Kansas National Parks

Kansas national parks include sites dedicated to the preservation, protection and interpretation of nationally significant historic resources related to the opening of the West, the Permanent Indian Frontier, the Mexican-American and Civil Wars, the expansion of railroads and events in the struggle for civil rights. The state's tallgrass ecosystem is a unique natural resource of this land.

Visit the Kansas National Parks:

Brown V Board Of Education National Historic Site: "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." From the opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education

Brown vs Board Weather

California National Historic Trail: The road to California carried over 250,000 gold-seekers & farmers to the gold fields & rich farmlands of California during the 1840's and 1850's - the greatest mass migration in American history. More than 1,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen in the vast undeveloped west – reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American travelers and settlers.

California Trail Ratings

Fort Larned National Historic Site: With nine beautifully restored buildings Fort Larned NHS gives you a chance to experience military life on the Santa Fe Trail. Established on the vast prairie in western Kansas, troops stationed at Fort Larned protected mail coaches, freighters and other Trail traffic. As the site of an Indian Agency, Fort Larned also was instrumental in maintaining friendly relations with Plains Indians.

Fort Larned Weather

Fort Scott National Historic Site: In its brief but varied life, Fort Scott mirrored the course of western settlement along the middle border.

Fort Scott Weather

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail: Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window onto the west for the young United States.

Nicodemus National Historic Site: This northwestern Kansas town – barely a few dozen buildings – tells us first-hand stories of the African American experience on the Great Plains. Founded in 1877, it was the first western town built by and for black settlers. For black farmers in the region, it was the economic and cultural hub for many decades.

Nicodemus Weather     Nicodemus Ratings

The Oregon Trail: A History: On to Oregon! It all began with a crude network of rutted traces across the and from the Missouri River to the Willamette River that was used by nearly 400,000 people. Today the 2,170-mile Oregon Trail still evokes an instant image, a ready recollection of the settlement of this continent, of the differences between American Indians and white settlers, and of new horizons.

The Oregon Trail: The Journey West: In book or pamphlet form, guidebooks were soon available for emigrants. Some provided good, solid, reliable information. Others contributed to the "Oregon Fever" that swept the country in the 1840s describing the land in almost Biblical terms.

Pony Express National Historic Trail: The legend of the "the Pony," as it was affectionately known, may overshadow its brief history, but the bold founders and brave riders of the Pony Express helped spread important news, shrink a continent, and bind a nation that was being torn apart by civil war.

Life of the Pony Express Riders: Hires ranged from teenagers to about age 40. Weight restrictions were strict.

History of Mail Delivery Before and After the Pony Express:  Officially the Pony Express ceased operations with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1861. The Pony made its last run on November 20, 1861. It completed some 300 runs each way over 600,000 miles and carried more than 33,000 pieces of mail.

Pony Express Ratings

Santa Fe National Historic Trail: The Santa Fe Trail of the US National Parks stirs imaginations as few other historic trails can. For 60 years the Trail - weaving through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri - was one thread through the tallgrass prairie in a web of international trade routes. It influenced economies as far away as New York and London. Spanning 900 miles of the Great Plains prairie between the United States (Missouri) and Mexico (Santa Fe), it brought together a cultural mosaic of individuals who cooperated – and at times clashed.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: Tallgrass prairie once covered 140 million acres of North America. Less than 4 % remains, mostly in the Flint Hills of Kansas. On November 12, 1996, legislation created the 10,894 acre preserve, which protects a nationally significant example of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem, while containing a unique collection of natural and cultural features from the American Indian to present.

Tallgrass Prairie Weather