Flint Hills Trail State Park is extending.
The Kansas Department of Transportation is starting work soon on a Transportation Alternatives project to extend the park by over two miles in Franklin County west of Ottawa. Three existing bridges will be improved. A new 10-foot-wide multi-use trail and pedestrian bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad will be added.
Flint Hills Trail State Park was established in 2018 and follows the rail-banked corridor of what once was the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It extends from Osawatomie to west of Council Grove, with trail heads at Admire, Bushong and Council Grove in the KVOE listening area, but it isn’t continuous along its nearly 120-mile path. The extension near Ottawa means there will be 93 miles of continuous trail for cyclists and pedestrians.
