Denver to Wichita road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops
The distance from Denver to Wichita by car is 520 miles, with a 7h26m driving time. The best road trip stops along the Denver to Wichita drive are Fort Hays, the Prairie Museum and Mushroom Rock State Park.
Planning a Denver to Wichita road trip
A Denver to Wichita road trip takes you from Colorado’s Mile High City to the biggest city in Kansas.
Top Denver experiences include Rocky Mountain National Park day tours, downtown Denver food tours and chilling guided ghost walks around the Cheeseman Park cemetery.
Good things to do in Wichita include the Museum of World Treasures, the Exploration Place Science Museum and the Great Plains Transportation Museum.
Denver to Wichita distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Denver to Wichita is 520 miles. That makes for a driving time of around seven hours and 26 minutes. The quickest route is mainly along the I-70 and I-135.
The best stops to add to a Denver to Wichita road trip itinerary are the Fort Hays Historic Site, the Prairie Museum and Mushroom Rock State Park.
Fort Hays State Historic Site
Fort Hays – originally called Fort Fletcher – was built to protect pioneers travelling along the Santa Fe Trail and Smoky Hill Trail. In reality, Indian attacks weren’t really a problem here, but the well-stocked military garrison made for a rowdy frontier town.
The fort is still partially standing, and a visit tells tales of major Wild West names that found themselves in Hays, Kansas. These include General Custer, Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill.
The Prairie Museum
The collection at the Prairie Museum of Art and History in Colby, Kansas, is eclectic but not especially gripping. You can expect dolls, ceramics, furniture and plenty of local history.
Where the museum comes into its own is the outdoor section, where a succession of old buildings have been brought together. The two main highlights are the cute little church and the absolutely enormous barn, which is proudly billed as the biggest barn in Kansas.
Mushroom Rock State Park
A short detour to the south between Salina and Kanopolis, Mushroom Rock State Park is small but pleasingly weird
A series of rock formations sprout out the ground with narrow bases and bigger, bulging tops. They look like mushrooms, and are the remains of beaches from the Cretaceous period.
These mushroom rocks have long been a meeting place for Native American people.
More Denver road trips
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More Wichita road trips
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