Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Red Hills of Barber County

Behold! The majesty of southcentral Kansas and more commonly referred to as the "Gypsum Hills", the Red Hills of Barber County hold a beauty unique to the state of Kansas.

Following a route found on the Natural Kansas website that lead us south of Medicine Lodge along Highway US-281 and west of Hardtner, our drive took us through countless vistas of the beautiful countryside and into remote reaches of the Kansas/Oklahoma borderland.

The US-160 Scenic Byway is a wonderful drive, but being able to stop and snap photos so easily on the quiet dirt roads was an excellent choice in my opinion and I must thank Jim Mason at Natural Kansas for the Wildlife Drive suggestion. Truly awesome!

There seems to be quite a bit of info on the web about these hills, so other than including some links, I'll let our photos do most of the talking... Hope you enjoy.


Our first stop, quiet and peaceful


The weather this day was HOT and DRY! I realized early in the journey that having a cooler full of water bottles was a very good idea!


I guess this is why they call them the "Red Hills"


Trout is one lucky dog!


Another awesome view!


Outcroppings of Gypsum begin to show as we get further northwest

A close look at some of the outcroppings


Bison roam free in miles of open range

For more information on the Red Hills visit:
Natural Kansas
GeoKansas
Kansas Photo Tour