KANSAS

Kansas has a lot of nature trails and I suspect many are easy walking or even accessible for wheelchair riders, but I can’t tell from the online descriptions.

These links were found through Internet search.  I would love to have some first-hand recommendations.  With your help, we can share our knowledge with disabled people everywhere and also increase awareness of the need for more accessibility. Please e-mail me with your suggestions using the form in the sidebar.

Federal
State
Local
Private
Miscellaneous

Federal

  • Quivira National Wildlife Refuge  –
    This wildlife refuge in mid Kansas consists of 22,135 acres, one third of which are wetlands.  It is a wonderful place for birding.   Here is their website.  Phone is 620-486-2393.
    Wheelchair AccessibleMigrant’s Mile Nature Trail: There are two long boardwalks through cattail wetlands.
    HikerwithcaneBirdhouse Boulevard Nature Trail: A 0.2 mile loop just west of the visitors center.

  • Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
    Tallgrass Perserve is a partnership between the National Park Service and Nature Conservancy.   These 10,894 acres represent a small portion of the once vast tallgrass prairie.   Before the arrival of settlers and ranchers, it was the traditional land of the Kaw, Osage, Wichita, and Pawnee.  Here is their website.
    Accessibility    Map & Brochure   Phone 620-273-8494
    Wheelchair AccessibleBottomland Nature Trail accessible loops of 0.5 or 0.75 mile.

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State

  • Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area is the largest marsh in the interior US at about 60 square miles lying north of the Arkansas River in the center of Kansas.  “The area is considered the most important shorebird migration point in the western hemisphere. ”   “Although known primarily for birds, the area also contains raccoons, deer, beavers, muskrats, and mink as well as a variety of reptiles.”   Try 620-793-3066 or Fort Hays State University’s Kansas Wetlands Eduction Center in Great Bend:  phone 620-566-1456 or toll free 1-877-243-9268. Here is their website.  The Nature Conservancy owns 7,500 acres immediately northwest of the state property.  Here is the Conservancy website.  See the post under Private.
    “Visitors can drive or walk on approximately 15 miles of gravel roads within the area.”

  • Here is a list, with links, of Kansas State Parks.

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Local

  • City of Great Bend 
    Here is a brochure about Great Bend outdoor opportunities and here is their website.   Phones  620-792-2750 or 877-427-9299
    Wheelchair Accessible?  There is a seven mile paved levee road along the Arkansas River at Great Bend.  The site doesn’t mention accessibility, but since it is flat and paved it ought to be pretty easy.  Call first to be sure it is accessible.

  • Johnson County Park and Recreation District
    Here is the Park and Recreation District’s website.
    Wheelchair AccessibleErnie Miller Park and Nature Center has three miles of nature trails including a 1/4 mile self-guiding accessible nature trail. Phone 913-831-3359
    Wheelchair AccessibleSunflower Nature Park is a 60 acre park with a one mile accessible nature trail. Phone (913) 438-7275

  • City of Merriam
    Most of Merriam’s Parks have easy walking trails, some of which may be wheelchair accessible.  Call to find out: 913.322-5550.
    Wheelchair AccessibleTurkey Creek Streamway Park Trail.  “Approximately four miles of paved, multi-use trail running from 75th Street to Antioch Road.  The trail route follows the path of Turkey Creek and passes through wooded areas, a butterfly garden, and several parks.”

  • Overland Park
    Overland Park has 35 miles of paved trails. Ten miles of the seventeen mile Indian Creek Hike and Bike trail are in Overland Park.  Here is a map of the Indian / Tomahawk Creek Bike and Hike Trail System and here is the website.  For more information call  913-895-6109.
    Wheelchair AccessibleIndian Creek Hike and Bike Trail  17 miles of paved trail with accessible parking at all trailheads which are in seven parks and a recreation center.

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Private

  • Nature Conservancy
    Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve.  North of Great Bend,  “Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife area is a designated wetlands of international importance, covering 19,857 acres. Located in a 41,000 acre natural sink near Great Bend. Although there are no designated hiking trails, you can hike for miles on the gravel roads and dikes that border the marshes.”  Here is a brochure from Big Bend which gives information about Cheyenne Bottoms. Phone 785-233-4400.

    ?   Smoky Valley Ranch    Here you can see “…bison roaming a prairie as they did hundreds of years ago. Dramatic chalk bluffs overlook large expanses of grassland, rocky ravines and Smoky Hill River.”   Phone is 785-233-4400.   There is a one mile loop here which is described as “relatively easy”.  I hope someone will let me know if it is not appropriate for this website.  Here is a  trail map and instructions. 

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Miscellaneous

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