By SALINA POST
Hundreds of people from all over the state and beyond will explore Ellsworth and Lincoln counties plus the community of Lucas in Russell County on May 2-5 as part of the sixth Big Kansas Road Trip.
A project of the non-profit Kansas Sampler Foundation, the purpose of the event is to provide the public firsthand experiences in rural communities and to give these cities a chance to showcase who they are and what they have.
“If you have the Explorer spirit and want to get down to the granular level of knowing rural Kansas, this is a friendly space to do that, ”said Marci Penner, co-director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation.
The public chooses their adventure from a list of 256 entries that include attractions, shops, stops, restaurants, and events in the 12 participating cities. Each person makes their own choice of where to go and when.
There are two state lakes, Kanopolis and Wilson and two scenic byways, Post Rock Scenic Byway and parts of the Prairie Trail Scenic Byway, located in the BKRT area.
In Ellsworth County, a sampling of events includes cattle branding, missile silo tours, Czech dancing, Big Band music and swing dancing, frontier army re-enactments, folk music jamming and pie, a ranger chat about petroglyphs plus attractions like Mushroom Rock State Park, Faris Caves, local museums, Kansas Originals, and the World’s Largest Czech Egg.
Grow Ellsworth County Executive Director, Stacie Schmidt said the Big Kansas Roadtrip has a huge impact on communies, like Ellsworth, even long after the road trip is over.
"We've asked community members to be prideful of their community, to be welcoming. Local people keep asking, 'Is it for us?' Yes it is 100%," Schmidt said. "We want our local communities to go out and become a tourist in their own community and look at all the fantastic things they have in their backyard."
In Lincoln County, there will be Danish pancakes served in Denmark, post rock quarry demonstrations, pie on the porch, owl hikes, dark sky viewing, bingo night, and attractions including local museums, the Lincoln Art Center, the Cookbook House, stone bridges, a microbrewery, the Saline River Dam, post rock buildings, restored buildings, grave witching, and fossil displays.
Lucas, the Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas, includes the Garden of Eden and Grassroots Art Center, the Florence Deeble House, Miller’s Park, the World’s Largest Things Roadside Sideshow Expo, the Bowl Plaza, numerous galleries, an artist cooperative, Brant’s Meat Market, Main Street Pole Art, sculptures, murals, Victorian Geckos, stonework demonstrations, and much more.
One of the fun ways event organizers are tracking attendees is through a map pin board.
"We're sending out visitor logs to all of our participating attractions in shops, shops and restaurants," Schmidt said. "We're also inviting people to add a pin to a board map so people can show where they're from."
"I think this is the biggest opportunity that we have seen in Ellsworth County for tourism in maybe ever," Schmidt said. "The other thing I have been telling people is the road trip guide has an extended shelf life and we know that people don't make it to everything they want to see. So they come back and the ripple effects are huge for the host county."