Native Stone Scenic Byway
Native Stone Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Kansas. Within Kansas it covers roughly 50 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Native Stone Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Kansas's Native Stone Scenic Byway runs 75 miles through the Flint Hills on Highways 177, 18, 99, and 4, from Dover through Wabaunsee, Geary, and Riley Counties. Designated in 2006, it takes its name from native limestone formed by shallow seas more than 240 million years ago, stone that Swedish and German settler-stonemasons turned into fences and buildings once trees ran short on the open prairie. An 1867 Kansas law that ended the open range paid landowners 40 cents per rod to build and maintain four-and-a-half-foot stone fences, spurring the construction still visible along the route today. Alma, known as the 'City of Native Stone,' preserves 21 architecturally significant buildings dating from 1880 to 1936 in its historic downtown. The drive also passes through Bleeding Kansas and Underground Railroad country, alongside cattle ranches and the rolling grasslands and wildflowers of the Flint Hills, tying stonework, prairie ecology, and pre-Civil War history into one winding route.
- Flint Hills
- Alma 'City of Native Stone'
- 75 miles
- 1867 stone fence law
- Swedish/German stonemasons
- 2006 designation
- Bleeding Kansas history
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What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Native Stone Scenic Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Native Stone Scenic Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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