Kansas

Capital: Topeka

Largest City: Wichita

Size Rank: 15th

Population Rank: 32nd

Admission to Union: 34th

Find the other caches in the series HERE.

The Cache Across America Series: This is a series of caches that will take you on a caching tour of the entire United States. One cache is hidden in each of the 50 states. These caches each contain a numeric clue that will lead you to one final cache located in our nation's capitol upon completion of the series.

About this cache: –Welcome to the Flint Hills! The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas, extending from Marshall County in the north, to Cowley and Chautauqua counties in the south. They were named by explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806 for the cobbles of flint-like chert that glinted through the tall prairie grasses. Sparsely populated, the Flint Hills contain most of the remaining tallgrass prairie in North America and has some of the largest cattle ranches in Kansas. The Flint Hills were created approximately 250 million years ago during the Permian Period. During this time much of the Midwest, including Kansas, was covered with shallow seas. As a result, much of the Flint Hills are composed of limestone and shale with plentiful fossils of prehistoric sea creatures. The most notable layer of chert-bearing limestone is the Florence Limestone Member. It is approximately 45 feet thick; numerous roadcuts of the Florence Member are prominent along Interstate 70 in Riley County. Many of the honey-colored limestones have been used for building blocks. The non-chert-bearing limetones are best for this, since the chert is extremely hard to cut, but yet it can fracture quite easily. Beginning in the mid-1800s homesteaders displaced the American Indians and vast herds of grazing buffalo with large cattle ranches. The largest city in the Flint Hills is Manhattan, KS. From the cache site you will be looking down on Manhattan, home of Kansas State University, from one of the highest points in the area. Among the notable sites to see are: *Tuttle Creek Dam and Reservoir to the northeast—one of the largest bodies of water in the state controls flooding of the Blue River Valley and beyond. *Colbert Hills Golf Course to the southwest—A world-class golf course designed by PGA professional and KSU alumnus Jim Colbert. *KS hill to the southeast—One of the other high points around Manhattan and the home of another (more difficult) cache than this one. *Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Bramlage Coliseum to the southeast—Home of the Kansas State (or K-State to the locals) University Wildcat football and basketball teams. The large white building with the Powercat logo is the indoor practice facility for KSU athletics.

Logging Requirements: Enjoy this cache as you would any other. If you are searching this cache as a participant in the Cache Across America series, please post a photo of yourself or a member of your group with the cache in your online log. If you for some reason are unable to meet the photo requirement, please make alternate arrangements to verify your find with the individual cache owner. There is no photo requirement for non-challenge participants.

Individual verification of all 50 state finds will be required before logging the series final.

If participating in the series, please take note of the three digit code located inside this cache. Save this code in a secure place. When you have visited all 50 caches, and have collected all 50 codes, you are welcome to seek and find the final cache! Good luck!