My Kansas Kronikles: Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway

I traveled through most of Kansas' Scenic Byways during my July trip. Two of those byways are also deemed important enough for recognition by the National Scenic Byways Program. One is the previously blogged about Flint Hills Scenic Byway, the other is the Wetlands and Wildlife route.
This byway roughly surrounds the small city of Great Bend, and it travels through Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. and the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area. Eastern and central Kansas received a lot of rain this summer, which shows a larger Cheyenne Bottom.

Unfortunately I didn't get the name of this prairie stream on the left, which I photographed in Stafford County, on the southern end of the byway.

The waterlogged bounty of the wet summer prevented me from traveling through the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Flooding closed down that part of the route, so I headed to my next destination, McPherson.

This day of traveling is when I saw, or perhaps noticed, many wildflowers such as these coreopsis, which are common on the Great Plains.


Technorati tags: Kansas travel byways photography photos wildflowers nature wetlands coreopsis