Travel through time, visiting multiple forts along the 168-mile-long Frontier Military Historic Byway. Originally built to move soldiers and supplies, the Military Trail has watched American history unfold. Traveling from North to South, you’ll find various landmarks such as Fort Leavenworth and Fort Scott, to other historical gems like the John Brown Museum.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Fort Scott National Historic Site, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Marais des Cygnes Massacre Park, and Mine Creek Battlefield hold historical value from the turbulent times of “Bleeding Kansas” and the Civil War. Also, along the route, hear legends and see monuments that memorialize history across the Kansas landscape.
The Glacial Hills Scenic Byway gets its name from the rolling hills and rock-strewn valleys carved by ancient glaciers. The receding ice left behind a beautiful landscape and highly fertile farmland. On July 4, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition celebrated the first Independence Day of their journey near what is now Atchison. Fifty years later, the Kansas-Nebraska Act opened the Kansas Territory, and settlers were drawn to the area’s rich soil and nearby rivers.
