This is a real boon for residents of this part of Kansas. These and their tributaries have been dammed at various points, both for flood control and for irrigation. Waterįour rivers cut through the Smoky Hills and contribute to the beautifully rugged topography: the Republican, the Saline, the Solomon, and the Smoky Hill.
Woodlands provide hiding places for warblers, beavers, and muskrats. Open water attracts eagles, ospreys, grebes, and sandhill cranes. The aquatic and wooded habitats available near reservoirs and streams showcase a different array of animals. At night, you might even be treated to the sight of a kangaroo rat crossing the road! Coyotes, mule deer, meadowlarks, and prairie chickens all call the Smoky Hills home. The mixed-grass prairie of this region hosts a large variety of wildlife species. Trees grow mainly along the rivers and streams. The mixed prairie of the Smoky Hills provides a transition between the tallgrass prairie of the east and the shortgrass prairie of the west. Sand, silt, clay, and loam are all represented somewhere in the Smoky Hills. The Smoky Hills to the east: Formed out of sandstone and characterized by unusual concretions such as Mushroom Rocks.The Blue Hills in the middle: Primarily limestone, historically used for fence posts and often containing fossils.The Chalk Buttes to the west: Made up of chalk and containing spectacular fossils and formations such as Monument Rocks.GeologyĪs already mentioned, the Smoky Hills is characterized by three geologically separate bands of hills: The eastern band is also called the Smoky Hills, a beautiful range of sandstone hills probably called “smoky” because of the haze always on the horizon on a warm summer day. The middle band is the Blue Hills, more familiarly known as Post Rock Country because the early settlers in this area used long blocks of limestone as fence posts in the absence of trees. The western band is the Chalk Buttes, a relatively flat area compared to the other two, but with geological surprises that give it a charm all of its own. The Smoky Hills region, occupying the north-central part of Kansas, consists of three separate bands of hills running from southwest to northeast.
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