Be sure to visit www.santafetrail.org/geocaching to learn about the PASSPORT ACTIVITY to accompany this Geo Tour. Containers on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail Geo Tour are military ammunition canisters, or Brochure-Holder boxes, with an identifying Santa Fe Trail Association yellow sticker on the top of the box, under the handle and the dark green geocaching.com ID is on the side of the boxes with the information that provides coordinates, who set the cache and who to contact for information. Each cache contains a logbook to sign, a variety of items that provide information about the Santa Fe Trail as well as swag items. If you are participating in the Passport activity, the code word is located on the inside of the box, on the top of the lid and is clearly identified as Code Word. Permission to set caches has been obtained. We ask that all cachers please respect all property at the sites where our caches are set. The Cimarron National Grassland offers a unique opportunity to vist a long portion of the Santa Fe Trail, as well as two popular sites on the Trail--Middle Springs and Point of Rocks (Morton County). Middle Spring is 8 miles north of Elkhart on Kansas Highway 27, and about 1 mile west on a dirt road through Cimarron National Grassland to a small enclosed park on the north side of the road. After Lower Spring, Middle Spring was the next reliable water source for travelers in the Cimarron Valley. This made it a major stopping point and campsite on the Santa Fe Trail. This Point of Rocks is 8 miles north of Elkhart on Kansas 27 and 1.5 miles west on a dirt road through Cimarron National Grassland. It was a lookout along the Cimarron Valley for both Indians and traders, with one branch of the trail running between the rocky area and the river. This landmark remains as it was during the trail era, and it is still surrounded by grasslands, where wagon ruts can be seen.
The Cimarron National Grassland was a finalist for the 8 Wonders of Kansas because...of its early pioneering advancements in conservation, because it contains the longest publicly-owned section of the historic Santa Fe Trail, and because it features three ecosystems and has the only known outcrop of Jurassic-age rocks (150 million years old) in Kansas. To learn more about the 8 Wonders nomination, visit: http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/8wondersofkansas-view.php?id=23
SANTA FE TRAIL CONNECTION
Twenty-three miles of the Santa Fe Trail cut across the grassland. Two of the best known landmarks along the entire Santa Fe Trail are located here. Point of Rocks is a flat-topped outcrop of light gray rock that overlooks the Cimarron River Valley. In fact, it is the third highest point in the state at the elevation of 3,540 feet. It was used as a lookout by both Native Americans and settlers. +Middle Spring was one of the rare reliable sources of water in this area along the overland trail.
A 30-mile self-guided auto tour takes you along the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. See contact information below to obtain a brochure. If you don't want to follow the entire auto tour, take time to stop at the Santa Fe Trail sites of Middle Spring and Point of Rocks (turn west a half mile north of the Cimarron River bridge off K-27).
Contact: Cimarron National Grassland, sharilbutler@fs.fed.us. Get brochures at Cimarron National Grassland office east of Elkhart on U.S. 56 at 242 Highway 56 East. Website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/about-forest/districts/?cid=fsm9_032733