EAT

Sometimes you just want great food with an authentic atmosphere. Wagon Wheel Bar & Grill (2909 W. 9th Ave.) is off the beaten path, and is one of the best places to get steak in Emporia.

PLAY

The Bourbon Cowboy (605 Commercial St.) is a 6,000 square foot, two-level country dance bar featuring live music on Saturday nights and the friendliest bartenders and cocktail waitresses in the region. PHOTO CREDIT/Courtesy Kelly Glasscock

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE Experience the grandeur of the Flint Hills the way they are meant to be experienced at this unique event. The Symphony in the Flint Hills (symphonyintheflinthills.org) is an annual concert by the Kansas City Symphony under the open skies of Kansas one-of-a-kind landscape. It is an experience that you’ll never forget.

PHOTO CREDIT/ Courtesy Bourbon Cowboy

EASY RIDING

Photo Credit/Courtesy The Emporia Gazette

Running from Council Grove to

FLINT HILLS RODEO

EXPLORE THE AREA

Beginning in 1937, the Flint Hills

Tour through the Flint Hills

Rodeo (flinthillsrodeo.org) is the

and discover unique locations

oldest consecutive rodeo in the state

with Prairie Earth Tours

of Kansas. This PRCA sanctioned

(prairieearthtours.com). Take a

event takes place in Strong City and

day trip to historic restaurants,

includes a parade and dance.

breweries and wineries.

CELEBRATE RANCHING Flint Hills Beef Fest (beeffest.com) is an annual celebration of the grass cattle industry for which the Flint Hills region is well known. Follow up with an evening of Ranch rodeo.

RURAL KANSAS Tour the rural community on the Flint Hills Quilt Trail

(ksflinthillsquilttrail.blogspot. com) and see traditional stars and various quilt patterns displayed on barns, homes, sheds and buildings throughout the Flint Hills.

Cassoday, the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway (travelks.com/ ksbyways/flint-hills) offers incredible views of the native grasses and flowers of the tallgrass prairie – one of the last remaining such landscapes in America. Much of the land along the Byway looks as it did thousands of years ago when the Kaw, Osage and other native tribes lived there.

FOR THE BIRDS The Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge (fws.gov/refuge/flint_hills/ lies in the broad, flat Neosho River Valley, a native tallgrass prairie region with natural scenic beauty. 18,463 acres of habitats are managed to provide food and habitat for migratory birds and

Photo Credit/Christopher Nichols

visitemporia.com

resident wildlife.

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