Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

We left Chase County Fishing Lake, stopped in the cute little town of Cottonwood Falls, then continued up the Flint Hills Scenic Byway to Tallgrass Prairie.  The heart of the location is the old ranch, with headquarters on site.  They have  hikes and a ranger-driven bus ride as options that you can do.  We missed the bus tour because of a discrepancy between the time posted on the website and times posted at the visitor center.

We went on a short hike out among the prairie grasses.  The NPS only owns 35 acres of the preserve, with the Nature Conservancy owning the difference.  I heard 10,000 acres as a number, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.  Lets just say it's a lot of land and wide open sky out here.

The Flint Hills are prime grazing land.  The shallow soil isn't good for farming, which led to much of the prairie grass not being plowed under and replanted in corn or soybeans like much of eastern Kansas is.

Lots of grass out here.  If you miss the bus tour like we did, your only option is to explore on foot.  They do have a pasture with a buffalo herd that the bus tour drives through the middle of (the pasture, not necessarily the herd).  The bus fills up fast, at least the weekend we were here.  We were surprised how many people were out here. Like anywhere else, call ahead for your best options.

Nearest City: Strong City,KS
Location: 2 miles north of Strong City
Time Needed: varies
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly:
Additional Info:

St Croix National Scenic Riverway

We visited the St Croix National Scenic Riverway twice on our trip, and it's a beautiful river.  I would have loved to get out and spend a couple days canoeing and fishing.  Our first stop was at the Namekagon Visitor Center in Northern Wisconsin.  We enjoyed learning a little bit about the river that forms most of the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin.  The rangers were very informative about boating and fishing regulations, as well as knowing that seeing bears along the river is much more common then wolf sightings are.  Much of this area was logged back in the lumber baron heyday, and logs are still fished out of the river occasionally with the end mark of the various mill that had cut the tree and sent it down the river before it sank.  Actually, is at least one lumber reclamation company on Lake Superior strictly dedicated to finding and retrieving the old-growth logs.  

Up north the river is a beautiful little river, flowing past tree-lined banks, with sandbars and occasional islands.  Because the river is so long, the standard NPS brochure doesn't have enough information on it to really be that useful beyond being an overview, so they have smaller river maps which break the river down into 7 or 8 segments.  I picked up the smaller maps as well.  

A little later in the trip the smaller maps came in greatly handy.  In addition to showing distances and river hazards, the map also shows launches & take outs and camp sites.  We were somewhere between Duluth and the Twin Cities and wanted to stop for the night before we got there.  I pulled out the maps and found a primitive campsite nearby on the Minnesota side of the river.  

We set up camp and had a great view of the river, here much wider and slower.  The kids thought it looked like a big lake, but when I showed them that the water was gently flowing they thought it was the biggest river ever.

Nearest City:
Location: varies
Time Needed: varies
Difficulty: varies
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: St. Croix NSR Maps

Effigy Mounds: The Sny Magill Unit

Somewhere at Effigy Mounds, I saw something about a detached unit with more mounds, so I asked about it.  They said that I was probably wondering about the Sny Magill unit, which has the largest concentration of mounds.  Yup- that's it!  They had a paper with an outline of the mounds at the Sny Magill unit, as well as directions on how to get there.  I was interested, so we carved out some time to seek it out.

The Sny Magill unit has over 100 mounds, all located close to each other.  It's on the flood plain of the Mississippi River, about 10 miles south of the main section of the park.  There are mostly conical mounds, but also bird and bear mounds.  This page of the NPS website has a little bit about it.  I was wondering who this Sny Magill guy was, and if he had donated the land to the NPS or why there was the separate unit to the park.  It turns out that Sny is another word for slough, and Magill was a Scottish indian trader who lived in the area.  So even though his name was Donald, Sny was not his nickname.  Sny Magill, Magill's Slough, same difference!  There's a creek with trout in it, as well as access to the river all named after the old trader.
We parked at the boat launch/ river access, crossed through a gate, and came to the first of the mounds in a couple hundred yards.  The area is mowed down, but it goes quite a ways off to the north.  We didn't stay long because in late June the mosquitoes were pretty bad.  It's definitely worth a visit though if you like places that are a little untrammeled and quiet.

Nearest City: McGregor, Iowa
Location: South of McGregor on County Road X56 a couple of miles.  When the road crosses a small creek (Sny Magill Creek), turn east and park at the parking lot to the boat launch.  Go through the gate to the north.
Time Needed: 30+ minutes
Difficulty: easy, finding it is the hardest part
Kid Friendly: meh
Additional Info:

Effigy Mounds National Monument

We spent a morning at Effigy Mounds National Monument.  It's a pretty park, located along the bluffs of the Mississippi River in the Driftless area of northeast Iowa.  I do have to say that I think the northeast corner is the most pretty part of Iowa.  The monument was formed to protect a large concentration of effigy mounds created by mound builders several hundred years ago.  Some mounds are round, others are linear, but the most fascinating mounds of all are the effigy mounds- ones shaped like bears, birds, or other animals.  

