Smoky Hills


SMOKY HILL SCENIC BYWAY. The road follows the Smoky Hill River valley. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism.
EYE OF THE NEEDLE AT MONUMENT ROCKS. Also known as the Chalk Pyramids, pinnacles of Niobrara Chalk are eroded remnants of calcium-shelled animals from the inland sea covering Kansas eighty million years ago. Wistar92, Creative Commons.
BETWEEN KEARNEY [NEBRASKA] & SALINA. Land use consists of cropland and rangeland. Terry Evans. Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund, 1992.0035.
ROCK CITY. Nearby Mushroom Rock State Park also features eroded spherical rocks of sandstone concretions. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism.
CASTLE AT CORONADO HEIGHTS. In 1932 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a hill-top overlook above the Smoky Hill River. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism.
STONE FENCE POST. Limestone fence posts cut over a century ago enclose fields in "Post Rock Country." Early settlers without trees found they could quarry the uppermost bed (Greenhorn Formation) and easily shape fresh rock. Exposure to air hardens post-rock into durable building stone. Chod Hedinger, naturephotographerchodhedinger.zenfolio.com