This is a dense itinerary – you can lengthen the time and have a more relaxed trip.
Day 1:
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- From Dallas area, drive to Oklahoma City
- Tour Cowboy Museum
- See bronze Oklahoma Land Run Monument in downtown OKC
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Overnight in Oklahoma City
Day 2:
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- Chisolm Trail Museum (Kingfisher, OK)
- Cherokee Strip Museum (Perry, OK)
- Little House on the Prairie — OPTIONAL
We had read the book series the year before so wanted to go here.
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Overnight in southeast Kansas
Day 3:
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- Fort Scott National Historic Site (on KS-MO border)
- Marais des Cygnes Bleeding Kansas massacre site (NW of Pleasanton)
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Overnight in Kansas City
Day 4:
KANSAS CITY: (morning)
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- Arabia Steamboat Museum
- Historic Kansas City Union Station
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INDEPENDENCE, MO: (afternoon)
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- National Frontier Trails Museum
(near spring where pioneers camped while preparing to head west) - Upper Independence Landing — PICNIC HERE
(where pioneers deboarded steamship heading west) - Follow Oregon Trail to Lawrence, KS
**use auto-tour interpretive guide found online
- National Frontier Trails Museum
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Overnight in Lawrence, KS
NOTE: The National WWI Museum in Kansas City is amazing. We had already seen it twice so we did not add that to this trip. If you have not seen it, make plans to go!
Day 5:
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- Watkins Museum of History (Lawrence, KS)
(about bleeding Kansas) - Constitution Hall (Lecompton, KS)
- Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site (Topeka, KS)
- Watkins Museum of History (Lawrence, KS)
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Overnight in Topeka
Day 6:
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- Kansas Museum of History (Topeka, KS)
- Great Overland Station ~~ OPTIONAL
- Kansas Capitol ~~ OPTIONAL
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Overnight in Topeka
Day 7:
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- Follow Oregon Trail (use auto-tour interpretive guide)
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- St. Mary’s
- Cholera Cemetery at Red Vermillion Crossing
- St. Mary’s
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- Hollenberg Pony Express Station (Hanover, KS)
- National Orphan Train Complex (Concordia, KS)
- Geographic Center of US (just north of Lebanon, KS) ~~ OPTIONAL
- Follow Oregon Trail (use auto-tour interpretive guide)
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Overnight in Abilene, KS
Day 8:
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- Old Historic Abilene (end of Chisholm Trail)
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- cattle drive & wild west reenactments
- ride on Historic Steam Locomotive train
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- Drive to Council Grove, KS
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- Santa Fe Trail National Historic Landmarks along trail
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- Old Historic Abilene (end of Chisholm Trail)
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Overnight in Council Grove, KS
Day 9:
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- Follow Santa Fe Trail to Larned, KS (use auto-tour interpretive guide)
- picnic at Pawnee Rock Historic Site on Santa Fe trail
- Santa Fe Trail Center Museum (Larned, KS)
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Overnight in Larned, KS
Day 10:
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- Fort Larned National Historical Site
- Follow Santa Fe Trail to Dodge City, KS
- See Santa Fe Trail Tracks historic site (9 miles W of Dodge City)
** Watch video of aerial view of tracks **
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Overnight in Dodge City, KS
Day 11:
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- Drive to Canyon, TX
- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
- Palo Duro Canyon ~~ OPTIONAL
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Day 12:
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- Drive to Fort Worth
- Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District
- Log Cabin Village
- Pioneer Plaza & Bronze Cattle Drive Statues (Dallas, TX)
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