Great Plains Holidays & Accommodation
USA, North America
Not part of the typical vacationer's travel itinerary, these states have some unique sites and travel opportunities to offer the visitor. Whether it's sailing on the lakes of the Midwest, or caving in the numerous state parks, there are plenty of things to do that are off the beaten track, and you won't have to contend with hordes of fellow tourists. For those gourmets with a hankering for some great barbeque, this region, particularly Kansas and Missouri offers some spectacular barbeque restaurants, some of which refer to themselves as shacks. If you want great golf, there are sixteen eighteen-hole golf courses at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and if you want to rappel down the side of a canyon, you can go to Red Rock Canyon State Park near Hinton, Oklahoma.
Great Plains Holidays Planner
For some prime recreational vehicle and ATV opportunities, you can go to Little Sahara State Park near Waynoka, Oklahoma for a romp through the sand dunes there. On the first weekend after Easter, the park also hosts a unique competition, a snake hunt for Diamondback Rattlesnakes. The object of the competition is to capture live rattlesnakes and compete to see who has captured the heaviest specimen or the snake with the most 'buttons' on its rattle, remember to stand well back if you decide to attend this competition.
One thing that you can do in all these Midwest states is sail. In Iowa you can sail on Spirit Lake, in Kansas you can sail on the Cheney Reservoir, in Missouri you can sail the Lake of the Ozarks, and in Nebraska you can sail on the largest man-made lake of Lake McConaughy. Oklahoma has more shoreline than the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coasts combined, and you can sail the 59,000 acre Grand Lake of the Cherokees.
In Scott State Park in Kansas near Garden City, you can explore pueblo ruins as well as canoe and explore on horseback, or you can go to Dodge City and explore a Wild West town. In Nebraska there is Ponca State Park and Lake Ogalllala State Recreation Areas to visit for some natural scenery viewing opportunities, while in Sullivan, Missouri at Meramec State Park you can explore a fantastic network of caves and the wildlife they hold with columns that reach the ceiling over thirty feet above.
In Oklahoma you may want to visit Rush Springs during the Watermelon Festival in August or Watonga during the Cheese and Arts Festival in October for all things cheese. Or you may want to visit Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri, or take the shortest, steepest funicular railway at the Fenelon Place Elevator Company in Dubuque, Iowa.
For the urban explorer, you may want to visit the Kansas City Speedway, Missouri, or ride to the top of the gateway arch in St. Louis 600 feet in the air. In Kansas you can visit the town of Lindsborg, where residents maintain cultural ties to their Swedish ancestors to this day. In Oklahoma, you can explore the western music scene in the nightlife of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, or you can opt instead to buy concert tickets for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. In Lincoln, Nebraska you can visit the Haymarket Farmer's Market or the unique International Quilt Study Center and Museum, and in Des Moines, Iowa you can visit the Iowa State Fair or the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden to get some landscaping ideas for your yard at home.