in the Flint Hills.