All routes are tentative and subject to change depending on gravel conditions, construction, etc. Stay tuned to our Facebook page and website for any additional changes to the routes. Click on the links in the titles to see the full Ride with GPS routes.
Saturday
Route 1 – Gravel Short – Click Here for Full Route
Total Miles: 35
Elevation: +1220/-1221 ft
Route 2 – Gravel Long – Click Here for Full Route
Update: The long gravel route on Saturday was to be a 50 miler but 300 Road east of Council Grove is in very poor shape due to washouts and mud.
We are recommending not use 300 Rd and have altered the route on that side of town. Please download the modified 45 Mile Gravel Route, 25CW-Sat-G45, here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50880624
The new route is marked and route maps with cue sheets will be available. Sorry for the inconvenience but we wanted to get you the latest info as soon as possible.
See you in Council Grove!
Total Miles: 45
Elevation: +1619/-1619 ft
Notes on Saturday Gravel Routes
There are two gravel routes – 35 and 45 miles. [SEE UPDATE ABOVE FOR NEW 45 MILE ROUTE, NOT 50 MILES.]
Both routes leave Council Grove going west on Hwy 56. At about a half mile from the edge of town take a left onto gravel at Helmick Rd. When you turn onto Helmick Rd you are traveling on the Santa Fe Trail. The SF Trail was in use from 1821 until 1880 when the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad reached Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The trail was then abandoned as a long-distance route, but local traffic would still use the trail. Roads were eventually built to follow it such as Hwy 56 that runs through Council Grove.
Continuing west on Helmick Rd take a right at 1400 Rd and go north. In about a half mile you come across a sign marking a Santa Fe Trail crossing.
From there continue north to V Avenue and turn left. Take that west into Wilsey for the SAG.
After the SAG take 1800 Rd south out of Wilsey. In about a quarter of a mile from the edge of town there will be another sign marking a Santa Fe Trail crossing. Stop there and look to the west just beyond the fence and you should be able to see SF Trail Ruts. They are more like rolling swales in the grass and very subtle to pick up. But this is one of the best places to see them.
Swales are usually lined up 8 or 9 feet wide and very deep. Wagon masters would use double and triple teams of oxen and mules for the trip across the plains and the heavy freight wagons would cut deep tracks into the earth.
Think of these as the “big rigs” of their day carrying commerce. Even when railroads first started to cross the area, a larger tonnage of goods could still be transported by fleets of wagons and teams.
Continue south to Z Avenue and then turn left. Continue east for about 3 miles and then south on 1500 Rd. In two miles you will turn left and go east on BB Rd which becomes Four Mile Rd.
Ahead there are two small water crossings about a mile apart. One at Mile 20 and another at Mile 21.5. We are hoping for a dry weekend, but recent rains may require some caution at these crossings. If there is a route change needed, that will be covered in the rider meeting Friday night and the route will be updated on Ride with GPS.
Follow 4 Mile Rd until you reach the water stop at 1000 Rd.
Short Route
From 4 Mile Rd, take 1000 Rd north to 925 Rd and continue north on into Council Grove. This stretch should offer some nice views of the Flint Hills to the east.
Long Route
The long route will now be 45 miles instead of 50 due to washouts and mud. See message above.
Sunday
There will be a catered brunch in Strong City.
Gravel Route – Click Here for Full Route
Total Miles: 67
Elevation: +2794/-2795 ft
Notes on Sunday Gravel Routes
There is one gravel route for Sunday of 67 miles. But keep in mind that there are multiple points where you can mix and match your route for the day with partial segments on gravel and partial segments on road, if you wish.
Leaving Council Grove on 900 Rd, the route passes by the Father Padilla Monument. You can see it on the hilltop to the west.
As the road curves south there should be a roadside sign that tells the tale of how Father Padilla traveled with Coronado and became the “the first American Martyr” in 1542.
More about Father Padilla:
Father Padilla
From there, 900 Rd becomes 925 Rd and then take a left at X Ave. Follow that as it becomes 1000 Rd going south. At 4 Mile Rd take a right and you are on pavement for about 3 miles until you reach Z Ave. Take a right on Z Ave and travel west to 1400 Rd then take a left to go south. Follow that to CC Ave and turn left. Go to 1300 Rd and turn right and then left onto DD Avenue. Take that east to the intersection of Hwy 177 and the SAG will be across the highway.
Go east from the SAG for a few yards and then turn south on 1000 Rd and then go east on FF Ave. This road curves to the right and becomes V Rd. Take that all the way south where you will cross Hwy 50 and then right onto 220 Rd. Take a left at U Rd to Old Hwy 50 and then go west on into Strong City for brunch at St Anthony’s Catholic Church.
