Travel Reference
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through the restored Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm, once a frontier transportation
stop and now a popular spot that offers hands-on fun for visitors of all ages. Nearby,
at the Prairie Center, acres of wildflowers shimmer in summer amid a billowing blanket
of tall green grasses. In Edgerton, southwest of Olathe, the meticulously restored one-
room Lanesfield School recalls a now-bygone era, and a half-mile-long nature trail weaves
through the prairie.
From Rte. 56 between Edgerton and Baldwin City, turn south at the Black Jack histor-
icalmarkertoreachtheIvanBoydPrairiePreserve.Hereyou'llfindindelibleremindersof
the droves of freight wagons that once rolled westward: deep ruts etched into the ground,
still evident a century after the last wagons passed over these plains.
2.
Council Grove
The 75 miles separating Baldwin City and Council Grove belie the Kansas reputation for
flatness. In this part of the state, Rte. 56 sails across rolling farmland and into the more
rugged, grassland of the Flint Hills.
Council Grove played a major role in the growth of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1825 Osage
chiefsandnegotiatorsfortheU.S.governmentsignedatreatyherethatgrantedwhitessafe
passage throughIndian lands. The oaktree beneath which the twogroupsmet survived un-
til a violent windstorm toppled it in 1958, but the city has preserved its stump as a historic
shrine.
3.
Marion Lake
WestofCouncilGroveyou'llentertheGrandRivervalley,thesouthernmarginofKansas's
Lake Country. As you motor toward Marion on Rte. 56/77, crossing streams bordered by
sycamores, redbuds, cottonwoods, and cedars, try to imagine making this trip 150 years
ago.Inthose days travel onthe Santa Fe Trail was tougheven when the weather was good,
but it became downright dangerous when the skies opened up and the rivers rose. A cloud-
burst a century ago could easily slow a caravan to a crawl as wagon wheels sank axle-
deep into the mud. Worse, fording rivers such as the Cottonwood or the Arkansas could be
fraught with peril as the lazy waters became swollen torrents.
To help control flooding in the 20th century, the strategically placed dam for Marion
Lake was constructed north of Marion in the 1960s. Nestled in the lovely Cottonwood
River valley, it is surrounded by a network of hiking trails that wander among hardwoods,
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