Enjoy the Scenery

Our region is blessed with so many beautiful places that picking the best is a hard task. Near Downtown Kansas City is Richard l. Berkley Riverfront park. it offers a wide paved trail and a clear  view of the river as it passes under the Heart of America and Kit Bond bridges.  

Nelson Island in the Mill Creek Streamway Park displays the confluence of Mill Creek and Kaw River.  It is on the northern portion of the Gary l. Haller Trail  and is accessed from the Wilder Drive trailhead in Shawnee, KS.  The rest of the 17-mile park can be explored from this and other trailheads listed at  jcprd.com/park_facilities/mill_creek.cfm.

William M. Klein park (aka Cave Spring pPark) in Raytown is enchanting. The trails are like a maze in  which the cave, spring, waterfall and building remains  can be discovered.

Travel a little farther north and Parkville, MO, awaits with English Landing Park and Parkville Nature Sanctuary to enjoy. The park is located right next to the Missouri River, and the sanctuary, which is a short drive away, features a waterfall, wetland and bottom-land forest.  

Our family visits Weston Bend state park in Weston, Mo, every fall for one of the most beautiful overlooks in the area. Trails wind through forested loess hills and  down to the Missouri River. The glacial Hills scenic Byway in Kansas makes for a great day trip. it starts in Ft. Leavenworth and follows K-7 to White cloud. There the Four-state lookout displays a view of four states at once! The lookout is one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas geography nominations. The byway passes through forested hills and plains. The many historic locations that can be explored on the way are a bonus.

Heather Shields is a Kansas City native and local science teacher.