After brunch follow the route south into Cottonwood Falls to see the falls and the historic Victorian courthouse at the south end of the Broadway St.
More on the history of Cottonwood Falls:
Cottonwood Falls History
More on the history of Strong City :
Strong City Community History
Strong City Flint Hills Scenic Byway
The return to Strong City and to the SAG is the same route you came in on. At Strong City take a right on 4th St. and go east on Old Hwy 50, left on U Rd, right on 200 Rd and then left on V Rd. Follow that around to the left onto FF Ave, then right on 1000 Rd.
This will take you back to the SAG at DD Rd & Hwy 177. After the SAG go a few yards east and take 850 Rd north until it intersects with Hwy 177. Take the highway north for about a mile then turn left onto 4 Mile Rd. Travel west for about a half mile then turn right onto 925 Rd. Continue north on 925 Rd which becomes 900 Rd and on into Council Grove.
Monday
A catered lunch will be served after the ride at Council Grove High School.
Route 1 – Gravel Short – Click Here for Full Route
Total Miles: 40
Elevation: +1037/-1040 ft
Route 2 – Gravel Long – Click Here for Full Route
Total Miles: 50
Elevation: +1728/-1728 ft
Route 2 Alternate – Gravel Long (If Rain) – Click here for Full Route
Total Miles: 46
Elevation: +1288/-1288 ft
The 50-mile route on Monday contains about 3 miles of dirt road that could get muddy if we have recent rains. Below is an alternate route to bypass the low maintenance roads and stay on gravel.
Notes on Monday Gravel Routes
There are two gravel routes for Monday – 40 and 50 miles. Both will use the Flint Hills Nature Trail and both will pass Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park on the Flint Hills Nature Trail. The short route goes to the SAG at Basecamp Flint Hills in Allen, KS and back. The SAG for the long route will be in Americus.
Short Route – 40 Miles
The short route takes the Flint Hills Nature Trail to Basecamp Flint Hills at Allen and back. The trail is well maintained and consists of packed crushed limestone. Under normal conditions a road bike can navigate the trail easily. So even if you didn’t bring your gravel bike you should still be able to ride the trail to Allen and back.
This may not sound like a short route, but it is only about 20 miles to Allen from Council Grove on the Flint Hills Nature Trail. Allow at least two hours to reach Allen and another two to get back after the SAG stop. If you leave CG by at least 8 AM you should be back in CG by 12:30 pm– just in time for the box lunch at the High School.
The good news is it is mostly downhill on the return trip.
Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park
At about 4 miles into the short gravel route, you will come across the Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park at the intersection of the FHNT and 525 Rd. The site marks last Kaw (Kanza) Indian Village in Kansas prior to forced removal of the tribe to Oklahoma in 1873.
Give yourself some time to explore the area, which includes the remains of the Government Indian Agent’s home, the Monument to the Unknown Kanza Warrior on the hill and large emblems of the Kaw Nation stationed along the hiking trail in the park
The 158-acre Kaw Heritage Park is now owned and managed by the Kaw Nation from their offices in Oklahoma. Further plans to develop the park, include a visitor’s center and camping area.
History of the Sacred Rock
Also on display is a massive red Sioux Quartzite boulder that holds deep historical, cultural and spiritual meaning to the Kaw Nation.
The rock, known in geologic terms as an “erratic”, is believed to have been carved out during the ice age by a glacier from an area near the intersection of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa.
As the glacier advanced, it pushed the rock south. When the glacier receded, the boulder was deposited at what is now the confluence of the Kansas River and Shunganunga Creek near Topeka.
The Kaw undoubtedly knew the rock was not native to the region and that it was very special. They held spiritual gatherings near the rock for hundreds of years before white men came. Then during westward expansion, the rock would become a landmark for settlers and travelers moving up the Kansas River valley.
However, in 1929 the stone was taken by organizers from Lawrence and moved to a small park overlooking the Kansas River to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the city and as a tribute to the abolitionist founders of Lawrence. In 2021 the city of Lawrence formally apologized to the Kaw Nation for taking the rock and the massive stone was moved to Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park in 2024.
More info on the Park:
Allegawaho Park
Historic Council Grove
Park Map
More info on the Sacred Rock:
Sacred Red Rock at Council Grove
Sacred Red Rock
A sacred boulder stolen to honor Kansas settlers was finally returned to the Kaw Tribe
Long Route – 50 Miles
This route will head southeast out of Council Grove on paved Dunlap Rd for about 5 miles then turn south onto gravel at 400 Rd to reach Lake Kahola in about 7 miles.
