6 Easygoing Small Towns In Kansas
Though you may be tempted to squeeze everything out of a trip, there is something to be said for low-key vacationing. Instead of an itinerary packed with costly attractions in far-flung locations, you can pack your car with bare necessities for a drive down easy street. In Kansas, especially its rural communities, most streets are easy streets, directing travelers to chill but captivating sites that keep heart rates low and spirits high. The following are six small settlements to visit for an easygoing Kansas vacay.
Wamego
There is no place like home, especially if home is Wamego. Around 5,000 people awaken each day in this Ozsome city, while certain tourists, who know where to go for Oohs and Oz, skip down its Yellow Brick Road. As you probably figured, Wamego is something of a shrine to The Wizard of Oz, which is partly set in rural, but unspecified, Kansas. Little Wamego was as good a place as any to ape (flying?) Oz, bringing to life pages from the books, scenes from the movies, and acts from the plays. Besides its Yellow Brick Road, which runs for multiple mural-lined blocks and ends just before the Emerald City Playground, Wamego charms with 19 sculpted Totos Around Town and several themed wines, including "Squished Witch" and "Drunken Munchkin," from Oz Winery. But none of those would exist without the OZ Museum. Started as a private citizen's collection temporarily displayed at the Columbian Theatre, it is now a large repository of Ozifacts with its own emerald-green building. If this sound like the opposite of easygoing, do not worry. Given its small size and relative remoteness, Wamego is still a hidden gem as far as tourist towns go. You can explore an Oz that has yet to be overrun.
Council Grove
Like Kansas as a whole, the Flint Hills get overlooked because they are covered in grass. In this case, grass is—or at least should be—the attraction, for the Flint Hills comprise the densest remaining tract of the once-expansive tallgrass prairie. Its stems, which can grow taller than an adult human, enmesh Council Grove, a city of about 2,100 people and start or end point of the Flint Hills Scenic Byway. Running for 47 miles, the byway passes several preserves of gargantuan grasses, including the 160ish-acre Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park. Whether you are beginning or finishing your whimsical jaunt through Kansan Narnia, fuel up at the Hays House 1857 Restaurant & Tavern on Main Street Council Grove. Having allegedly fed the likes of Jesse James and General Custer, Hays House calls itself the "oldest restaurant west of the Mississippi." The Kansas Sampler Foundation calls it one of the "8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine."
Baldwin City
Besides cuisine, the Kansas Sampler Foundation chose eight Kansan wonders for various other categories, ranging from commerce to customs to art to geography to history. A finalist for the history category was Baldwin City's Black Jack Battlefield, where John Brown's anti-slavery forces fought pro-slavery ruffians in 1856, setting the stage for the Civil War. Today, the battlefield doubles as a serene nature park, which pairs perfectly with Baldwin City's other tranquil attractions. Tops among them is Baker University, a historic private college whose campus charms with gorgeous greenery and heritage buildings, three of which grace the National Register of Historic Places. Though typically sleepy, Baldwin City awakens each October for the Maple Leaf Festival, where more than 30,000 people celebrate autumn and community.
Colby
Located way out in the western Kansas boonies, Colby is an unexpected art and architecture mecca. This small city boasts the Thomas County Courthouse, a Richardsonian Romanesque edifice on whose lawn stands the Spirit of the Prairie "mom-ument" for the collective pioneer mother. Thousands more artworks and artifacts occupy the Prairie Museum of Art & History, an indoor/outdoor repository on 24 acres with six historic buildings. The grandest, by about 15,000 square feet, is Cooper Barn, known as the largest barn in Kansas. Naturally, it was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture.
Lording over Colby and its art, architecture, and agriculture is Wheat Jesus, a billboard on I-70 depicting Jesus Christ in a wheat field. Though not an official Kansas Wonder, Wheat Jesus was voted second on the USA TODAY 10BEST list of American roadside attractions in 2025.
Strong City
Strong City is another hub in the Flint Hills and a stop along the Flint Hills Scenic Byway. Hub is a strong word for a community of about 400 people, but it is the clear rendezvous point for a journey through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Spanning 11,000ish acres just north of town, TPNP has the unique distinction of being the only national park dedicated to the tallgrass prairie. Though it lacks the gravitas of mountains or canyons or oceans, this ecosystem is arguably more deserving of protection, having lost over 96 percent of its historic territory. Protected alongside the several-foot stalks are amazing animals like bison, which were reintroduced to the prairie in 2009. After a truly tranquil trip absent the crowds of more popular preserves, have a nourishing meal at Jacalito Mexican Restaurant and then drive a couple of miles to Cottonwood Falls, a relative metropolis with around 800 residents and iconic haunts like the Grand Central Hotel & Grill.
Lindsborg
If seeking whimsical—and official—wonders in Kansas, look no further than Lindsborg. Dubbed "Little Sweden USA" for its Swedish heritage, this city of about 3,800 people has four attractions included among the 8 Wonders of Kansas in four different categories. Its traditional Dala horses, which are handcrafted and displayed around town, are among the 8 Wonders of Kansas Customs. The company that makes said horses, Hemslojd, Inc., is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Commerce. The Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, which celebrates the titular Swedish painter, is among the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art. And a decidedly non-Swedish attraction, a bluff called Coronado Heights topped by a castle honoring 16th-century Spanish explorers, is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Geography. Aside from the somewhat rugged bluff that overlooks town, such wonders are easy to explore and easy to enjoy in easygoing Lindsborg.
Kansas is the perfect state for a low-stress vacation. Even its biggest cities are quaint, so if you venture out to its smallest settlements your tranquility can turn almost comatose. Get enchanted by the Wizard of Oz attractions in Wamego, the Flint Hills Scenic Byway in Council Grove, the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Wheat Jesus in Colby, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City, and the Europe-inspired Wonders in Lindsborg during an easygoing Kansas adventure.
