Hills in Kansas??

wilson ind

Well-known Member
Week or so ago there was a discussion about hills around Medicine Lodge and another corner of the state. Would someone respond to the hilly treed part of the state??
 
I know down in the Winfield KS area it is pretty hilly. It is also hilly up in the north western corner of KS due to the it being the foot hills of the mountains
 
The "hilly treed part of the state" would be the north eastern part, although there are some hills in all parts of the state.

I live in North West Kansas. 20 miles south of Nebraska line, about 125 east of Colorado line. In my job I used to travel state wide. I agree that the area along the southern boarder (Winfield to Medicine Lodge) has a lot of hills and a fair amount of trees.

Southwestern corner of the state is quite flat. You can see the end of the world from there.

I would consider the North Western part to be rolling but for the most part not extremely hilly. Granted, each person's definition of "hilly" will be different.

I once showed a Highway Patrol Captain a map of where I grew up in another state. He looked at and replied, "I've never been there, but can see it is relative flat rolling country." I said "How do you know that", he said "look at the map, you can tell something about the terrain of the country by how straight the roads run".
 
Back when I lived in Winfield they called it a 3 kill town. The first hill was where St. Johns college was the 2nd hill was southwestern college or some such and 3rd hill was where the insane people lived and between 2nd and 3rd hill was a big oil filed. Spent a good bit of time walking all over those oil fields back then but I bet now days you would not be allowed to do so
 
Actually lots of hills and trees in Kansas especially in the eastern quarter of the state (from Oklahoma to Nebraska). I grew up in Nemaha County - and we had lots of hills with 5 - 6 terraces on their slope that were steep enough you didn't dare try to work the backside of the terrace. The top soil was 5' to 10' deep before you hit clay. Just 40-50 miles south of there in the Flint Hills start and they are even steeper (west of St Marys) so that you can't ride a horse or 4 wheel up one but the "top soil" (if you can call it that) is only a couple inches deep.
 
I grew up in the Lawrence area. We actually had a ski lodge just east of town. Kansas University sets a huge hill. We farmed on and around hills all over in that area. I remember two hills by us that you actually had to back a combine down to keep it from tipping. Lots of hills in eastern KS. Pretty country but they need to do something about the humidity, that's why I live in West Texas these days
 
One of my kids is a student at Kansas University in Lawrence. If you have classes all over campus, you stay in shape because the campus has lots of hills.
 
Bill, I agree with most of the responses except for what "Old" said about NW Kansas, my home area, being part of the foothills of the Rockies; the Rockies are 250 miles away and most of that distance is plains country. We do have some horrendous hills in that area though. You know the proud owner of an Eagle Hitch D would not lead you astray.)
 
I used to haul corn down to the Flint Hills Feedlot in Kansas and drop down a ways to get to Joplin there were places on those back roads you could see 50 miles (well maybe not that far but it looked like it)no hills there to speak of till you got closer to Joplin -- not to far from the feedlot is the winchester flint mines-- got lost once and ended up in there driveway -- they showed me the way out LOL
 
Not exactly tons of trees but heres a couple of pictures from the Gypsum Hills area near Medicine Lodge....I had an uncle that farmed 15 miles SW of Medicine Lodge..One side of a wheat field was so steep that his model 55 JD combine wouldn't pull it..

The Kansas Flint Hills run north to south and Hwy 99 is good road to see them from...Again not tons of trees but some beautiful scenery and not tons of people..

I have posted a link to lots of Kansas Flint Hill pictures..Its from bikers that ride lots in that area..Go to the gallery..
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Kansas Flint Hills
 
I'll have to go out and take a picture of "Pork Chop Hill". It is a mile east of the hill I farm. I wouldn't want to claw up or down it in a rain or snow storm! Awesome views but nothing tillable in that part of the county. The grain truck can't pull that hill in 3rd low empty. I wouldn't consider it loaded. I doubt granny would have enough gumption.
 
Try the northeaster corner of the state. Any kind of terrain you want. Good flat bottom ground to hills with deep black dirt, hill with hardly no black dirt and hills with rock ledges sticking out. There has been a lot of prairie grass plowed up over the years on hills that never should have been. A team of horses in this part of the state had to feel lucky. Was either pull a hill or holding the wagon back going down the other side.
 

From the pictures posted I would call the one a knob, & everything else just a slope, them ain't hills.....
 
In Kansas they are called hills.....The 2nd picture I posted above is coming up out of the Medicine Loge River bottom......I climbed a pretty steep grade getting out of there....The link below is to some more pictures of the Gypsum Hills area..


The above picture is from the cab of a 6030 JD in the Kansas Flint Hills in April 2006..
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Gypsum Hills
 

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