The 10 most populated cities in Kansas can all be found in the eastern half of the state. That doesn’t mean that the western side of Kansas has nothing to offer though.
Quite the opposite in fact. Shae and I recently spent 10 days in west Kansas and had a great time there. If you’re planning a road trip in west Kansas, here’s a list of everything we enjoyed during our time there.
From places to stay, museums to visit, restaurants to check out and more, here’s a list of things to do in west Kansas. We’ve also embedded a map below to help show the locations of all these places.
Where To Stay
We stayed in three different cities during our stay:
1) Airbnb in Ness City
This is a cute small city of about 1,500 people. We picked Ness City as it was within an hour’s drive of a few different attractions and there was a great-looking property on Airbnb.
The house was even cuter than the photos, the host – Brent – was extremely friendly and hospitable and it was excellent value at less than $55 per night. We’d therefore highly recommend booking this property if it’s available.
2) Historic Heritage Hotel in Dighton
Another property we booked through Airbnb was the Historic Heritage Hotel in Dighton. It’s a 102 year old hotel that a young couple purchased about a year ago and are looking to restore to its former glory.
The decor in the rooms is a little dated, but that’s not too surprising given the hotel’s age. The owner – Doug – was also extremely friendly and gave us some good suggestions of things to do in Dighton. The room was clean, spacious and had a fridge and microwave which we appreciated. At $55 per night, it’s good value as well.
3) TownePlace Suites Garden City
After leaving Dighton, we headed south to Garden City which is about an hour to the west of Dodge City. We stayed at the TownePlace Suites using points which was excellent value as it’s only 7,500 Marriott Rewards points per night and the 5th night was free as it was an award stay.
With great service, a kitchen in every suite and lots of smart storage, we had a great stay. Here’s a complete review of our stay at the TownePlace Suites Garden City.
Food & Drink
We ate out at a few places in west Kansas, so here’s a list of the places we’d recommend.
1) Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co. in Hays
We went for lunch at Gella’s and would highly recommend checking it out. Our food was tasty and they had a great value beer sampler for only $6.50. Check out our review of Gella’s for more.
2) Cuppa Joe in Ness City
Our Airbnb host in Ness City suggested visiting Cuppa Joe for lunch. When looking them up online, we saw that several reviews mentioned their cinnamon rolls, so we ordered a couple of those as well as some beef sandwiches.
Their cinnamon rolls weren’t very cinnamon-y, but they were more like delicious sticky buns.
3) Destination Kitchen in Norton
After visiting Prairie Dog State Park (more about that later on), we stopped off in downtown Norton. While walking around, we spotted a bakery called Destination Kitchen and picked up a couple of large, tasty cookies.
4) Brothers Bar & Grill in Dighton
Breakfast wasn’t included at the Historic Heritage Hotel in Dighton, so we went for breakfast at Brothers Bar & Grill. This is a fairly new restaurant in Dighton with large portion sizes and fairly low prices. I ordered their country-style breakfast with potatoes, eggs, sausage and gravy, while Shae went for enchiladas which she loved.
5) Pete’s Place
The night before eating at Brothers, we went for a drink at Pete’s Place in Dighton. Both staff members working that night were incredibly friendly and the meals we saw being served looked tasty, although we didn’t end up eating there.
Animals
While much of west Kansas is made up of fields and prairies, there are a few opportunities to see animals.
1) Sandsage Bison Range & Wildlife Area in Garden City
Less than 10 minutes from our hotel in Garden City was Sandsage Bison Range & Wildlife Area. Despite some heavy snow, we were able to arrange a tour where we learned a lot about bison and were able to see them at much closer range.
2) Frontier Historical Park in Hays
When spending the day in Hays, one of our final stops was Frontier Historical Park. That’s because we’d read that there were some bison there and sure enough, there were.
3) Prairie Dog State Park in Norton
While staying in Ness City, we headed north to visit Prairie Dog State Park to check out the prairie dogs.
The cold weather meant the prairie dogs weren’t too keen on being above ground, so we only spotted a couple of them while we were there. We did spot thousands upon thousands of geese though on Keith Sebelius Reservoir.
Rock Formations
There are a couple of sets of rock formations in west Kansas. They’re about 90 minutes away from each other and are worth visiting if you’ll be in the area.
1) Castle Rock in Gove County
The first one we visited was Castle Rock, a rock formation made of chalk.
It stands out as it’s an isolated formation in the middle of private land.
If you’re visiting in the winter or after heavy rain, beware! There’s a dirt road leading down to Castle Rock which can get extremely muddy.
Our car pretty much slid down the road due to the heavy buildup of mud on our tires. We visited on the day we were moving from Ness City to Dighton, so our car was also loaded down with all our stuff. There was therefore no way we’d have been able to drive back up the muddy hill, so we had to off-road it through the long prairie grass along the side.
2) Monument Rocks in Gove County
After leaving Castle Rock, we headed west to check out Monument Rocks in Gove County.
Similar to Castle Rock, Monument Rocks are chalk rock formations that are found in the middle of private land and are open to the public.
There are two main sets of rock formations at Monument Rocks, one on the right side of the road and the other a little further up on the left hand side.
You’re not allowed to climb on the rocks, but you can walk around all of them at the base.
Historic Buildings
During our 10 days in west Kansas, we got to check out a few historic buildings:
1) Old Ness County Bank Building in Ness City
Ness City is home to the Old Ness County Bank Building, a building known as the ‘Skyscraper of the Plains’.
Our Airbnb host is on the board of the Bank Building Foundation and offered to give us a tour, so we gladly took him up on his kind offer. It was beautiful inside and they’re doing a great job with maintaining the building.
2) Gas Stations in Norton
After leaving Prairie Dog State Park, we stopped in downtown Norton to check out a couple of gas stations. That may sound like strange places to visit, but it’s because they’re restored gas stations.
The first one we visited was a restored Sinclair gas station, while the second was a historic Conoco gas station.
Museums
West Kansas is home to several museums that are worth checking out.
1) Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City
Boot Hill Museum is a museum in Dodge City about life in the Old West. It’s an extremely interesting museum that would have been even more fun if we’d visited during the summer as that’s when they have shootout reenactments and more.
2) Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays
When spending the day in Hays, we visited the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. The museum is named after George F. Sternberg who was a famous fossil collector.
The museum has a large rattlesnake exhibit with loads of live rattlesnakes on display.
Most of the other exhibits featured fossils, including some very unusual exhibits. There was a lengthy mosasaur fossil…
…as well as one known as fish-within-a-fish because, well, it contains a fish within a fish.
3) Big Well Museum in Greensburg
The third museum we visited was one we stopped at on our way from Garden City to Wichita. The Big Well Museum in Greensburg is a two-part museum. The first part is focused on its status as the largest hand-dug well in the US with it being 109 feet deep. There’s a spiral staircase with 210 steps which helps you explore the depth of the well.
The other part of the museum’s focus is on the EF5 tornado that hit the town of Greensburg in 2007. It destroyed nearly all the buildings in the city, so the museum features information about both the tornado itself and how Greensburg residents rallied together to rebuild their community.
There was a Groupon for the Big Well Museum which we took advantage of, so take a look on there if you’re planning a visit and want to save a few bucks.
Sunsets
The evening we arrived in Kansas, we were fortunate enough to be greeted with an absolutely stunning sunset. With the colorful and cloudy sky over the prairies, it was a beautiful sight.
Your Suggestions
That’s a list of things to do in west Kansas that we enjoyed, but how about you? If you’ve visited or lived in west Kansas, what other recommendations would you give to people visiting that part of the state? Let us know in the comments below.
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