Outside Online
advertisement
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Gear
  • Bodywork
  • Culture
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Photos
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
Subscribe to Outside Magazine

You Are Here:   Home  >>   Travel   >>  The Perfect 10
Adventure Adviser

Today's Question
What do you suggest for a cheap winter trip to Baja, Mexico? answer

Where in the United States can I stay overnight in a tree? answer

Can you suggest a great African safari? answer

Travel Resources
  • Best Trips 2008
  • Best Trips 2007
  • Best Trips 2006
  • Best Trips 2005
  • Best Trips 2004
  • Best Towns 2008
  • Best Towns 2007
  • Best Towns 2006
  • Best Towns 2005
  • Best Towns 2004
  • Plan Your Trip
  • Adventure Lodges
Travel Guides
  • The World
  • The United States
  • Canada
  • Caribbean
  • Mexico
  • Central America
  • South America
  • Europe
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Australia & South Pacific

Online Favorites

  • "Into Thin Air"
  • Best Adventure Books
  • The O Files: Unsolved Mysteries
  • Dream Towns
  • Dream Jobs

Special Issues

  • Family Road Trips
  • Interactive Colorado
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Adventure Lodges
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Photo Galleries

  • Malia Jones
  • Amanda Beard
  • Julia Mancuso
  • Women Who Rock
  • Kelly Slater
  • Olympic Cities
  • Exposure: Sara Carlson
  • See All Galleries
share this article del.icio.us DIGG Facebook StumbleUpon

Outside Magazine's 2003 Family Travel Guide

The Perfect 10
Grand Central Hotel, Kansas

By Deborah Geigis Berry


Talkeetna, Alaska | Klamath Falls, Oregon | Big Sky, Montana | Brooksville, Maine | Bracebridge, Ontario | Moab, Utah | Groton, Vermont | Shafter, Texas | Cottonwood Falls, Kansas | Port St. Joe, Florida

(Corel)
IN HIS 1882 MEMOIR Specimen Days, Walt Whitman captured the allure of America's Great Plains, noting that prairies, "while less stunning at first sight, last longer, fill the esthetic sense fuller, precede all the rest, and make North America's characteristic landscape." Visit Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, and you'll see what he meant. Situated amid the Flint Hills, the town is surrounded by the nation's largest stretch of remaining tallgrass prairie, a rolling landscape of bluestem and switchgrass, largely unchanged since Kaw and Osage Indians roamed here in the 1800s.

Cottonwood Falls itself is a ranching enclave (cattle outnumber humans ten to one) about 80 miles northeast of Wichita; the brick, two-story, ten-room Grand Central Hotel was built in 1884 and is enjoying a renaissance, including having its grill named Best Beef Restaurant in 2001 by the Kansas Beef Council for serving the state's finest premium-choice steak.

Grand Central Hotel
800-951-6763, www.grandcentralhotel.com.
Doubles start at $140, breakfast included.
We explored the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve—four miles up the road and second only to your average rainforest in its variety of plant and animal species. We scratched the dirt for collared lizards, horny toads, and dung beetles, and uncovered a piece of worked flint, possibly from the 1860s. True, the prairie may not have the in-your-face grandeur of Yosemite or Yellowstone, but ten months after our visit, I can still hear wind rustling through the tallgrass.

Next Page: Turtle Beach Inn, Florida

Talkeetna, Alaska | Klamath Falls, Oregon | Big Sky, Montana | Brooksville, Maine | Bracebridge, Ontario | Moab, Utah | Groton, Vermont | Shafter, Texas | Cottonwood Falls, Kansas | Port St. Joe, Florida
Find Rates
find flightsfind hotelsfind cars
From City name or airport code
To City name or airport code
Leave
calendar
Return
calendar
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
OrbitzTravelocity
ExpediaCheapTickets
HotwireKayak
SidestepPriceline
CostJet

