8 Offbeat Kansas Towns To Visit In 2025
For many travelers, the state of Kansas is the essence of America's Midwest region. Joining the Union in 1861, during the US Civil War, the state's place as a divided, sometimes violent territory inspired the term "Bleeding Kansas." However, the place known as the Sunflower State has developed since then into a land of tranquil towns and fan-favorite stories, like the film The Wizard of Oz, partially set in Kansas.
The state's unusual character derives from a few offbeat towns and cities. Oz-themed attractions lead to other charming and out-of-the-ordinary sites, like the Scandinavian heritage at Lindsborg, or the one-of-a-kind legacy of Amelia Earhart in the town of Atchison. For a travel experience that promises to be miles from the ordinary weekend or road trip, Kansas's offbeat places beckon for a visit soon.
Atchison
By the mighty Missouri River, which forms the border with the state of Missouri, the town of Atchison combines a pair of special travel interests: architecture and aviation. Atchison's Victorian-era homes and buildings attract visitors from all over. The Atchison County Courthouse, where Abraham Lincoln once gave a public address, also stands in town. The area likewise hosts a community of Benedictine Catholic Christians, and their campus at Mount St. Scholastica, as well as a monastery called St. Benedict's Abbey, make Atchison an architectural favorite.
In aviation, the legendary pilot Amelia Earhart used to call Atchison home. Today, the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum exhibits artifacts and information on her diverse accomplishments. The town's annual Amelia Earhart Festival puts on shows of airplane stunts over the Missouri, not to mention food, crafts, music, and other festivities that showcase Atchison's abundant local pride.
Council Grove
In east-central Kansas, the modest-sized Council Grove earns its spot on the state's list of offbeat towns in various ways. Hermit's Cave takes its name from a bygone Christian mystic who lived in complete isolation, and later walked the Santa Fe Historic Trail, while giving Catholic sacraments to fellow travelers. The National Park Service maintains Hermit's Cave these days, honoring his memory and past works.
Council Grove may be petite, but it can boast no fewer than 15 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Perhaps the most famous one is the Post Office Oak, a tree that served as something like an early post office. Travelers would fix addressed letters on the oak's trunk, in order that other passersby might take the letter to its intended person. Old-days western stories like this endure at the Trail Days Cafe and Museum in town, with everything from pioneers' recipes as well as European, Spanish, and Native American influences on the food and drink of past times here.
Cottonwood Falls
Cottonwood Falls is very small, but its attractions loom large. Settled in 1872 within the Flint Hills region, and sitting alongside the Cottonwood River, the town maintains paths for riverside walking at places like the Cottonwood River Bridge. Amateur history buffs can check out the Chase County Courthouse, erected in 1873. The site is said to be the oldest continuously-used court to the west of the Mississippi River, which undersore's the outsized historic importance of Cottonwood Falls.
For time out of town and out of doors, Chase State Fishing Lake, as well as the Chase Lake Falls east of town, offer nature-focused relaxation in abundance. The Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve is another protected, and popular, local natural area here. Fun fact: the cottonwood tree is Kansas' official state tree, and tourists can look for beautiful examples across the town.
Dodge City
Dodge City manages to combine small-town graces and the bustle of a much larger city. Its past includes colorful characters like the western lawman, Wyatt Earp. This town inspired the expression, "to get out of Dodge," which is an encouragement to anyone who might save their freedom by slipping out of town. Dodge City's old status as a rail and transportation hub only deepens the sense of historical interest here. Two wagon trails — the National Old Trails Road and the Santa Fe Trail —each pass through the town, and helped make Dodge City what it is today.
For another eccentric attraction, the Boot Hill Museum, also known as Kansas' Cowboy Hall of Fame, displays Western-themed variety shows for families and other visitors. For a break and some fresh air, Dodge City has no fewer than twenty-one parks, like the local favorite Wright Park — which has the Dodge City Zoo within its limits.
Hutchinson
The central-Kansas town of Hutchinson sits beside the Arkansas River. Settled in 1871, Hutchinson earned the nickname "Temperance City" in light of its anti-alcohol policies about a century ago. Upright attitudes like these also helped build the Victorian architecture the town proudly displays, as well as the Reno County Courthouse, an Art Deco masterpiece built in 1929.
A onetime salt mine nearby, called Strataca, now invites tourists and families to see the history and industry around Kansas's natural sodium deposits for themselves. Hutchinson has played host to the Kansas State Fair since 1873, for more than 150 years as a standard-bearer of Kansas life, industry, and culture.
Lindsborg
The unusual town of Lindsborg, sometimes called 'Little Sweden,' wears its heritage on its very traditional sleeves. A group of Swedish immigrants came here in the 1860s, leaving their homeland forever and building a new life here. Sites like the Old Mill and the Swedish Heritage Museum bring these legacies to life. Other elements of Scandinavian heritage shine in places like Bethany Lutheran Church, which bears the name of a Protestant denomination common in Scandinavia. To this day, Bethany Lutheran flies Swedish and US flags on its grounds.
For culture beyond the Swedish kind, the town puts on its Art Lovers Affair and Auction every year. The event provides a chance to see and buy local artistic expression. Proceeds from the sales contribute to local Lindsborg scholarships.
Ottawa
If the name Ottawa sounds Canadian, this Kansan town is in fact very American. Taking its name from the Native American tribe on whose reservation the town sprang up, today's Ottawa has eclectic architecture, with examples of Art Deco, Gothic, Victorian, and other styles. Ottawa has maintained a place on the NRHP for more than fifty years.
In addition, Ottawa's interesting attractions include what some say is the oldest continuously running movie house on the planet. The Plaza Cinema Movie and Memorabilia Museum has run nonstop since 1907, town officials say. For history beyond the movies, Ottawa's Old Depot Museum harkens back to the days when the railroad and the changes it brought were still new.
Wamego
The northeast town of Wamego cranks the offbeat feeling up to maximum strength, especially at the Oz Museum, dedicated to the film, and the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, and published in 1900. The book would inspire what may be the most iconic classic movie in history. Wamego's Oz museum has over 2,000 Oz-themed artifacts; in town, visitors hunt for Oz-themed sites like the Emerald City Playground and a real-life Yellow Brick Road. There is even a walking trail with no fewer than 15 statues of Toto the dog, tracing its way through downtown Wamego.
For a break from Oz tourism (or from other tourists in Wamego), the 15-acre City Park offers green space and fresh air without leaving town. Prairie Town Village displays a collection of 19th-century constructions from Kansas' pioneer days, showing how life used to be here. The park is a popular picnic spot, and visitors are encouraged to pack a lunch basket and spread a blanket for a lovely moment outdoors.
Kansas' Offbeat Towns Are Among Its Best
These towns show that some of Kansas's more offbeat towns are, at the same time, some of the state's most interesting places. Architectural standouts, from Atchison to Ottawa, make the case for Kansas' unique place in American building heritage, with a few NRHP listings to prove it. Swedish and other Northern European cultures continue to thrive in towns like Lindsborg, which continue to celebrate their unique heritage. Western roots live on in Council Grove and Dodge City. Uniquely long-running sites, like the courthouse at Cottonwood Falls and the cinema house at Ottawa, suggest that Kansas has contributed a great deal in its time as a territory and state. To see these and other unusual towns, Kansas might just be the best choice for a trip in 2025.
