The Flint Hills & Kansas River Valley

"Game-day central for K-State. The wings are legitimately good."

The anchor bar for Kansas State gamedays, but actually worth visiting any weekend. Good wings, ice-cold beer, a crowd that includes everyone from students to retired professors to soldiers. The energy on football Saturdays is the real Kansas.

"The best pint in the Flint Hills."

Manhattan's beloved craft brewery with a full kitchen and rotating seasonal beers. The taproom has a good vibe and the patio is excellent in spring and fall. The beer is well-crafted and the food pairs well.

"No — Abilene's actual destination is the Eisenhower Presidential Library."

Skip this and eat at Kirby's Beer Store in Abilene — a lovably quirky bar with incredible character, cold beer, and the kind of place that could only exist in small-town Kansas.

"A 8,600-acre living laboratory. One of the most important grasslands on Earth."

The Konza Prairie near Manhattan is a Long-Term Ecological Research site that has been studied continuously since 1980. Public hiking trails (4- and 6-mile loops) take you through unplowed tallgrass prairie — an ecosystem that once covered 170 million acres of North America and now covers less than 4%. In spring after burning, the landscape is hauntingly beautiful.

"The National Park Service's prairie. Stone barns. Bison."

An hour southeast of Riley, this preserve protects over 10,000 acres of the Flint Hills. The 1880s limestone ranch headquarters is beautifully preserved. A bison herd was reintroduced in 2009. The spring wildflowers and the vast, rolling skyline views are worth the drive.

"Kansas's largest lake. Fishing, sailing, and actual beaches."

Milford Lake is the largest lake in Kansas — 15,700 acres of water surrounded by state park land. Excellent crappie and walleye fishing, sailing, beaches, and camping. Milford State Park has cabins available year-round.

"Ike's boyhood home, presidential library, and final resting place."

Dwight Eisenhower grew up in Abilene, KS. The presidential library complex includes his boyhood home, the presidential museum, and his final resting place. The WWII galleries — covering Supreme Allied Command — are some of the best military history exhibits anywhere. It's 45 minutes from post.

"Best kids' museum in Kansas."

Topeka's well-funded children's discovery center has interactive science, art, and culture exhibits across three floors. Worth the 60-mile drive for families with young children.