Where City name or airport code
Check in
calendar
Check out
calendar
Guests


Rooms
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
OrbitzHotels.com
TravelocityExpedia
CheapTicketsHotwire
KayakSidestep
Priceline
Pick-up City
airport code
Pick-up date
calendar		Time
Drop-off City
airport code
Drop-off date
calendar		Time
Find Rates

A new window will open for each site. Please disable popup blockers.
orbitz.comcheaptickets.com
hotwire.compriceline.com
search
advertisement
Subscribe to Outside Magazine!
advertisement
Crocs Inspiring Soles
special featrues

Gear Spotlight: Adventure Electronics
Our esteemed Gear Guy hones in the FAQs of the digital world in this exclusive archive.
The Green Issue
Earth Day may fall in April, but global awareness should be a 365-day concern. Let us help you stay focused.

Vacation Packages

More Travel Deals
  • Save 50% on packages to thousands of destinations
  • Thanksgiving flights from $166
  • Last Minute Deals for travel this weekend or next
  • Ski destinations packages from $181
Sign up for our Travel Deals Newsletter

More From Outside Online

Outside August 2008

  • Best Towns
  • Jeff Lowe
  • Burma Cyclone
  • Triathlon Training

Special Issues

  • 2008 Summer Buyer's Guide
  • 2008 Winter Buyer's Guide
  • Outside Blog
  • Unsolved Mysteries

Outside July 2008

  • Andy Roddick
  • Fitness Special
  • Summer Road Trips
  • Canadian Adventures

Online Exclusives

  • Spooky Spots and Terrible Tales
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Outside June 2008

  • Malia Jones
  • Weekend Escapes
  • Satellite Radio
  • Joe Papp

Online Favorites

  • Outside Gear Blog
  • Gear Guy
  • Fitness Q&A
  • Adventure Adviser

Outside May 2008

  • Anderson Cooper
  • Best Jobs 2008
  • Surf Genius
  • Russell Brice

Outside Classics

  • Into Thin Air
  • The Whale Hunters
  • Raising the Dead
  • The Long Way Home


Vacation Ideas from The Away Network

Outside's Best Towns 2008

  • Crested Butte, CO
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Portsmouth, NH
  • Washington, DC
  • Rest of the Best

Gay-Friendly Vacation Guides

  • Asia
  • Europe
  • South America
  • United States
  • All Vacation Destinations

Best Fall Foliage

  • Black Hills National Forest
  • Glacier National Park
  • Great Smoky Mountains
  • Monongahela National Forest
  • Shenandoah National Park

Trip-Planning Tools

  • Cheap Flights 101
  • Cheap Hotels 101
  • Compare Rates
  • Travel Insurance Tips
  • Vacation Rentals Index

Top Scenic Drives

  • California's Deserts
  • Mountain Tours
  • Upstate New York
  • Weekend Road Trips
  • See All Drives

GORP's Fall Outdoor Guides

  • Where to Camp
  • Where to Fish
  • Where to Hike
  • Where to Mountain Bike
  • All Fall Guides

GORPTravel Trips

  • Active Resorts
  • Horses & Riding
  • Nature Observation
  • Culinary Tours
  • Volunteer Vacations

Fall Travel Guides

  • Active Travel
  • Cultural Travel
  • Outdoor Travel
  • Romantic Travel
  • All Monthly Travel Guides


  • Home |
  • Travel |
  • Gear |
  • Bodywork |
  • Culture |
  • Videos |
  • Podcasts |
  • Photos |
  • Archives |
  • Feedback |
  • RSS Feeds |
  • Subscribe to Outside Magazine |
  • Join/Login




  • About Outside |
  • Advertise |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Subscription Services |
  • Sponsorship Policy |
  • Outside Info |
  • Site Map |
  • Press Room

  • Outside Magazine Media Kit |
  • Photo Department |
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Contact Us |
  • Contributor's Guidelines
Partner Sites:
  • Away.com |
  • GORP.com |
  • Orbitz |
  • Cheaptickets |
  • ebookers |
  • HotelClub.com |
  • RatesToGo.com |
  • asia-hotels.com |
  • Outside's Go

©1994-2008 Mariah Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of material from any pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.