Welcome to Kansas

Situated in the heart of the Great Plains, Kansas is known for its endless and seemingly limitless landscapes of rolling wheat fields. It’s not an undue stereotype—Kansas is the leading wheat producer in the country, and Sumner County is considered the Wheat Capital of the World. But just as Dorothy discovers in the Land of Oz, there’s more than meets the eye here in the Sunflower State.

Exploring Kansas typically means hopping from one charming small town to another, yet you’ll still likely find yourself gravitating to some of the larger urban areas in the state. These include Wichita (known as the Air Capital of the World), Topeka (the state capital), Hutchinson (home to the second-largest space museum in the world) and the Kansas half of Kansas City (which stretches across the border into Missouri).

Popular attractions on your swing through Kansas include the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, the Strataca salt mine in Hutchinson and Zoological Park in Topeka.

Adventure

All told, Kansas’ collection of state parks encompasses more than 500 miles of well-marked trails and more than 130,000 acres of waterways. If you’re a hunter, you can enjoy more than 1.3 million acres of public and private land that’s seasonally open to hunters. So whether you’re looking to hike, bike, camp, canoe or bag a big buck, you’ll find no shortage of great places to get out and go exploring.

If you’re looking for a unique adventure that’s fun for the whole family, head for the Kansas River Trail, which runs from Junction City to Kansas City. You can canoe, kayak and fish your way from riverside town to riverside town, including Topeka, Lecompton, Lawrence, Manhattan and Wamego.

Entertainment

The Sunflower Sate is so intertwined with the Wicked Witch of the West, Yellow Brick Roads and all things Wizard of Oz, it should come as no surprise that one of its largest events is OZtoberFest. Held each September in Wamego, the festival features live stage performances of the Wizard of Oz, a Munchkinland-themed play area for kids, and a series of Wizard-themed games, such as the Flying Monkey Toss and the Yellow Brick Road Cupcake Walk. There’s no place like Kansas.