The 7 Can't-Miss Towns In Kansas
Many people argue that you can miss Kansas. In fact, while traveling across the United States, you might not ask if you are in Kansas anymore. Instead, you might ask if you were ever in Kansas, even as Kansas City disappears in your rearview. But despite its stereotype as a flat, forgettable state, Kansas abounds with towns that, if you know what they hide, should make you stop—if not stay. From the northernmost American pueblo to a little Stockholm on the prairie to the grassroots art capital, behold seven Kansan communities you cannot miss during your next road trip.
Scott City
Hiking buffs love the bluffs around Scott City. This unsung community abuts undulating, unKansaslike preserves, namely Lake Scott State Park. Flanking the titular lake are "natural springs, deep wooded canyons, [and] craggy bluffs" better suited for Arizona or Utah. The park even boasts a historic pueblo called El Cuartelejo, which is the northernmost pueblo found in the US and the only one found in Kansas. You can learn more about the pueblo and local Indigenous history at the El Quartelejo Museum in Scott City proper. Then, like your intrepid forefathers, get guided by ancient landmarks like the Monument Rocks. Now comprising a National Natural Monument, these 50-foot formations line the Western Vistas Historic Byway along much of the former Smoky Hill Trail.
Lindsborg
While Scott City evokes a different state, Lindsborg evokes a different country. This small city is nicknamed "Little Sweden USA" for its Swedish residents, culture, and attractions. In 1869, Lindsborg was settled by immigrants from the Värmland province of Sweden, whose influence is uniquely and beautifully displayed in 2025. Such Värmland vestiges include the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum, Öl Stuga, and Dala Horses made by Hemslojd, Inc.
But Lindsborg does not evoke only Sweden. On a sandstone bluff overlooking the city is a Spanish-style wonder called the Coronado Heights Castle, which marks the alleged stomping grounds of 16th-century conquistadors. Take a European vacation in the heart of Kansas.
Abilene
For classic heartland sights in the heartland, visit Abilene in central Kansas. It is home to about 6,400 people, but none are more famous than one former resident, who is honored with the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home. Yes, the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, grew up in Abilene. He was also buried in Abilene—his resting place being a section of the compound called the Place of Meditation. You can meditate at his grave, peruse his library, tour his museum, and explore his boyhood home before admiring Abilene's other attractions like the Seelye Mansion, Greyhound Hall of Fame, and Old Abilene Town. The last of those is a recreated Old West town with exciting reenactments.
Wamego
Kansas is tightly linked to The Wizard of Oz. Wamego, a 5,000ish-person city near Abilene, tightens that link to a shocking yet striking degree. It boasts the OZ Museum, whose thousands of artifacts range from movie props to W.W. Denslow’s 24 illustrated pages from the first edition of 1900's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; the Oz Winery, where you can sample bottles of Squished Witch and Drunken Munchkin; and the Yellow Brick Road, along which you can see Oz-inspired murals and the sculpted Totos Around Town. If wanting to go from Oz to the Netherlands, stroll through Wamego City Park, whose multicolored tulips and Old Dutch Mill conjure the Old Country.
Cottonwood Falls
The Flint Hills are a region of flint-flecked highlands in eastern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. Though unsurprisingly underpopulated, the Hills have several "hubs," one of which is Cottonwood Falls. Fewer than 1,000 people call this city home, but many more call it a gateway to singular scenery. The Hills contain the last remnants of a once-sprawling tallgrass prairie ecosystem. As such, skyscraping stalks surround Cottonwood Falls, especially within the 11,000ish-acre Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. More prairie preserves, like the Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park and Chase County State Lake, can be found along the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway, which runs for 47 miles between Cottonwood Falls and other communities.
Atchison
Though it is hard to beat Abilene when ranking small Kansas communities with famous former residents, Atchison comes close. Back in 1897, a girl was born in Atchison who would later fly far from Kansas, breaking many female piloting records and becoming known the world over. She disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 and was declared dead two years later. Today, you can celebrate her short but spectacular life at the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum and the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum. The former is a Gothic Revival home where Earhart spent her childhood, while the latter is a collection of Earhart exhibits within a 17,000-square-foot hangar of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport. If visiting Atchison in July, you can pair tours of both museums with fun at the Amelia Earhart Festival, which features everything from live music to Earhart research.
Lucas
If you can miss Lucas while driving west on the K-18, you need to get your eyes checked. What should first alert you to the "Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas" is the World's Largest Souvenir Travel Plate. Stretching 14 feet wide, the ornate plate was erected in 2006 on the side of the highway leading to Lucas, while its miniature, along with miniatures of many other roadside giants, is housed in town at the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Also validating Lucas's moniker are Jim Dickerman's Open Range Zoo and S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, both of which display dozens of offbeat art pieces. If needing relief after gawking at grassroots galleries, use Bowl Plaza, a toilet-shaped public restroom that is itself an art installation.
Thanks to the aforementioned towns, Kansas should change from a can-miss state to a can't-miss state. After all, how can you miss a historic pueblo or a Swedish-style toyshop or a presidential preserve or a Wizard of Oz museum or a tallgrass prairie or an Amelia Earhart festival or a toilet-shaped bathroom? Though the reasons vary, Scott City, Lindsborg, Abilene, Wamego, Cottonwood Falls, Atchison, and Lucas make Kansas eminently stopworthy.
