Solemn rocks of Kansas

Mushroom Rocks

In the rolling green of Kansas, rock stands out in unexpected ways. Kansas might be a sea of crops but the terrain actually varies significantly. 

 The Flint Hills cover a big chunk of eastern Kansas. The rocky soil can twinkle at the right angles, but it’s more memorable for what all that stone prevented. 

The Great Plains have churned under plows, have fed America for generations. Only geologically unique areas like the Sandhills in north-central Nebraska have warded off agriculture. The Flint Hills also qualify. 

Without plowing, many Flint Hills settlers turned into cattle ranches. Since it runs almost the entire length of eastern Kansas, the hills offer the largest intact patch of tallgrass prairie in the country. Just four percent of the original tallgrass prairie remains, mostly in Kansas and northern Oklahoma. The hills are not tall, but they roll in a way that makes them feel more prominent under the big Kansas sky. 

 Heading west through Kansas, the most peculiar stones have been fortunate to receive protection. West of Salina, the Smoky Hills region has some stunning bluffs, but also possesses the unforgettable Mushroom Rocks. 

Try to pick out Mushroom Rocks State Park from the folds of land where it hides, and you will fail until right on top of it. Among the green rolling hills comes a garden of rocks along a dry creek bed flush with vegetation. The five-acre park covers two formations, the rocks exactly as advertised. These rocks seem truly alien. In central Kansas, the Mushroom Rocks feel as though they were dropped in. They are that anomalous. Farms fill the hills surrounding them. 

The Mushroom Rocks, a little garden of rocks balanced precariously on even older rock posts, deserve whatever time a visitor can give them. Housed within Kansas' smallest state park, the Mushroom Rocks are one of those landmarks that stick with those who stop. 

A quick walk across the empty creek leads to more wonders, where the mushroom rocks rise some 20 feet high, dwarfing the people wandering among them and the fields of wildflowers adding purples and reds to the fields of green. 

Stunning as they are, the Mushroom Rocks are a blip compared to the Monument Rocks, also known as the Chalk Pyramids. The Monument Rocks lie deep in western Kansas, where the state begins to shed its green and resemble the austere Colorado plains 80 miles ahead. 

South of Oakley, the ancient rocks beneath the prairie rise in one last glorious slab. The road to the Monument Rocks seems to slope down on its 80-mile journey south to Scott City and Garden City. Like Nebraska to the north, the loss of Gulf of Mexico influence begins to parch the land. There are still farms but ranches begin to take over. Off the paved roads, cowherds dot the hills. 

 But there are surprises tucked away. The land still rolls. One roll on a dusty road reveals the Monument Rocks, a series of 70-foot-tall formations that include buttes, arches and more. The crowds of Mushroom Rocks did not follow to Monument Rocks, as only a few cars bothered with the 50-mile roundtrip from Oakley. 

 The rocks sit inside a private ranch, and the county roads allow visitors to access them. The fences come down quickly but cliff swallows nested in shady nooks, finding enough materials to build their muddy nests. Their presence was not a surprise, as the swallows are common and can nest in any well-protected spot. The occasional lizard scurried along the rock walls. 

When the cows quiet down, the Monument Rocks turn serene, providing a little peace and breaking up the sometimes-difficult drive across Kansas.