Directions to Clinton Lakeand Clinton State Park Located west of Lawrence and Douglas County, you will find Clinton Lake. You can find signs along US-40, K-10, and US-59 that will help navigate you to this destination. If you take K-10, you can find it much easier. Off of that exit, you can either visit Clinton State Park or ride the east dam. You can also find this route from a turnoff on US-59 as well. From that turnoff, you can visit the Rockhaven, Bloomington, and Woodridge Public Use Areas and the town of Clinton. The turnoff from US-40 takes you straight down to the Clinton State Park or the Wildlife Area.
Things to do at Clinton Lake At the north part of the lake, this tends to be the main spot. Locations include campgrounds with restrooms and showers, trails, a disc golf course, and an archery range. East of the lake, locations include a waterfall, spillway, and outlet park near Wakarusa River, and a golf course.
View from Kansas Highway K-10 If you are driving along K-10, there are sports complexes to the east of the lake and a nice overlook park at the northeast corner of the lake for a quick but good look at this huge lake. You should check out this lake if you have the time to tour something special along your travels in a very scenic eastern Kansas.
Welcome to Colorful Colorado! If you prefer central America but don’t like the flat lands, this is a state to check out. Home to the Rocky Mountain National Park and the rest of the mountains, this state is decent in size, has very scenic areas, and a great vacation spot. People can come to ski, snowboard, ride a mountain bike, dwell in a lodge with a hot tub, or even just drive around the mountains.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Denver, Colorado The main interstates that travel through the entire state are I-25 & I-70 that form a plus shape. They meet in the capital city, Denver. I-76 travels from I-80 in Nebraska to this city. I-270 & I-225 are inside the city with Colorado Highway 470 circling the city. The east half is toll road while the west half is non-toll road.
Denver, Colorado has both an NBA and NFL team to root for pretty much all year-round aka the Denver Nuggets, and the Denver Broncos. Boulder, CO northwest of Denver is home of Colorado University.
From Denver, you could travel north through multiple cities like Loveland and Fort Collins to the state of Wyoming and its capital city Cheyenne. Or you could travel south through Colorado Springs and Pueblo to the state of New Mexico. Or you could even continue west through the Rocky Mountains where you meet the city of Grand Junction just miles before the state of Utah. Traveling east takes you to the state of Kansas.
Colorado Springs, Colorado Whenever my family and I travel from the east side of the state to the mountains, we like to stop in Limon, Colorado for a break and to get souvenirs from Colorado Gifts located right off the interstate at Exit 361. From there we go northwest to Denver or southwest to Colorado Springs, another great city next to Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods located to the west.
Garden of the Gods Colorado Springs USA
Eastern Colorado Some people claim that eastern Colorado is just a flat, dry land with not too many things interesting. There is US-50 however is a better route through this part of the state if you aren’t taking I-70. The northeast isn’t as bad since there is another interstate you can take. In fact, western Kansas and eastern Colorado have the same feel to them. It is true that they both have flat areas and nothing that exciting for people that live in the big cities, but it is a nice place to live for people that don’t like populated areas so much.
Historic Stanley Hotel Estes Park Colorado USA
Estes Park There are more places worth checking out that I haven’t really mentioned yet. I have been to Estes Park more than once, it is a good area to stay at if you are visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park.
South West Colorado If you happen to travel in southwest Colorado, it is also very scenic and there is a lot to tour there. If you can take via US-160 to the very southwest part of the state where you can find Mesa Verde and Four Corners, you can see a nice looking desert. A cool thing I saw was the San Juan River right before the border to New Mexico and the four corners monument. I love how the river was big and it was the only obvious green area in the entire reservation. A bonus is being able to add a few more states to your list of states visited.
Colorful Colorado, in conclusion, is one of coolest mountain states I have ever seen in my opinion, and I have been to 20+ states so far. I think you will enjoy your time there if you choose this place as your next summer vacation destination. I will try to include more information about this state in the near future on this website, so stay tuned!
Four Lane HighwayLinks I-80 to I-70 Not too long ago, the state Nebraska and Kansas decided to make a four laned road stretching from I-80 and I-70. It would start from York, Nebraska, travel south through McCool Junction, Fairmont, Geneva, Strang, Bruning, Hebron, past the Nebraska – Kansas border through Belleville, Concordia, Minneapolis, and finally Salina where it meets I-70 and even I-135. It still exists today and serves a good purpose for faster transportation.
