Two towns virtually synonymous with the Wild West are the highlights of this drive through Kansas wheat and cattle country.

The names Wichita and Dodge City conjure visions of frontier-day cattle drives and rough-and-tumble cowboy life in the southern plains of Kansas. Our route encompasses both towns and sights in between. Wichita has emerged from its bustling cow-town era as a progressive, attractive community touting some nationally significant sights, including the Old Cowtown Museum, where 19th-century Wichita is re-created, and the Wichita Art Museum, with its important collection of works by Charles M. Russell. Legendary Dodge City, television home of Marshal Matt Dillon, has metamorphosed at least twice—from bison-hunter outpost to wild cattle-trail terminus to sedate agricultural community. The route between these towns features such hometown attractions as the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area—notable stopover for North American shorebirds—and sites related to the old Santa Fe Trail.

Overview
This 240-mile drive leaves from Wichita, travels north to Newton, then cuts west and north to Hutchinson, Lyons, and Great Bend before dipping back south to Kinsley and Dodge City. Highlights: Old Cowtown Museum, Mid-America All-Indian Center, Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Boot Hill Museum and Front Street.

Start in Wocjota
Your first stop in this Old West town on the 19th-century Chisholm Trail—which made it a destination for cattle drives headed north to railroads to eastern markets—is the Old Cowtown Museum. Located in Sim Park, this 17-acre living history museum re-creates the Wichita of the 1870s, right down to plank sidewalks. The time frame follows the arrival of trader Jesse Chisolm, who in 1864 brought some 3,000 cattle north from Texas, establishing the Chisolm Trail and Wichita as a major shipping point. Today, visitors can tour a five-acre living history farm featuring animals and period farm machinery, and watch demonstrations of such daily activities as gardening, milking the cow, and harvesting corn; ride in a horse-drawn wagon; and quaff a glass of sarsparilla in the museum's saloon. Native American culture, art, and technology are the focus of the nearby Indian Center Museum at the Mid-America All-Indian Center. Traditional artifacts and contemporary art are combined with information on the history and culture of the Wichita, who guided Coronado into Kansas in 1541 and gave this city its name. The Wichita called themselves Kirikirish, "real people," and lived here only a short time. Across the street, the Wichita Art Museum houses an excellent collection of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century American art. The M.C. Naftzger Collection of Charles M. Russell's works includes Russell paintings of Western scenes and some of the handwritten and illustrated letters he sent to friends. Around the corner lies Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, where you can wander through a formal Elizabethan garden, tracts of sunflowers (the Kansas state flower), and a wildflower plot with prairie grasses. Downtown, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum presents Wichita's history from the days of bison hunts to the modern era. Joan Miró's huge mosaic mural "Personnages Oiseaux" greets visitors at the entrance to the Ulrich Museum of Art. This museum features changing exhibits of contemporary artists and an absorbing collection of 20th-century and modern (mostly American) art.

Hutchinson
Leaving Wichita, head north on I-135 to North Newton. Here the Kauffman Museum tells the story of the Mennonite settlers who came to the area from Europe in the 1870s. Also here: a period homestead and a prairie restoration. Next, take U.S. 50 west to Hutchinson and perhaps the best air and space museum outside Washington, D.C.: the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. You're greeted by a full-size model of the space shuttle, complete with a clear explanation of how the heat shield works. Hanging from the ceiling is a glamorous black SR-71 Blackbird, a U.S. spy plane that endured flying temperatures greater than 1000°F. The museum also offers a live rocket science demonstration, a planetarium, a space museum with lots of space suits, and the Apollo 13 command module. For a more earthbound attraction, head south on Plum Street to the small but attractive (and free) Hutchinson Zoo. Displays here focus on Kansas wildlife, such as American kestrels, red-tailed hawks, bobcats, and coyotes. Particularly entertaining: the prairie dog town, which kids can crawl through.