Here in southwest Kansas where the "Wild West" began, beautiful grassland prairies, green fields of irrigated corn, and wide open spaces abound. Dodge City, the most famous southwest Kansas community, was nicknamed in the 1870s the "Wickedest Little City in America." Relive the Wild West era at museums, saloons, high-noon shootouts, and in a stagecoach, all where Wyatt Earp came to keep the peace.
The Wizard of Oz's Yellow Brick Road lives on in Liberal, and the 108,000-acre Cimarron National Grasslands near Elkhart is a complete ecosystem of native wildlife and plants and is the greatest outdoor experience in Kansas for campers, hikers, and hunters. Buffalo graze the prairie at Big Basin near Ashland and roam the Finney County Wildlife Area near Garden City. This area, which has a population of 220,000, is also a hub of agricultural industry.
There are 17 hospitals in southwest Kansas.