February 12, 2012
Castle Rock and Monument Rocks are two different formations in Gove County, Kansas. Different; but, the same--at least so far as what they are and how they were formed.
Neither is a park. Both are on private land.
Kansas
Quinter, Kansas bills itself as the gateway to Castle Rock. I doubt that this pulls many cars off I-70, but you never know. The formations are about twenty miles south of the town.
I'll be visiting Monument Rocks first thing tomorrow morning, then Castle Rock.
Monument Rocks is south of Oakley. You'll pass these smaller formations about five miles before reaching them.
Monument Rocks. Of course, there's really no "Rock" about them. If not for the protective cap, they'd erode much faster than they already are. Monument Rocks are a "National Natural Landmark."
Taking a county road to the north.
You will not find the community of Orion on any highway map.
The 1912 edition of the Kansas Cyclopedia says Orion had a population of thirty people in 1910 and that it has a money order post office and daily mail.
Gove, Kansas is the county seat of Gove County.
The dirt road to Castle Rock is a bit more primitive.
The tracks were deep enough that I thought it best to straddle the wheels across them to avoid dragging the center.
The Castle Rock formations are larger than the Monuments, but don't stand alone. It's more evident, here, that they are being formed by the erosion of the bluff (as I'm sure was the case with Castle Monuments many years ago).
The stubby bit to the right in this formation was the tallest just ten years ago (and was the singular Castle Rock that gave its name to the entire formation). A strong storm brought it down in 2001.
Yes; that's snow. It was very cold and very windy.
Utica, Kansas.
Ness City, Kansas.
