US Highway 36 through Kansas is one of the most beautiful, scenic, and geologically varied routes in the nation. Further, it is the shortest route across Kansas. It is the only highway in Kansas from east to west where you can travel through four distinct geological regions.

The glaciated region of northeast Kansas with its broad valleys and productive deep soils make US 36 a beautiful area to travel through any time of the year. The northern tip of the Flint Hills region, with its rolling hills, distinctive grasslands, and grazing cattle, makes for beautiful scenery . Then comes the northern region of the Smoky Hills, with its distinctive red colored soils, which come from the outcropping of Dakota sandstone. The largest and final region heading west on US 36 is the High Plains area. At one time called the beginning of the great American desert, it is famous for its waving wheat fields.

From the Missouri River and the Missouri River bottoms to the glaciated soils of Northeastern Kansas you can understand why this was the first part of Kansas which was developed and homesteaded. It has a tremendous historical as well as productive value to the development of the western region of the United States.

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