10 Unexpected Small Town Attractions in Kansas.

Sometimes in July, we drove through Kansas and found ten unexpected small-town attractions along the way.

Seven of these attractions were not on our radar. We found them whenever we saw road signs that caught our attention. And two of those because we were driving around looking for a place to eat lunch! 

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We drove from North Texas to the Black Hills of South Dakota, so we didn’t explore eastern Kansas at all. All of these unexpected small-town attraction locations are in the south-central, north-central, and northwest parts of Kansas.

So, here are the 10 unexpected small-town attractions in Kansas that you should put on your bucket list for your next road trip through Kansas.

10 Unexpected Small Town Attractions in Kansas

1. Swedish Wild Dala Horses in Lindsborg.

Lindsborg, known as America’s Little Sweden, is home to a variety of colorful Dala Horses found throughout the city. To locate these unique sculptures, start by picking up a map at the Visitor Center.

The Dala Horses, made of fiberglass and painted vibrantly by local artists, reflect a modern interpretation of everyday life. Most of the horses’ locations are along Main Street in downtown Lindsborg.

Be sure to visit the one in front of Hemslojd (Dala Horse Factory), where you can climb on top for a fun photo opportunity!

When exploring the town, make sure to take a selfie at the Tala Dala. It is a telephone booth painted in light blue and golden yellow—traditional Swedish colors. 

You can find this telephone booth in front of Holmberg and Johnson Blacksmith & Wagonshop.

Lindsborg location: between Wichita and I-70. It is less than a half-hour from I-70 (take 135 south) and about an hour from Wichita, north on 135.

Check out this article to find other European towns on US soil.

2. Rock City in Minneapolis.

They claim that there is no other place in the world with as many large concretions as Rock City. 

I can’t confirm whether this claim is accurate, but seeing the giant rock formations spread over a five-acre area is definitely impressive.

You have the opportunity to climb on the rocks or try rock jumping, but do it at your own risk.

They named a few of the formations, but I like to make my own when we visit, like Pac-Man, Flaky Biscuit, Death Star, Hot Buns, and Globe.

The one formation that you shouldn’t miss is the Donut, located around the first concretions you will see before the Gift Shop. Go into the Donut, but first, make sure you will fit in it.

There’s a $3 fee for an adult and 50 cents for a child to have fun in this park. Although I personally think they should charge 50 cents for each age group.

Location: 1051 Ivy Road, Minneapolis, Kansas 67467. Around 30 minutes from I-70.

3. Crispin’s Drug Store Museum in Lincoln.

An unplanned stop brought us to this fascinating Drug Store Museum. Mr. Crispin, the owner, has everything that a drug store carried from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

You will see a variety of patented medicines, apothecary bottles, tools from that era, show globes, original cabinets and cases, as well as weeds and seeds. Not to mention his library collection of the medical world.

Mr. Crispin knows every single thing in this one-room museum and will tell you the history of them.

He showed us the cough syrup bottles that, during those years, had cocaine in them. Eventually, the government realized it brought more harm than good, leading to its prohibition. Mr. Crispin even mentioned that Wyatt Earp’s wife died due to an addiction to cough syrup.

He also described to us how doctors and drugstores worked during those years. They did things that made you raise your eyebrows per today’s standard. 

Being a long-time pharmacist, Mr. Crispin is like a walking drugstore dictionary. He started collecting when he was 13 and has no plans to stop.

Location: 161 E. Lincoln Avenue, Lincoln, KS 67455. Ph.: 785-524-5383/785-531-1137. Open by chance or appointment. Admission is by donation. Around 20 minutes from I-70.

4. Post Rock Scout Museum.

If you are or were a Girl Scout, then this museum is for you. It features many unique treasures, including an extensive collection of uniforms dating back to 1918 and continuing to the present day. 

You’ll also find dolls dressed in uniforms from the USA and various other countries, as well as advertising materials from the early years of the Girl Scouts. 

Be sure to check out the reproduction photo of the first Girl Scout troop in Wichita from the 1920s, located on the back wall.

Mr. Crispin designed the museum to promote the timeless values of Scouting and preserve the artifacts that tell the history of the Scouting movement.

It is located in the same building as the Drug Store Museum, with opening times by appointment only or by chance. Admission is by donation.

The presence of these two museums in a city with a population of less than 1,300 people (according to the 2017 census) makes these small-town attractions remarkable.  

5. The World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City.

So far, the World’s Largest Ball of Twine is the quirkiest attraction we found on the trip. We stumbled upon it unexpectedly while searching for a place to have lunch.

This ball of twine boasts a circumference of 43 feet and weighs 20,078 pounds.  

Frank Stoeber started the ball in 1953 when he stumbled upon some loose twine. Instead of burning it, he decided to wind it into a ball, and he did not stop until it grew to the size of a barn door by 1956.

In 1973, the Guinness Book of World Records officially recognized Frank Stoeber’s Ball of Twine as the World’s Largest. However, in 1978, Francis Johnson from Darwin, Minnesota, contested this title and won. 