Before we arrived, my expectation was that the mounds would be outlined in lime or whitewash to help make them easier to identify.  I was disappointed that they weren't.  It can be difficult to see the mounds, since they are only 2-3 feet taller then the surrounding area.  In fact, it is amazing that they were discovered in the first place!  That said, the park protects a large collection of mounds.  Probably 90% of the mounds out there have been destroyed, many by farmers just plowing up their fields and not realizing that there was a mound there.  

We hiked up to Fire Point and had a great viewpoint of the Mississippi River, and passed several mounds along the way.  There were lots of round mounds, a few columnar mounds, and we saw the Great Bear and Little Bear mounds too.  Some of the mounds have been excavated, while many haven't.  The museum at the visitor center has several artifacts that were found in and around some of the mounds.

I liked the visit, but if you want to see mounds be prepared to hike to see them.


Nearest City: Harpers Ferry, Iowa
Location: 151 Hwy 76, Harpers Ferry, Iowa
Time Needed: 1/2 day
Difficulty: moderate- difficult (hiking, with elevation and distance variables)
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Effigy Mounds National Monument

Harry S Truman National Historic Site and the beginning of the Oregon Trail

While we were Independence, we visited several of the Harry S Truman sites.  We stopped at the visitor center and watched a short movie about him, his presidency, and his ties to Independence.  It was very informative.  He was famous for the saying "The Buck Stops Here". 

Before his political career, he was a Judge in Independence, with an office here at the courthouse in downtown Independence.  There is a statue of him on the east side of the courthouse. 

On the west side of the courthouse, there are two large monuments.  The one on the north marks the Courthouse Square as the beginning of the Oregon Trail. 

Off to the south is a stone monument marking the beginning of the Santa Fe Trail.  We stopped by the nearby National Frontier Trails Museum for a great overview of westward migration and the roles that these two trails had in the opening of the west. 

Nearest City: Independence, MO
Location: 223 N. Main Street Independence, MO  64050
Time Needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly:
Additional Info: Harry S Truman National Historic Site

Having a great time at the Buffalo National River

After leaving Little Rock late, we drove north for the Buffalo River.  In Marshall, we turned off Highway 65 and on to Highway 27.  We had reviewed the map and planned to camp at the Woolum primitive campsite and river access, but since it was late, I didn't pay that much attention, and after driving for a lot longer than we intended to, we pulled out the map again.  I should have continued up Highway 65 to get where I wanted to go, but since we'd doglegged east, the Spring Creek river access and primitive camp area looked pretty appealing to me.  We turned off the highway and on to a dirt road, passed a few cabins, then slowly descended for 3 miles or so to the Spring Creek camp area.  I shined my headlights around briefly, saw a spot that looked good enough, put the Subaru in park then turned off the ignition.   The tent went up quickly, and I was asleep. 

I woke up early, like usual, and couldn't resist leaving the tent.  I've always liked maps, and on more than one occasion I had eyed the Buffalo National River and wondered what it would be like. Since I was finally there I couldn't stay inside any longer.  I needed to see what the Buffalo River was all about.  I padded quietly down the road to the misty river.  Wow!  The Buffalo River at first glance is amazing!   The cool blue-tinged water rushes eastward through tall hills with an occasional cliff or rock outcropping.  Long blue pools separated by choppy fast water runs repeat until the river disappears in the morning fog behind a distant bend. 

I couldn't resist wandering the banks, so I headed west, upstream, ducking under and over branches and trees along the bank, but occasionally wading into the water to get past the woody obstacles.  I spotted footprints from several animal species in the mud, but most of them were familiar to me.  Birds, deer, and squirrels made most of them.  Then I spotted an unfamiliar one.  An animal with small feet, with long claws had passed this way.  I'm certain it was an armadillo.  I crossed a gravel bar, more undergrowth, a sandy beach, and another gravel bar.  I finally decided to turn around.  As I made my way back to camp, I decided that the Buffalo River was way more amazing then I thought it would be.  I need to come back to float it to really understand more about it.  The biggest unexpected discovery though was that it flowed backwards.  In the maps I had looked at, I had always imagined that it flowed from east to west.  Nope!  It flows from the highlands in northwestern Arkansas before it joins the White River a ways downstream. 

