The Atlas Obscura Guide To Kansas

129 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Kansas

Updated October 31, 2024

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Unusual Attractions in Kansas

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Lucas, Kansas

World's Largest Collection of Smallest Versions of Largest Things

A unique attraction and museum dedicated to exploring iconic roadside structures.

Monument Rocks

Oakley, Kansas

Monument Rocks

One of the Eight Wonders of Kansas and the first official National Natural Monument these stark formations look like nature's Stonehenge.

The Oz Museum

Wamego, Kansas

Oz Museum

A wonderful collection of all things Oz is nestled in the heart of Kansas.

The Kansas Underground Salt Museum

Hutchinson, Kansas

Strataca, The Kansas Underground Salt Museum

Home to Hollywood history and a very special salt crystal.

Truckhenge

Topeka, Kansas

Truckhenge

These elevated trucks were put in place as a middle finger to The Man, but are now considered folk art.

Goodland, Kansas

Giant Van Gogh Painting

Massive still life just off the highway in Kansas.

Lindsborg, Kansas

Coronado Heights Castle

Marking the spot where a conquistador gave up his search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold.

The Big Well

Greensburg, Kansas

The Big Well

The United States's largest hand-dug well is topped with a state-of-the-art museum.

See All 129 Things To Do in Kansas

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas

Jones Bar-B-Q Vending Machine

Why settle for barbecue chips when you can get actual barbecue?

The first Pizza Hut is really more of a house.

Wichita, Kansas

Original Pizza Hut

The first "Hut" was actually a small brick building.

Welcome to the International Pancake Day Hall of Fame.

Liberal, Kansas

International Pancake Day Hall of Fame

This museum was built to share the story of Liberal's singular pancake-flipping racing tradition.

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Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

10 Places to Trip Way Out in Kansas

The Sunflower State has a reputation for being flat—in fact, scientists have shown that it is objectively way flatter than a pancake. Far from being featureless, though, Kansas can be mind-bending in its own weird way. Maybe it all started with The Wizard of Oz. From a missile silo that once dominated the world's LSD supply to rock formations shaped like mushrooms, roadside art that will make you think you've been whisked away by a tornado, and a giant pile of sock monkeys, Kansas is full of treasures that are sure to make you do a double take.

Jim Dickerman's sculptures are magical and a little brain-scrambling.

Explore Kansas

Museums 21

History & Culture 17

Collections 12

Roadside Attractions 11

Geology 9

Monuments 9

Nature 9

Outsider Art 9

History 8

Architecture 8

Memorials 8

Art 7

Places To Stay 3

Kansas Leaderboard

Places Added

Places Edited

Places Visited

Recent Kansas Activity

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wants to go to Mount Sunflower
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wants to go to Bowl Plaza
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wants to go to WaKeeney North Pole
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wants to go to Swedish Phone Booth
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wants to go to Glenn Stark Park

Stories About Kansas

Podcast: They Also Ran Gallery

Celebrate presidential politics—with the ones who lost.

by The Podcast Team

November 28, 2023

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

Puzzle Monday: War Heroes Crossword

The 6888th Battalion was led by 26-year-old Major Charity Adams Earley, the first Black woman to become an officer in the Women’s Army Corps.

The Little Known History of World War II's All-Black, All-Female Battalion

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion helped connect soldiers on the front lines with their families back home.

by Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing

February 14, 2023

Podcast: Atlas Obscura Presents How To!

Setting up a roadside attraction with How To! host Amanda Ripley.

by The Podcast Team

December 2, 2022

Podcast: The World’s Largest Collection of Small Versions of Large Things

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

by The Podcast Team

September 20, 2021

This unusual artifact—now housed at the Columbia University Libraries—is part comic collection, part journal of life in the 1930s.

The 36-Pound Comic Scrapbook That Chronicles the Great Depression

How the collection went from a small-town barbershop to a big-time library.

by Amadea Tanner

August 16, 2021

An aerial view of a portion of the site that a drone surveyed in Kansas.

How Drones Help Archaeologists Peer Into the Earth

A late-night drone flight spotted a large, circular earthwork beneath a field in Kansas.

by Karen Chernick

October 9, 2020

This ancient shark may have been slow-moving, but it was still pretty pointy.

Found: A Sluggish Ancestor of the Great White Shark, in Kansas

A relic of North America’s shallow sea.

by Isaac Schultz

November 25, 2019

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