Beautiful Kansas: Wilson Lake, continued

South Shore Drive along Wilson Lake is without doubt the most dramatic road in Kansas. It swoops along the hilltops, dives into wooded draws and offers eye-straining vistas.

Along most of the route you will see only one or two inhabited houses and maybe pass one other driver.

However, there are old stone farmsteads, creaking windmills and limestone fence posts keeping you company all the way.

South Shore Drive takes you through a landscape that might remind you of the foothills of Colorado or the mesas of New Mexico.

Just check out the towering spikes on this yucca...

...or this sun-bleached skull abandoned on the sand dunes.


The road is not paved all the way but it's well worth slowing down a spell and enjoying the scenery. If you're passing through on I-70 you should take at least an hour to make the detour.

Take the Bunker Hill exit, number 193 and head north for two miles. At the junction with Balta Road, take a right and head straight east for a mile to the T in the road. Bear left here and continue northeast awhile, then bear right at the Y in the road. On Google Maps this road is called 15th Street Road, but everyone knows it as South Shore Drive.

A high level bridge takes the road over the lake itself. Depending on the time of day and season, you will hear the joyful chattering from the hundreds of swallows which have turned the underside of the bridge into a bird colony.

When the road reaches State Highway 232, going right takes you straight to exit 206 of I-70. If this small taste of the great Kansas outdoors has made an impression on you, turn left instead and make your way to the Rock Town trailhead. Or carry on to the lovely little village of Lucas with its bizarre Garden of Eden and Grassroots Arts Center.

State Highway 232 has been designated the state's Post Rock Scenic Byway and on your way through don't miss this stone man.

Look for him on the east side of the highway.

At the junction of 232 with I-70, you must call into the Kansas Originals Market. Simply put, this is the best shop in Kansas for local arts, crafts and homegrown food specialities. Some of the prices may be a little on the steep side, but the items are what you'd call heirloom quality.

Everything from fine art and photography to ironwork and woodwork are available as well as a range of toys, books and sports memoribilia. Traditional crafts like wheat weaving, stone carving and quilting demonstrate the ethnic heritage of the state's residents. Their online catalogue gives you some idea of the sheer variety of items they stock. Grab a free coffee while you browse. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

Can't decide? How about letting them assemble a special gift basket? My favourite bit to browse is the food section for popcorn on the cob, BBQ sauces, jams, candy and cookbooks.

Across the lot from the Originals Market is an outlet for the Smoky Hills Winery. And only a couple miles further along is the town of Wilson, billed as 'the Czech Capital of Kansas'. You might recognise its Midland Hotel from the movie Paper Moon? Elsewhere in town are many handsome limestone buildings, churches, the 'opera house' and a friendly museum.

And from there you're only a few miles from the wicked little cowtown of Ellsworth...the ghost town of Carneiro...the abandoned fort at Kanopolis...lovely Lindsborg with its art galleries, bakeries and Swedish craft shops...the Eisenhower Presidential centre in Abilene....

Before you know it, that hour-long detour has turned into a week's holiday!