US-81 To explain a little better, this US-81 route contributes with I-135 and its purpose as well. If you look at a map, you see I-35 which was once in the central part of the country starting to shift east away from the north central states. With the new roads, there is a faster route for the area that I-35 missed when going east to Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota.
In the Dakotas and Nebraska, you realize there is no interstate that runs vertically through the middle of the states. We have history to blame for this. But in short, this new route gives these north central states a faster way to access I-35 in a more direct way to travel to places in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
From the flip side of things, it is easier for the south central states to travel to the north central states as well. It is a step towards making transportation slightly faster in this area.
Here are a few good places to stop along this road from York, NB and Salina, KS:
York North of I-80 you can truly see the size of the town. US-81 & US-34 mostly bypass the town, but Lincoln Avenue is a main road that runs straight through the town. This is a good stopping point even when traveling along the interstate. Most travelers when in a slight hurry stop south of town rather than in it. They should consider going up a mile if they have the time.
Geneva To get more options, you can either travel west on F Street or NE-41, whichever comes first. You could stop at Shell for gas, Dollar General for a snack, or even Subway for a nice, healthy lunch.
Hebron – Home of the World’s Largest Porch Swing
Hebron Most of the stops are again west of the highway. Lincoln Avenue is a good way to enter the city from the highway. You can find another Dollar General here as well as a Casey’s. The airport and the country club is south of the town near US-136.
Belleville North of US-36 and east of US-81 is where the city of Belleville resides. Up north is a Love’s, a speedway, swimming pool, and Rocky Pond. For anyone looking for businesses you can find in most places, there is a Super 8 hotel near a Dollar General, Casey’s, and even a DQ where you can stop for a treat.
POW Camp Concordia Kansas USA
Concordia You don’t have to leave the highway too much at all to stop at a DQ, Sonic, McDonald’s, Subway, Arby’s, and more. South of town they even have a Walmart. It should fill most needs someone would like during the trip.
Salina This city is blessed to have four lane roads in all four directions. When US-81 reaches Salina, people traveling south have the option to travel west to Hays and Denver, east to Topeka and Kansas City, or south to Wichita and Oklahoma City. Taking I-135 south by Salina gives you more options rather than I-70, but there are still enough stops north of Salina by I-70 to support travelers along their way. US-81 continues south with I-135 after Salina to Wichita and beyond.
Makes Driving Fun What is so important about four laned highways? Well, for one, it is easier to handle the traffic since you can pass cars without going in the other lane that cars use to go the opposite direction. An additional benefit is higher speed. These factors add up to a sum of easier driving and faster travel. The interstates aren’t the only four laned roads you will find in the state of Kansas.
Kansas City For example, near Kansas City, it is harder to find highways that are just two laned compared to other parts of the state. Parts of US-69, US-169, US-73, US-24, and US-40 around the area will have more lanes so traffic can flow more smoothly since it is very populated.
Christmas Tree Crown Center Kansas City Missouri USA
Around Kansas Here are some other areas where you can find them along your travels with the locations listed from east to west:
US-59 (Lawrence – Ottawa)
US-75 (Holton – Topeka – US-56)
Manhattan Area (K-18, K-177, US-24)
K-254 (Wichita – El Dorado)
US-54 (Kingsman – Wichita – Augusta – El Dorado)
US-81 (York, NB / I-80 – NB Border – Concordia – Salina / I-135)
Directions to Lindsborg Lindsborg is a small town, but a gem worth visiting with extra time at hand. Features of this city include the Smoky Hill River and its Swedish background. From I-135, take exit 72 or 78, whichever comes first, depending on the direction of your travel. K-4 travels through both directions of the town as well. At Exit 78, take K-4 west a few miles until you eventually arrive. At Exit 72, take the road west for a mile or so, then there will be an obvious turn right up north that will take you directly up to Lindsborg after another mile or so. This route used to be Business US-81.
Even the Dala Horses are masked for Covid!
Karpov International School of Chess I like traveling here for multiple reasons. When available, there is open chess at the Karpov International School of Chess on Monday evenings at 6:30 to 8 PM downtown west of Main Street and just south of Lincoln Street. Also downtown, there are Swedish decorations you can find. On a nice hot summer afternoon, you can visit their swimming pool in the south part of town. You can even find more history of the town near the pool such as the McPherson County Old Mill Museum and the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion.
