Prairie Trail Scenic Byway
Prairie Trail Scenic Byway is a State Scenic Byway in Kansas. Within Kansas it covers roughly 55 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Prairie Trail Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Kansas's Prairie Trail Scenic Byway runs about 80 miles through McPherson and Ellsworth Counties, designated a State Byway in 2007. The route starts at Canton, follows county roads through Roxbury, then K-4 and K-141 north toward Ellsworth County, with an extension continuing on K-140 and K-156 to Interstate 70. Historians believe Francisco Coronado surveyed this country in the early 1540s, and later travelers included explorer Zebulon Pike and showman Buffalo Bill Cody; the nearby Santa Fe Trail and Chisholm Trail once carried traders to Mexico and cattle drives north, respectively. The byway threads Kansas's Swedish heritage towns, including Lindsborg and Marquette, alongside bison herds at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, the eroded formations of Mushroom Rock State Park, and Kanopolis State Park and Reservoir. Ellsworth, at the byway's northern reach, sits on a branch of the historic Great Western Trail, adding cattle-drive history to a route that already layers Spanish exploration, immigrant heritage, and native prairie into one 80-mile drive.
- Lindsborg Swedish heritage
- Maxwell Wildlife Refuge bison
- 80 miles
- Mushroom Rock State Park
- 2007 designation
- Coronado's 1540s survey
- Chisholm Trail
Plan a drive on Prairie Trail Scenic Byway →
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 Prairie Trail Scenic Byway
3 campgrounds and RV parks sit within about 5 miles of Prairie Trail Scenic Byway.
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