Post Rock Country

Post Rock Country covers the north-central plains of Kansas, the rolling prairie country where settlers used limestone in place of scarce timber, leaving thousands of upright stone fence posts still standing across the landscape. The Greenhorn Limestone — the bed that gave the region its name — outcrops along eroded ridges and creek breaks, and the Saline, Solomon, and Smoky Hill rivers cut across the plain on their way east. Sixteen counties cover the region. Saline holds Salina, the largest city; Ellis holds Hays and Fort Hays State University; Russell holds Russell; Mitchell holds Beloit; Cloud holds Concordia; Smith holds Smith Center, and Lebanon (just north) sits at the geographic center of the contiguous United States. The Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays (with the famous Fish-within-a-Fish fossil) and the Garden of Eden in Lucas anchor the cultural sites; Lake Wilson and Cedar Bluff Reservoir handle the water recreation. Most trips run small-town and historical. The Post Rock Scenic Byway loops through Lincoln and Russell counties, marking the most concentrated stretch of stone post fencing; Smith County holds the cabin where Brewster Higley wrote ‘Home on the Range’ in 1872; Lucas’s S.P. Dinsmoor Garden of Eden — a folk-art compound built between 1907 and 1932 — runs as the strangest single stop in the region.