St Lucia Christmas Bethany Lutheran Lindsborg USA
In the north part of town, you can find Bethany College. Smoky Valley Middle and High Schools are on the west side of the town. The highway is really what is east of town, where there are gas stations and few places to eat and stay in the city.
Lawrence – The City Welcome to Lawrence, the home of the Jayhawks! This city can be accessed by the toll road I-70, US-59, US-40 and US-24. K-10 is a good bypass that travels around west and south Lawrence and Clinton Lake.
KU Campus Lawrence Kansas USA
Kansas Basketball Their university is known by sports fans for their good basketball teams. When I say it, I mean it. Their basketball teams are ones not to be messed with. If you think you can win in Allen Fieldhouse, their home basketball court, you have a lot of work to do. It is a tough atmosphere to play in. They have won the Big 12 Tournament up to 14 times in a row once before, a record for Division-I basketball (They are currently in the Big 12 Conference). They have also reached the NCAA tournament way more than that. They still lose however, which only makes them better when they learn from their mistakes.
Allen Fieldhouse KU Lawrence Kansas USA
KU Football If you think you can beat KU football, you are probably correct if you are in the time from when this article was written. It is a miracle when they win a game because they don’t win very many these days. However, with their new coach Les Miles, they hope to become better in the next few years. They have something going for them, at least Jayhawk fans hope.
KU Campus Location This university isn’t known for just sports though. Kansas University has way more to offer you. These were just sports highlights for you. I decided to share this information because I root for universities in sports mostly. It is just my own experiences as a Jayhawk fan. Feel free to see it in person located north of 19th Street, east of Iowa Street aka US-59, south of 9th Street, and west of Tennessee & Kentucky Street. Additionally, West Campus is west of Iowa Street aka US-59, south of Bob Billings Parkway, north of Clinton Parkway, and east of Kasold Drive. Want to learn more about the university online? Learn more here.
Manhattan – The City Welcome to Manhattan, the home of the Wildcats! All roads leading to Manhattan are not interstates, but some are four laned such as US-24 east of the city, K-18 west of the city, and K-177 north of I-70. Coming from the west side, you can tell by the landscape that you have to go across a big hill that borders that side of the city. It is a nice scenic drive traveling to Manhattan from any direction you take to get there. It might be one of the more convincing factors that lead people to choose this city in particular.
Bill Snyder Family Stadium KSU
Big 12 Conference and Football It is a preference that people say K-State rather than Kansas State. It is a common name for this particular university. When talking about sports, I would say their football and basketball teams are both decently talented. I would lean more towards football because that is one of the things this university is known for. You can count on them more for their football skills and they are usually very good. They are currently in the Big 12 Conference.
KSU Campus Location This university isn’t known for just sports, however. K-State has way more to offer you. These were just sports highlights for you. I decided to share this information because I root for universities in sports mostly. It is just my own experiences as a wildcat fan. Feel free to see it in person located north of Anderson Avenue, east of College Avenue, south of Kimball Avenue, and west of Manhattan Avenue. Want to learn more about the university online? Learn more here.
Wichita – The City Welcome to Wichita, the home of the Shockers! There are many ways to get to Wichita, like on I-35, and I-135, with I-235 bypassing the city. US-54 & 400, aka Kellogg, is a main west to east road that travels through both ends of town.
American Athletic Conference Let me talk more about sports because I know the university more for this. It is just from my own experience. On a very special occasion, they get to play against Kansas or K-State. These teams don’t play with Wichita State often because they aren’t in the same conference. The other two universities are in the Big 12, while WSU just recently moved from the Missouri Valley Conference to the American Athletic Conference.
Basketball They aren’t talked about in the football season because unfortunately, they have no football team. Years ago, they had a bad plane accident so severe everyone traveling perished. The university decided it would be too sad to replace them so they didn’t bother finding a new team. Their basketball team, however, is something shocker fans are proud of. They made it to the Final Four in 2013 as a lower seed in the bracket, beating higher ranked teams on their way. Their best upset was against UConn, the top team in their region.
WSU Campus Location This university isn’t known for just sports. It has way more to offer you. Feel free to see it in person located north of 17th Street, east of Hillside Street, south of 21st Street, and west of Perimeter Road. Want to learn more about the university online? Learn more here.
