Western Vistas Historic Byway

Western Western VistasVistas Vistas Historic Byway Vistas Historic Byway

Discover the unexpected side of Kansas, along the 102-mile Western Vistas Historic Byway. Here you can see remnants of the Great Cretaceous Inland Sea that covered the center of North America 80 million years ago. The fossil remains of the Sea’s inhabitants are featured in local museums, alongside the history of the American West.

Stones n’ Bones

Explore the “Stones” of Western Kansas by visiting Monument Rocks in Gove County, Kansas’ newest state park, Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park, also in Logan County. Fossils abound in this rich landscape! Check out the “Bones” at Fick Fossil Museum in Oakley and Keystone Gallery located south of Oakley near Monument Rocks. In Wallace County, you can see the 40-foot plesiosaur fossil at the Fort Wallace Museum.

Western Plains History

At the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center in Oakley you can visit the huge bronze tribute to the legendary scout, Buffalo Bill. At the Butterfield Trail Museum in Russell Springs, you experience the stagecoach history along the Smoky Hill Trail. See bison in their native habitat at the Smoky Valley Ranch/Nature Conservancy and at Duff’s Buffalo Ranch in Logan County. Just south of these Logan County attractions, you will come upon the remains of El Quartelejo Indian Pueblo at Scott Lake State Park. Include the Jerry Thomas Gallery and Collection, and El Quartelejo Museum in your stop.

The Ultimate Guide to NORTHWEST KANSAS — 25