Back at camp I made some breakfast, then quickly convinced four other adventurers to join me down at the river.   We hiked and explored along the bank and discovered animal footprints and mussel shells.  At a few sand and gravel bars we skipped rocks in the river, had competitions to make the biggest splash, tried to catch little minnows with our hands, and had a great time.  We wandered back to our camp.  At the boat ramp, there was a metal post firmly imbedded in the bank.  It had red paint at the top, yellow paint in the middle, and green paint near the ground.  It was a simple, yet effective stream flow meter to show paddlers the river level and amount of risk relative to the stream flow. 

We drove over to the Tyler Bend Visitor Center to see what was there and to stamp the kids' passport books.  There was a small visitor center with rangers working on installing a new deck.  We drove up to the Collier Homestead for a short hike. 

Less than a quarter mile past the homestead is a pretty good overlook over the Buffalo River.  We gazed off into the distance at the river, the forests, and the fields.  Wow it is beautiful here!  We took another trail back and quickly discovered that it was lined with poison ivy.  We carefully kept on going and made it back to the Collier Homestead without getting itchy. 

The forest trail sure was pretty, but the poison ivy did add some peril to it.  The stop at the Tyler Bend visitor center had left me wishing we had gone to Buffalo Point instead.  Buffalo Point would have been closer to where we camped, but it also has two other points of interest nearby- the Indian Rockhouse, a primitive cave dwelling, and an old mining town- the ghost town of Rush.  I'll have to come back to float the Buffalo River, and when I do I'll visit the other spots.  The small part I saw of the Buffalo River left me wanting more and beckons me to return.

Nearest City: Marshall, AR
Location: North central Arkansas
Time Needed: varies
Difficulty: varies
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Buffalo National River Website

Little Rock High School NHS and a rant

We stopped by Little Rock High School to learn a little bit more about racial integration and our nation's history.  We thought it would be a good introduction to our kids to learn that people are different.  The visit definitely hammered that point home!  Little Rock Central High is still a public school, but there is a National Historic Site associated with it, complete with a visitor center located kitty-corner to the school.  When the high school opened in 1927, it was listed by the American Institute of Architects as the most beautiful high school in America.  Thirty years later, in 1957 it became more famous for its role in the desegregation of public schools in America. 

The visitor center has a lot of exhibits, most of which are written for and geared toward teenagers and adults.  We read about half of them, but then the kids were antsy, so we breezed through the remainder of them.  The exhibits talk about the events that lead up to desegregation, the Little Rock Nine, and the aftermath.

A quick summary is that several court cases throughout the country led up to the Supreme Court declaring that the "separate but equal" policy of sending different races to different schools was not fair and did not treat everybody equally.  The states were moving toward integration gradually, but had found different reasons to delay combining the white and black schools.  Finally, a judge ordered integration to begin without delay.  The Little Rock Nine, nine black students who had been carefully picked, would be the first to attend Little Rock High.  The governor of Arkansas ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent black students from entering.  A federal judge ordered the National Guard removed.  The black students went to class, but then the Little Rock Police removed them from class.  President Eisenhower then ordered the Army to escort them to class and ensure their safety.  The next three years become a see-saw battle between those for and against integration.  Finally it is accepted as the way it would be.  Interestingly enough, Little Rock Central High school today is attended predominantly by black students. 

I found much of the visit interesting and informative.  I was always taught to try and evaluate people by their actions instead of their appearance. If someone does good things they're a good person.  I was put off by one of the smaller series of exhibits which focused on several other civil rights movements.  Each section of the civil rights exhibit had the slant of "white males are bad".  To me it sounded rather hypocritical, saying in effect "Judge people by their skin color (but only if they are white)".  It definitely deflated the remainder of what could have been an excellent overall visitor.  I felt  that up to that point the visitor center had done a good time building up toward the ideal that Martin Luther King Jr so eloquently said in his famous I Have a Dream speech  that others should  "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character", but then at the end erased it all.  Can we get rid of hyphenated Americans already?  I'm sick of hearing about White-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans, Women-Americans, Male-Americans, and all of the other subclassifications of Americans out there.  Can't we all just be Americans?  Lets be Americans first.  And be proud of it!

Nearest City: Little Rock, AR
Location: 2120 Daisy L Gatson Bates Dr. Little Rock, AR  72202
Time Needed: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: not really for young children (boredom)
Additional Info: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site website

A Visit to Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs National Park.  Another one of those destinations we had in mind on our road trip to Arkansas.  We arrived on a rainy afternoon, and stopped by the visitor center to get out of the rain and also get an idea of things to do at Hot Springs. 

