Kansas is no mere geographical expression, but a “state of mind,” a religion, and a philosophy in one.
—Carl Becker, Kansas (1910)
I like Kansas—that is, natural Kansas—better than I had expected to. . . .
—Horace Greeley, An Overland Journey (1859)
The clichés have told you wrong: US-83 across much of Kansas—surprise, surprise —is actually a treat, not at all the interminable tedium of grainfield stretches you might expect. Yes, the physiography through most of the intrastate span is still predominantly flat, dry Northern High Plains, but it’s compensated for, particularly in the north, with extensive irrigation that coaxes lusher patches of vegetation out of the dark rich soil.
US-83 ushers you along gaping, horizon-filled stretches broken by isolated lakes and occasional oases such as Oberlin and Oakley, home of the nearly famous Prairie Dog Town. Continuing south across the windblown plains and limestone hills, US-83 passes through the cow towns of Scott City and Garden City before crossing the Arkansas River into the baked-clay watercolor that stretches south into Oklahoma and Texas. One final Kansas stop is perhaps the best: Liberal, self-declared home of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
