Little Jerusalem Badlands State is amid the vast plains and prairies of Kansas, expanse of rugged geological formations-a must see.
The following written content by Amelia Arvesen
It’s July 8, my birthday, and my husband and I had planned to spend the day driving nine hours from Kansas to Colorado. But spending all day in a van, breathing recycled air and nourishing ourselves with nothing but packaged snacks, is not my idea of a celebration. So, because we’re not on anyone’s schedule except our own, we devise a new plan. Just five hours due west of our starting destination in Lawrence, Kansas, is a newly designated recreation area called Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park. We know almost nothing about it, except that it’s on our way.
For those of us who have lived in Kansas, we know it’s not the flat, flyover state that everyone else thinks it is. It may not have the Rocky Mountains, but it still has plenty of natural wonders going for it. Both the Konza Prairie and Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Reserve feature rolling hills of lush grasses and webs of trails. Then there’s the 148-mile-long Kaw River, whose shores are a perfect place to view Kansas’s magenta and bronze sunsets. And now there’s this 332-acre park. I’m not really sure what to expect.
When we arrive there at midday, we’re the third car in the parking lot. The sun is high and our thermometer ticks past 90 degrees, the humidity making our skin sticky. From our van, we can see only the tops of several chalky-white, crumbly spires. We choose the Life on the Rocks Trail, a three-mile hike, to get acquainted.
Only a few steps into the crushed-rock path, the ground opens up off to the right into deep canyons and towering formations, some of them taller than 100 feet. They look like something you’d expect in Utah or Colorado. Except these Niobrara chalk rock deposits are unique to this region in the Midwest. Read more from Backpacker.
Advertisement
