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Back in July we drove through part of Kansas and found these unexpected small town attractions along the way. Seven of them weren’t in our itinerary and we found them whenever we saw the sign attractive enough to make us stop, made a left or right, or a u-turn. And two of those because we were driving around looking for a place to eat lunch! 

We drove from North Texas to the Black Hills of South Dakota, so we didn’t go to eastern Kansas at all. All of these unexpected small town attractions are located in the south central, part of north central, and northwest of Kansas.

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

10 Unexpected Small Town Attractions in Kansas

1. Swedish Wild Dala Horses & Phone Booth in Lindsborg

As America’s Little Sweden, you will find wild dala horses scattered throughout the city of Lindsborg. Whether you use a map of dala horses locations that you can get from the Visitor Center or just let yourself find them unexpectedly (like us), it sure is fun to hunt for these dala horses. They are made of fiber glasses and colorfully painted by local artists depicting a contemporary vibe of daily life. Most of them located along downtown’s Main Street and you can climb the one in front of Hemslojd (Dala Horse Factory).

One more thing. If London has their red phone booth, Lindsborg has their light blue and golden yellow phone booth, the traditional Swedish colors. It is called Tala Dala, one of the most popular spots for a selfie in town. You won’t miss this phone booth that is located in front of Holmberg and Johnson Blacksmith & Wagonshop.

Location: between Wichita and I-70, Lindsborg is less than a half-hour from I-70 (take 135 to south) and about an hour from Wichita, going north on 135. https://www.visitlindsborg.com/

2. Rock City in Minneapolis

They claim that there is no place else in the world with so many huge concretions like Rock City. I don’t know if the claim is true or not, but when you see numbers of giant rock formations spread on a five acre land, it does make you wow. Moreover, you can climb on it or rock jump if you think you can do it (do it with your own risk). They name a few of the formations, but I like to make my own when we visited. 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 awesome Drug Store Museum. Mr. Crispin, the owner, has  everything what a drug store carried from the late 1800s to early 1900s. You’ll see all kinds of patented medicine, apothecary bottles, tools used at that time, show globes, original cabinets & cases, weeds & seeds, to his library collection of medical world. He 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 it. Then the government realized it brought more harm than good things, so it’s not allowed anymore. (Wyatt Earp’s wife died because of addiction to cough syrup, according to Mr. Crispin.) He also described to us about how the doctors and the drugstores worked during those years. They did things that made you raised your eyebrows per today’s standard. 

Being a long time pharmacist, Mr. Crispin is like a walking drugstore dictionary. We were speechless seeing his collection and listening to his knowledge about the medicine world during those years. He started collecting since he was 13, and he’s not stopping.

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/were a Girl Scout, then this is the museum for you. Many unique treasures are on display, including an extensive collection of uniforms as early as 1918 to present time, dolls with uniform from the USA and other countries, and Girl Scouts advertising from early years. Don’t miss the repro picture of the first Girl Scout troop in Wichita from the 1920s on the back wall.

The museum is designed to promote the timeless values of scouting and preserve the artifacts that tell the history of the scouting movement.

Located in the same building with the Drug Store Museum, with opening time by appointment only or by chance. Admission is by donation.

The fact that these two museums are in a city with populations less than 1,300 people (2017 census), it makes these small town attractions unbelievable.  

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

So far the quirkiest we found on the trip, this ball of twine is 43 feet in circumference and 20,078 pounds in weight. Frank Stoeber started the ball in 1953 when he stumbled over some loose twine and decided to gather it up to burn, but instead, he began winding a ball and didn’t stop until it was as big as a barn door in 1956. In 1973 the Guiness Book of World Records awards Frank Stoeber’s Ball of Twine the title of World’s Largest. In 1978, Francis Johnson of Darwin, Minnesota contests the title of World’s Largest Ball of Twine and wins. But, in 1982 the first annual “Twine-A-Thon” was inaugurated to regain the title of World’s Largest. I don’t know the story after that, but if you happen to drive pass North Central Kansas, you might bump into this Ball of Twine.

Location: 719 Wisconsin St., Cawker City, KS 67430. Slightly over an hour from I-70. https://www.cawkercitykansas.com/ball-of-twine.html

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. Again, it’s 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 if somebody wants to stay in there, together 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 to US Hwy 36 from US Hwy 281, I read a sign in a distance saying Geographical Center, so we decided to make a U-turn to see it. We drove about one mile north on US 281 then turned west one mile on K-191. We followed the road until we got to T-intersection and there it is: a marker of the Geographical Center of the Lower 48 States. There is also a U.S. Center Chapel that sits 7 people only on the other side. Yes, it’s a tiny chapel. This is where you can sign the guest register and read comments people left about the place. There’s nothing else you can do here. But if you are passing through the area on US highways 36 or 281, why not make a stop, right? The actual center is about a half-mile away in the center of an old hog farm.

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 huge bronze sculptures of a buffalo and a cowboy. I also saw a billboard of a girl kissing the buffalo with hashtag kiss the buffalo. Hmm… 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, taking aim at a buffalo with his 50-caliber needle gun “Lucretia”. It is voted as one of the 8 wonders of Kansas Art. These 2x life size sculptures are made of bronze and they said if you kiss the buffalo, it will bring good luck to you. Hmm… All I know, after Snoopy and I kissed the buffalo, we got to see another attraction in this city that made us wonder.

Location: 3083 US 83, Oakley, KS 67748. About 30 minutes from I-70. https://www.visitoakleyks.com/buffalo-billcultural-center

9. Fick Fossil & History Museum in Oakley

With a population of a little over 2,000, you didn’t expect to see a fossil & history museum in Oakley. The museum collections is just unbelievable and they have the world’s oldest known mosasaur fossil with its eye socket in tact! (Mosasaur is a marine reptile). Then someone in the area had a hobby of finding sharks tooth and collected more than 11,000 of them! You can see them turned into art pieces around the museum. You can also find other fossils, rocks, and minerals found around the area and other parts of the country and even the world here. A few of them sent by people who happened to cross the city and visited the museum and thought it would be great if the museum has rocks or minerals from the states they live in as well. Other things to see in the museum are the sod house, countless railroad and western artifacts, and over 1,000 pictures depicting early pioneer life in the area. It’s surprisingly entertaining exploring this museum. Definitely must stop here on your way to Monument Rocks. And it’s free.

Location: 700 W 3rd St., Oakley, KS 67748. https://www.visitoakleyks.com/fick-fossil-museum

10. Monument Rocks in Oakley

Monument Rocks is a series of large tall chalk formation that are rich in fossils and estimated to have been formed some 80 million years ago. They are quite soft and changes in the edges of rocks can be seen from year to year, so it’s very important to not climb the formation when visiting.

This rock formation located in a private property but visitors can come and see it for free. It’s an unusual view knowing Kansas is mostly flat. It takes a drive to get here, but you will spend around 10 minutes only for 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 direction to the monument. It’s about one hour.

These are just the attractions we saw on the way to South Dakota and on our way back to Texas. I know Kansas’ small towns have more surprises to present to us next time we go there. Have you seen any of these unexpected small town attractions in Kansas? Which one and what do you think about it? If you know other attractions in Kansas’ small town, leave a comment below so we can check it next time we go that direction.