The Visitor Center is at the Fordyce Bath House on Bath House Row in Hot Springs.  The National Park is extremely urban for being a National Park.  Essentially, it preserves seven historic bathhouses and an associated hillside of springs.  We took a walking tour of the Fordyce Bath House and saw a pretty well preserved snapshot of upper class living in the late 19th, early 20th centuries.  There are two bathhouses that are open for soaks and massages and the like, but they're a little pricy, and not really designed for young children, so we didn't visit them. 

Behind Bathhouse Row, and across the hillside are lots of green boxes.  These are the springs.  They've been capped to preserved the water quality.  Doing a drive on the east mountain, it was amazing how many of the green boxes one can count just from their vehicle.  It must have been quite amazing back in the day before they were capped to see them!

The Promenade is a great little walking area.  It's well paved in brick and has a nice view of downtown Hot Springs from along it. 

There are a few open springs, just around back from several of the bath houses.  I though they were the best part of the visit.  Unfortunately, they are closed to soaking.  They're still great to look at.  There are a few fountains that have fresh spring water that are open to the public.  After spending a night at the Guleph Gulch Campground, we drove over one morning and filled a few water bottles and used it to make our oatmeal.  The water comes out at 140 degrees! 

Overall, I'd have to say that Hot Springs National Park disappointed me.  A primitive hot spring to soak in would have been quite fantastic.  There were a few hiking trails, but it's definitely not on par with other National Park towns like Mammoth in Yellowstone, Estes Park right outside Rocky Mountain National Park, or Springdale outside of Zion National Park.  That and Hot Springs doesn't feel like a vacation destination by itself, in fact it seems kindof shabby and outdated. 

Nearest City: Hot Springs, AR
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: varies
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: borderline
Additional Info:

Fort Smith National Historic Site

Our next stop on our Arkansas road trip was at Fort Smith National Historic Site.  Fort Smith is located right on the border with Arkansas, which ties directly into why Fort Smith is recognized by the National Park Service.  Back in the 1800's, Oklahoma was known as indian territory.  Fort Smith was established right on the border of indian territory to help keep the peace between the settlers and the indians. 

The historic site does a great job of explaining the relations between keeping the peace in indian territory, and the tensions that arose with issues of jurisdiction, or who legally had the right to try lawbreakers in a court of law.  Indian tribes are recognized by the government as sovereign nations, meaning they have the right to make and enforce their own laws.  The problems arose when lawbreakers tried to use the different borders to their own advantage, and escape the consequences of their actions by crossing a political border between Arkansas and indian territory.  The museum inside has two main focal points of its exhibits: law breakers, and law enforcers.  The building used to be a prison, and courtroom, among countless other uses.  Some exhibits talk about famous prisoners or life in prison, others talk about frontier justice and Judge Parker, the most famous judge at Fort Smith.

West of the main part of the historic site, there's a some trails that tie into  the city of Fort Smith's trails.  One of the trails goes and shows the ruins of the original Fort Smith, located on a small rise at the junction of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers. 

We also liked the line painted on the path that showed the old boundary between Arkansas and Indian Territory.  The boundary has been slightly amended since 1907, so now Oklahoma is a little further west then the Fort Smith Historic Site, but it's still interesting to see where the border once was. 

Nearest City: Ft Smith, Arkansas
Location: 301 Parker Avenue, Ft Smith, AR
Time Needed: 2+ hours
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Fort Smith National Historic Site Website

Pea Ridge National Military Park

The Elkhorn Tavern

When we planned our trip to Arkansas, high on the list of things to do was visiting Civil War sites.  Most of the Civil War sites in Arkansas are in Northwest Arkansas, including the Pea Ridge Battlefield.  Pea Ridge is the most notable of the Civil War battlefields in Arkansas and is now preserved as part of the National Park Service.  It is was the Union victory at Pea Ridge that preserved Missouri as part of the Union instead of falling under the control of the Confederates. 

Artifacts from the Battle of Pea Ridge

We stopped by on a Monday morning after a few detours and back road diversions.  Don't be stupid like we were- follow the signs to the Pea Ridge Battlefield instead of the those directing you to the town of Pea Ridge.  We arrived eventually!  The visitor center is small but well done.  There are numerous exhibits and artifacts displayed from the battle, and a good explanation of why the battle happened where it did.  Essentially, the battle was fought along the Telegraph Road that lead from St Louis, MO to Ft. Smith, AR.  Control of the road would determine who would be able to control Missouri- the Union or the Confederates. 

There are several walking paths in the park and a scenic drive.  The drive goes by many of the most important skirmishes in the battle.  I recommend doing the drive and stopping at all of the turnouts to read the signs.  We stopped and walked down the path toward the ruins of Leetown, but didn't see much there other then a few foundation holes. 

