Denver to Springfield, MO

I am driving to Springfield next week. I have the time to make it scenic, rather than just taking I-70 across Kansas. I could go as far out of my way as Oklahoma.

I am hoping to get some suggestions on some places to go on the way. Anyone have any good ideas?

Thanks!

I came through Springfield, MO last Thursday on my way back from a funeral. If you are looking for fall colors you will be disappointed. By and large the trees in Oklahoma and Missouri went from green to brown this year due to the lack of rain this summer. There are, however, a few pockets with some nice color but its a very bad year overall. The best color we saw was along Highway 8 from St. James to Farmington, MO--a bit further east of Springfield though.

If Springfield is the farthest east you plan to go, I can't give you much in the way of places to go. However, SE Missouri is quite scenic and there are numerous State Parks and National Forest areas to see there. If you want some suggestions for that area of MO, let me know. Good luck!

Thanks Phillip!

No, I realize that I am too late for any fall color (at least figured I was). I am visiting family for the holiday, so couldn't really pick my timing! Since I will have a couple extra days on the way, though, was hoping to get some shooting in as well!

I am actually going to Houston, MO, so I will be a little east of Springfield.

Hi David, If you have the time I would recommend hywy 160 across southern Kansas. That would take you through Big Basin in Clark County, through the Red Hills of Barber County, then east through the tallgrass praires of the Flint Hills in Chautauqua County. Once you get out of Kansas I don't have any suggestions for you.

Here's a shot from the Clark County area from a few weeks ago.

Besides the scenery there area also lots of interesting small towns along the way. Have a good trip.

Monument Rocks in Kansas seems interesting, though I haven't made it there yet.

Monument Rocks is very interesting and quite photogenic. If you are able to swing it, I would certainly visit them.

I have to admit, I hadn't heard of Monument Rocks before. I checked them out on the internet, and it looks amazing! I think that might have to be one of the stops.

Thanks everyone!

As one who's done that drive many times, I'd generally advise you to blast through the first half as quickly as you can. Eastern Kansas actually has something to see- the ever-changing colors of agriculture, draped over geometric fields and rolling topgraphical relief. The closer you get to Kansas City, the less plain are the Plains. There is one spot I'd like to carry a camera to again, though. Prairie Dog Lake state park, in NW Kansas, features a drowned forest in the shallows of the lake. Stark white tree trunks rise out of the blue water, making a curious, striking sight. It's a place birds should like, though I didn't seek them out. This is off the nortehrn US highway across Kansas, US 36, I believe. It's a lonely, pristine blue highway that lacks the I-70 clutter of billboards and big rigs. And if you see a site marked "Graden of Eden" in Lucas, near the center of the state, check it out.

John, thanks for the suggestions!

I have done the I-70 drive many times, and have done exactly what you have suggested... drive as fast as I can! That is why I don't really know what is out there, I haven't explored.

I found Arikaree Breaks doing an internet search. Has anyone been to Arikaree Breaks?