This reservoir was built in 1937 to supply water to Emporia and is situated on an area that was once part of the Kanza Indian Reservation. The old Indian treaty boundary runs across the southern edge of the lake.
The border of Morris County to the north and Chase County to the south runs right down the middle of the lake from west to east.
Below the dam to the east is a series of waterfalls created by the spillway. These should be able to be viewed by continuing east of the dam on Kahola Rd. (Remember to return and cross the dam.) The lake is now privately owned by the Kahola Lake Community homeowner’s association. Direct access to the falls requires special permission from the HOA so you’ll have to stay on the road.
After crossing the dam and heading south for about 2 miles on Z Rd, the route then turns east on 290 Rd and heads toward Americus. At Americus there will be a self-SAG stop at Casey’s, although we also plan to have a Cottonwood 200 volunteer there with extra water and snacks.
Leaving north out of Americus, the route goes to the ghost town of Dunlap.
History of Dunlap
Dunlap was founded in 1869 by Joseph Dunlap, an Indian agent for the Kanza tribe. The town was situated on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway (MKT) also referred to as the KATY. In March 1874, a post office was opened, and the town was first called Hillsborough. The very next month, the name was changed to Dunlap. A man named Leonard Still established the first store in August which was just the third building erected in the town. The settlement then began to grow, and in 1875, it was incorporated.
In the spring of 1878, Benjamin “Pap” Singleton, a former slave who escaped to freedom in 1846, chose Dunlap as a place to relocate numerous freedmen known as “Exodusters.” In May, the freedmen came by the hundreds from the post-Reconstruction South to seek homesteads in what was called the Singleton Dunlap Farm Colony.
In the beginning, African-Americans were forced to attend different schools and have their own churches and cemetery. In 1880, the Presbyterian Church founded the Freedmen’s Academy of Kansas in Dunlap to provide an education to African-American settlers. In 1882 the Academy served 90 male and 85 female students, of whom 45 were listed as ex-slaves.
Dunlap’s population peaked in 1890 with 408 residents. In the early years of the 20th century, Dunlap experienced a building boom. A large attractive stone city hall was built on Main Street, and two new brick schools – a grade school and a four-year high school – were constructed. During the 1910s Dunlap had a department store, grocery store, a Farmers Union Co-op, drug store, an opera house, a funeral parlor, restaurants, a blacksmith shop, a car dealership, two filling stations, two banks, a livery barn, a mercantile company, and a hotel for visitors arriving at the KATY Depot.
By 1910, the population of the town was about 333 and its location on the Neosho River, in the midst of rich agricultural land, made the community an important shipping point for portions of Morris, Chase, and Lyon Counties.
After World War I, black children began attending integrated schools in Dunlap, and segregation subsided long before it did in the rest of the country. In 1920 there were two black churches and several white churches. A stone quarry was nearby, and regular passengers and freight traveled along the railroad, providing a demand for labor and shipping.
During the Great Depression the town began to decline, and its bank failed. Afterward, people began to leave the community to search for jobs in larger cities. Numerous floods from the Neosho River also put a strain on the community and the population dropped to 219 by 1940.
The KATY Railroad ended its passenger traffic through Dunlap in 1952, eventually tearing up their tracks in 1957. By 1960, the population had dropped to 134. The high school closed in 1962, and the grade school, damaged by a storm that ripped off its roof, closed in 1978. In the meantime, the buildings along Main Street were torn down, and now nothing remains. The high school was torn down somewhere along the line, but the 1918 gymnasium remains, which is maintained by the Volunteer Fire Department. The Dunlap post office closed in 1988.
The last black resident in Dunlap, London A. Harness, died on April 27, 1993, and was the last person to be buried in Dunlap African American cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The earliest burials in the cemetery date to 1880. Some of the oldest headstones are merely simple rocks in the ground.
Route Continues North
Leaving Dunlap going east on 1st St and the left on Rd A you will find the African American cemetery in about a half mile.
Continue north and then right on Rd 300. Take a left and go north on Rd B then left at Rd 310. At 200 Rd take a right. A water stop is planned there at the intersection of 200 Rd and the FHNT. Take the FHNT west back towards Council Grove. When the trail crosses Rd 525 you can make a stop at Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park which is just a few yards to the north. (See details about the park in the summary for the Short Route above.)
Leaving the park and continuing west on the FHNT it will be about 4 miles back into Council Grove.
Cottonwood Road & Gravel 200 