scenic north to south route in western kansas (Manhattan, Liberal: camping, restaurant)

[borgerboy]

i need to drive my camper van from laramie, wy to the texas panhandle later this week. wanting to avoid the denver metro area i was looking at a map and considering taking kansas state route 27 from goodland to guymon, ok. i noticed on the state map that it's designated as a "sunflower route". i know it will be 2 lane and fairly slow but i'm not in a big hurry. my destination is austin, tx but i don't want to go thru the dfw metroplex either. i know the roads in west texas pretty well, so if i come into the panhandle around borger and drive thru the caprock and into the hill country i know it's pretty scenic without any big cities to traverse.

anyone have any better suggestions for traveling in this general direction? thanks.

[Rivertowntalk]

I have driven 27 from St. Francis to Goodland a few times. It is a decent road and there won't be much traffic. I think you have a good plan.

[empires228]

There are no completely "Scenic" routes from N to S in Western Kansas, but Highway 83 comes close. If you take 83 you can see Monument Rocks, Scott Lake State Park (off of the short loop of Kansas Highway 95), The Sandsage Bison Range and Wildlife Area (They give tours upon request), the Arkansas River Sandhills, the Cimarron River Valley sandhills, and if you take a short detour in Liberal, Arkalon Park and the Samson of the Cimarron Bridge. I would say it's the most consistently scenic route through western Kansas. 283 is spotty with its scenic areas, and 27 is hit or miss depending on the year. Guyman is only a short hop away from Liberal on US 54.

[cattalk1]

Best North to South is Hwy 177 from I-70 at Manhattan down to Hwy 54. Road is through Flint Hills with lots of fall flowers & gold colors, historic Council Grove loaded with neat history/photo ops/oldest restaurant west of Missouri River, old Kaw Indian Reservation by Dunlap, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and VERY scene and windy narrow hwy, Elk City lake is stunning hike, Fall River is another nature spot, neat bridge across river at Elk Falls...Is ONLY DRIVE WORTH COMING TO KANSAS TO DO but may not really fit your needs if you want to end up in SW OKla & drive hill country of western TX. Has lots of nice camping spots if you look at the county lakes/Corp of Engineers near CG hiding some very picturesque views.

[empires228]

Originally Posted by cattalk1

Best North to South is Hwy 177 from I-70 at Manhattan down to Hwy 54. Road is through Flint Hills with lots of fall flowers & gold colors, historic Council Grove loaded with neat history/photo ops/oldest restaurant west of Missouri River, old Kaw Indian Reservation by Dunlap, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and VERY scene and windy narrow hwy, Elk City lake is stunning hike, Fall River is another nature spot, neat bridge across river at Elk Falls...Is ONLY DRIVE WORTH COMING TO KANSAS TO DO but may not really fit your needs if you want to end up in SW OKla & drive hill country of western TX. Has lots of nice camping spots if you look at the county lakes/Corp of Engineers near CG hiding some very picturesque views.

That may be so, but that is VERY out of the way for the OP haha.