The highlight from our short hike was the box turtle we saw along the trail.  It was still slightly chilly out, and it had crawled around to find a sunny spot to warm up.  The kids really liked looking at it and seeing the box turtle.  We spoke to a ranger at the visitor center who said that they're the most active before it rains. 

It was a sad and inspiring site to see the cannons lined up in the fields at Pea Ridge.  It's a great spot to visit to get a better understanding of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River.  After Pea Ridge, the fighting in the west was largely over, although there were still a few smaller engagements.  The west was secure for the Union, and the war would be determined by what happened in the east.

Nearest City: Pea Ridge, Arkansas
Location: 15930 E Hwy 62, Garfield, Arkansas
Time Needed: 1/2 day
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly:
Additional Info: Pea Ridge National Military Park Website

Art in the Park at George Washington Carver National Monument

After our two earlier stops in the Joplin area, we drove south a few miles to George Washington Carver National Monument.  It ended up being the most crowded of any of our stops that day.   It wasn't just another day at GWCNM, it was Art in the Park weekend! There were lots of tents and sunshades set up outside, with 6-8 different activities to participate in that helped in a hands-on way teach about George Washington Carver. Painting, card making, and dying fabric pieces with natural dye were some of the favorite activities.  We enjoyed learning the basics of the different techniques and collecting a few self-made souvenirs in the process. 

Inside there was an extensive museum on George Washington Carver and his contributions to science.  He was a pretty amazing man.  He lived a way that showed that science and religion are not mutually exclusive activities.  He was determined that everyone has the ability to rise above their circumstances if they are willing to put in the work and make the needed sacrifices. 

Nearest City: Diamond, MO
Location: follow the signs east of Diamond to the monument
Time Needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: George Washington Carver National Monument Website

Ft Scott NHS: Tribute to a Quartermaster

Back in December, we visited Fort Scott National Historic Site.  It was a cold and blustery day, in my mind a perfect day to go to a museum.  We must have been just about the only ones with that thought since we more or less had the place to ourselves.  Fort Scott was an army outpost located along the Permanent Indian Frontier.  It was placed there to keep white settlers from invading indian territory and to protect settlers from indian attacks.  It was an active military installation from 1842-1873.  After being decommissioned, it was abandoned until 1978 when it became part of the National Park Service.   

While touring the grounds, we learned about all sorts of interesting things about the army frontier and early Kansas history.  We saw representative slices of all levels of army life from ranking officers quarters down to the disciplinary cells where soldiers were disciplined.  The jail cells were pretty barren and punishments were swift and harsh compared to today's standards. 

Through it all, there was hardly a plaque that we read that didn't mention Captain Thomas Swords, the post quartermaster.  He seemingly had a hand in all aspects and operations of Fort Scott .  He designed the buildings, supervised their construction, and ordered supplies, among other things. He was determined to make Fort Scott (named after General Winfield Scott) better than the other posts, and was successful in making it better than most. 

The quartermaster's supply building was pretty cool.  There were lots of barrels and bins showing different supplies that would have been on hand back in the mid-1800's.  Lots of beans, bacon, salt pork, coffee, etc.  It seemed to me like it would have been a bland diet. 

On the east side of the fort's buildings, there's a tallgrass prairie trail.  The trail's not long, but it is pretty amazing to walk through grasses that are 6-7 feet tall!  I especially liked some of the pictures taken from the tallgrass prairie trail.  The buildings had a timeless quality to them with the tall grasses in the foreground. 

The officers quarters were definitely the nicest.  I don't think much has changed in the army in 175 years.  If you're thinking about joining the military, doing so as an officer is the best way to go. 

 

The stables where the dragoons, a precursor to what would become the cavalry, kept their horses was a neat stop as well.  There was a well designed exhibit that showed different saddles and tack (reigns and other horse riding accessories) that were used, as well as one that showed how horses were selected by color and size for the different companies of dragoons.  The combination of the dragoons and the old fort made me remember our visits to Fort Bowie in Arizona. 

We had a great visit to Fort Scott.  It's definitely worth visiting.  It's actually quite disappointing to see the visitation numbers for Fort Scott, less than 26,000 people in 2013.  Especially when you compare how close it is to Kansas City (less than 100 miles).  If you're thinking of visiting Fort Scott, do it!  It's a great history lesson and it's really not that far away!

Nearest City: Ft Scott, KS
Location: Just off of the freeway exit, 95 miles south of Kansas City
Time Needed: 1-4 hours
Difficulty: easy
Kid Friendly: yes
Additional Info: Fort Scott NHS Website