Blog | Big Kansas Road Trip to Showcase Northwest Kansas

Big Kansas Road Trip to Showcase Northwest Kansas

Posted Apr 17, 2019
Cheyenne, Sherman and Wallace in Northwest Kansas will be the showcase counties for the Big Kansas Road Trip May 2-5.  Organized by the Kansas Sampler Foundation and local county leaders, the event is designed to provide the public first-hand experiences with what there is to see, do, hear, taste, buy, and learn in these three counties.
 
People will choose what they want to do and when.  There is no organized caravan or a single itinerary. A Big Kansas Road Trip printed publication will be available at information centers in each county seat or people can go online to bigkansasroadtrip.com to find a list of attractions and more than 80 activities that will take place during the four days.
 
Foundation director Marci Penner said, "When we presented this opportunity to the counties, our only request was for them to be good at being themselves and to help the public get to know them as they are.  It's kind of like a tri-county open house.  Activities will range from a historic re-enactment at Fort Wallace to the invitation to sit on the sidewalk with a business owner in Goodland--just as he does most afternoons and evenings." 

WenDee Rowe, Foundation assistant director said, "Each person or family can design their adventure around the things they like.  Some people may want to do scenic drives and others may want to explore one county per day.  Families may have a quest to play on the playground in every town in the three counties.  We just want everyone to have a good time exploring."

Many towns are hosting scheduled activities.  A 50-page event guide is now available (contact travelwallacecounty@gmail.com) and can be picked up with a day program during the BKRT at Cheyenne County Museum in St. Francis, the public library or Welcome Center in Goodland; and the public library in Sharon Springs.

Activities range from tours of cemeteries, a buffalo ranch, a bean processing plant, National Weather Station, Hell's Half Acre, precision agriculture technology to an open house at Wright's Sunflower Oil. Other events include a garden tour, a pump organ jubilee, wild horse viewing, welding a star, a Par 3 Challenge, a spring livestock show, a car show to dozens of other options.

Some of the best known attractions in the three counties include the Arikaree Breaks in northern Cheyenne County and the St. Francis Motorcycle Museum.  In Goodland, the main features are the giant Van Gogh painting and the replica of the first-patented helicopter at the High Plains Museum.  Wallace County is home to Mt. Sunflower (the highest point in the state) north of Weskan and the Fort Wallace Museum.  Locally-owned restaurants will be ready with specials for hungry travelers.  Stores look forward to new customers.

Penner said, "We have no idea how many people will come.  All we know is that the people of Cheyenne, Sherman and Wallace counties are excited and ready to welcome the public to their hometowns."

The mission of the Kansas Sampler Foundation is to preserve and sustain rural culture.  Penner said, "We hope this event gets people addicted to exploring all Kansas communities year-round." 

A grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation helped make this event possible.

For more information go to bigkansasroadtrip.com.

###

Recent Posts