Kansas Travel and Tourism DivisionWhat’s New
• Freedoms Frontier National Historic Area: Featuring the shared heritage of Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. Eastern Kansas.
• Oread Hotel: Offers deluxe rooms and suites, full-service bars, restaurants, and retail outlets. Lawrence.
• Boot Hill Casino & Resort: This state-of-the-art facility is designed to recreate the elegant old west. Dodge City.
• Schlitterbahn Vacation Village: A year-round, retail, entertainment destination comprising multiple shopping, dining, lodging and attractions, all connected by a Transportainment® River System. Kansas City.
Attractions
• Amelia Earhart’s Birthplace: The famous pilot’s home from birth to age seven. Atchison.
Kansas Travel and Tourism Division• Museum of World Treasures: An extensive collection of European valuables; the Karpeles/Kardatzke Historic Manuscript Library exhibits the original Bill of Rights. Wichita.• Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center: This comprehensive space museum plus IMAX theatre features live rocket science demonstration and a planetarium. Hutchinson.
• Exploration Place: Creative science discovery centre with hands-on experience for kids. Wichita.
• Kansas Underground Salt Museum: Interactive displays about salt mining history and production. Hutchinson.
• Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure: A world-class zoo with more than 300 animals and an immersive museum with seven world regions represented. Salina.
• Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site: The only original stagecoach stop on the Santa Fe Trail. Open to the public. Olathe.
• Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art: Extensive temporary and permanent exhibits as well as a new media gallery and an intimate “focus” gallery. Overland Park.
Events
•Kansas 150th Birthday (throughout 2011), statewide.
• William Inge Theatre Festival (April), Independence.
• Chase County Prairie Fire Festival (April), Cottonwood Falls.
• Symphony in the Flint Hills (June), location changes annually.
• Smoky Hill River Festival (June), Salina.
• Wah-Shun-Gah Days Festival and Kaw Inter-Tribal Pow Wow (June), Council Grove.
• Kansas State Fair (September), Hutchinson.
• Peace Treaty Pageant (September through October 2011), Medicine Lodge.
• Ellsworth Cowtown Days & Great American Cattle Drive (September).
Places
• Boot Hill Museum: Living history museum offering a taste of the 1870s Wild West. Dodge City.
• Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area: Some of America’s best springtime shorebird and waterfowl viewing. Great Bend.
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: The only unit in the National Park System dedicated to the natural and cultural history of the tallgrass prairie. Strong City.
•Kansas Speedway: Experience the thrills of stock car racing and ride with a professional instructor. Kansas City.
Hidden Gems
• Hays House 1857 Restaurant & Tavern: The oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi River. Council Grove.
• Town of Lucas: Visit the Grassroots Arts Center, the Florence Deeble Rock Garden, and the Garden of Eden.
• Mushroom State Park: View mushroom-shaped, unusual rock formations of the Cretaceous Period, about 144 to 66 million years ago.
• Walters Pumpkin Patch: Unusual gourmet delights and a unique shopping experience. Burns.
Did You Know?
State Motto: To The Stars Through Difficulty
State Flower: Native Sunflower
State Bird: Western Meadowlark
Fast Facts
Region: GREAT FRONTIER
America’s Byways: Flint Hills Scenic Byway, Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway
Direct Flights: Air Canada
Sales Tools: Kansas Visitor Guides, Outdoor Guides, Scenic Byways Guides, Event Calendars and KDOT Highway maps. Group tour information available from TravelKS.com.
Info: Kansas Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division
(785) 296-2009
www.travelKS.com