Kansas

Parks

  • National Historic Site

    Brown v. Board of Education

    Topeka, KS

    The story of Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools, is one of hope and courage. When the people agreed to be plaintiffs in the case, they never knew they would change history. The people who make up this story were ordinary people. They were teachers, secretaries, welders, ministers and students who simply wanted to be treated equally.

    Exterior of Brown v. Board of Education NHS, the former Monroe Elementary School, at night.

  • National Historic Trail

    California

    Various States, CA,CO,ID,KS,MO,NE,NV,OR,UT,WY

    Follow in the footsteps of over 250,000 emigrants who traveled to the gold fields and rich farmlands of California during the 1840s and 1850s-the greatest mass migration in American history. More than 1,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen across 10 states on the California National Historic Trail.

    Chimney Rock was an important emigrant landmark in western Nebraska

  • National Historic Site

    Fort Larned

    Larned, KS

    Discover a complete and authentic army post from the 1860s -1870s! This well-preserved fort on the Santa Fe Trail shares a tumultuous history of the Indian Wars era. The sandstone constructed buildings sheltered troops who were known as the Guardians of the Santa Fe Trail.

    Aerial View of Fort Larned

  • National Historic Site

    Fort Scott

    Fort Scott, KS

    Promises made and broken! A town attacked at dawn! Thousands made homeless by war! Soldiers fighting settlers! Each of these stories is a link in the chain of events that encircled Fort Scott from 1842-1873. All of the site's structures, its parade ground, and its tallgrass prairie bear witness to this era when the country was forged from a young republic into a united transcontinental nation.

    Fort Parade Ground and Officers Quarters as seen from Guardhouse

  • National Historic Trail

    Lewis & Clark

    Eleven States: ID,IL,IA,KS,MO,MT,NE,ND,OR,SD,WA

    Between May 1804 and September 1806, 31 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window into the west for the young United States.

    photo of a replica keelboat with a crew member on the bow at sunset

  • National Historic Site

    Nicodemus

    Nicodemus, KS

    Formerly enslaved African Americans left Kentucky in organized colonies at the end of the of post-Civil War Reconstruction period to experience freedom in the "promised land" of Kansas. Nicodemus represents the involvement of African Americans in the westward expansion and settlement of the Great Plains. It is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River.

    An outline of the Nicodemus school house as seen through a field of prairie grass.

  • National Historic Trail

    Oregon

    Various States, ID,KS,MO,NE,OR,WA,WY

    Imagine yourself an emigrant headed for Oregon: would promises of lush farmlands and a new beginning lure you to leave home and walk for weeks? More than 2,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen along the Oregon National Historic Trail in six states-reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American settlers.

    Scotts Bluff National Monument is located in western Nebraska, landmark for the Pony Express, Oregon, California and Mormon Pioneer national historic trails

  • National Historic Trail

    Pony Express

    Various States, CA,CO,KS,MO,NE,NV,UT,WY

    It is hard to believe that young men once rode horses to carry mail from Missouri to California in the unprecedented time of only 10 days. This relay system along the Pony Express National Historic Trail in eight states was the most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph.

    Three men on brown horses walk up a sagebrush covered ridge.

  • National Historic Trail

    Santa Fe

    CO,KS,MO,NM,OK

    You can almost hear the whoops and cries of "All's set!" as trail hands hitched their oxen to freight wagons carrying cargo between western Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Follow the Santa Fe National Historic Trail through five states and you'll find adventure and evidence of past travelers who made this remarkable trip before you!

    freight wagons on the Santa Fe Trail

  • National Preserve

    Tallgrass Prairie

    Strong City, KS

    Where's the tall grass? Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America. Within a generation the vast majority was developed and plowed under. Today less than 4% remains, mostly here in the Kansas Flint Hills. The preserve protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie and its cultural resources. Here the tallgrass prairie takes its last stand.

    The setting sun over the Flint Hills casts shadows across the wide expanse of tallgrass prairie.

By The Numbers

These numbers are just a sample of the National Park Service's work. Figures are for the fiscal year that ended 9/30/2015.