Then, in 1982, the first annual Twine-A-Thon was inaugurated to regain the title of World’s Largest. I do not know the story after that, but if you find yourself driving through North Central Kansas, you might just come across this massive Ball of Twine.

Location: 719 Wisconsin St., Cawker City, KS 67430. Slightly over an hour from I-70.

6. The Old Station Inn in Cawker City.

Right across the Ball of Twine is a remodeled retro gas station. We stopped there and found the door to the old gas station open.

Inside was like a motel room, complete with a bed and a bunk bed above, a shower, a nook with a microwave and a coffee maker with running air conditioning. In my mind, it’s something like an art installation in Marfa, Texas. 

When we drove to leave town, we saw another one and made a stop. It was also open, and inside was the same, but bigger and nicer.

Then I saw a piece of paper on the table with information about room rates, check-in and check-out times, and a contact number with a key.

Apparently, it is an inn. It’s not an art installation. Haha. Pretty cool!

Spend a night here when you’re passing through Cawker City.

Location: 713 Wisconsin St./US Hwy 24, Cawker City, KS 67430.

7. The Geographical Center of the Lower 48 States in Lebanon.

As we turned onto US Hwy 36 from US Hwy 281, I noticed a sign in the distance indicating the Geographical Center, so we decided to make a U-turn to check it out. 

We drove about a mile north on US 281 before turning west onto K-191. After a mile on this road, we got to a T-intersection, and there it was: a marker designating the Geographical Center of the Lower 48 States. 

On the other side, there’s a tiny chapel called the U.S. Center Chapel, which seats just seven people. 

It is where visitors can sign the guest register and leave a comment about the place. There isn’t much else to do here, but if you’re passing through on US highways 36 or 281, it’s worth stopping by, right? 

The actual center is about half a mile away, in the middle of an old hog farm.

This place was featured in a 2021 Jeep Super Bowl commercial titled “The Middle”, starring Bruce Springsteen.

Location: 2 miles northwest of Lebanon, Kansas. About 1,5 hours from I-70.

8. Giant Buffalo Bill & Bison Bronze Sculptures in Oakley.

When we drove through Oakley on our way to Monument Rocks, we saw a large bronze sculpture of a buffalo and a cowboy. 

I also saw a billboard of a girl kissing a buffalo with the hashtag #kissthebuffalo. 

Hmm. It looks intriguing. So, we must stop, right?

Apparently, it’s a statue of the legendary Buffalo Bill Cody, the famous buffalo hunter in the American Wild West. He is atop his favorite buffalo hunting horse, Brigham, aiming at a buffalo with his 50-caliber needle gun “Lucretia”. 

The statue is one of the 8 wonders of Kansas Art. These 2x life-size sculptures are made of bronze, and they say that if you kiss the buffalo, it will bring good luck to you. Hmm. 

After Snoopy and I kissed the buffalo, we got to see another attraction in this city that made us wonder. Good luck?

Location: 3083 US 83, Oakley, KS 67748. About 30 minutes from I-70.

9. Fick Fossil & History Museum in Oakley.

With a population of just over 2,000, you did not expect to see a fossil and history museum in Oakley, Kansas.

The museum’s collections are remarkable. There is the world’s oldest known mosasaur fossil with its eye socket intact! A Mosasaur is a type of marine reptile. 

Someone in the area had a hobby of finding sharks tooth and collected over 11,000 of them! You can see them turned into art pieces around the museum. 

You can also find other fossils, rocks, and minerals from around the area, the country, and even the world, here. 

A few of them were sent by people who happened to cross the city, visited the museum, and thought it would be great if the museum had rocks or minerals from the states they live in as well. 

Other exhibits are the sod house, railroad, western artifacts, and over 1,000 pictures depicting early pioneer life in the area. 

Exploring this museum was surprisingly entertaining, and it is definitely worth a stop on your way to Monument Rocks. Best of all, admission is free!

Location: 700 W 3rd St., Oakley, KS 67748.

10. Monument Rocks in Oakley.

Monument Rocks is a series of large, tall chalk formations that are rich in fossils and estimated to have been formed some 80 million years ago.

The formations are pretty soft, and changes in the edges of rocks can be seen from year to year, so it’s crucial not to climb on them while visiting.

This rock formation is located on private property, but visitors can enjoy it for free.

It’s an unusual view, knowing Kansas is mostly flat.

It takes a drive to get here, but you will spend only around 10 minutes walking around and taking pictures, unless you are a professional photographer.

Location: 4 miles east of US 83 or 25 miles south of Oakley. From I-70, take US 83 South to Oakley and follow the directions to the monument. It’s about one hour.

These are just the attractions we saw on our way to South Dakota and on the way back to Texas. I know Kansas’ small towns will welcome us with more surprises on our next visit.

Have you come across any of these unexpected small-town attractions in Kansas? Which one did you see, and what did you think of it?

If you know of other attractions in Kansas’ small towns, please leave a comment below so we can explore them the next time we drive that way.