Monument Rocks aka Chalk Pyramids

Monday, May 9th - - Today was a very short driving day. Still heading west, I stopped in Scott City and spent about four hours at the library getting blog posts scheduled and checking weather forecasts for points west. By the time I left the library the temperature was a scorching 95 degrees and the van was like an oven. Driving westward, with the sun beating down on you, and with those high temperatures is not fun. At the library, I had also checked to see where the nearest Dodge dealer was – too far away. Instead, I went about 10 miles north to Scott Lake State Park and got a campsite for the night. In hindsight, I should have just stayed at the library for a few more hours!

Anyway, looking at the map I saw that a “point of interest” was about 25 miles northeast of the campground. Wanting to “do something” I drove on out to Monument Rocks, also known as Chalk Pyramids. They are visible from US-83, just barely, and if you know where to look. They are on private range land but the owners have made them open to the public and accessible via a 6-mile dirt/gravel road.

Designated as a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the 70-foot tall sedimentary formations were created 80 million years ago when this area was part of a vast inland sea. In 2007, the Kansas Sampler Foundation selected Monument Rocks as one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas. Wish I had found this website sooner- It looks like I missed out on many of the Wonders of Kansas!

There are two “groups” of rocks. These on the east side of the dirt access road and the ones below, on the west side of the road.

The “backside” of the hole in the wall, from the west side group.

For some reason, I found the eastern group to be more interesting.

As you walked around the formations, their character changed. The tall fellow on the left is the same formation that is on the right side of the previous photo.

Part of the eastern group as seen from the south side.

Am I imagining the smiling faces that I see in this group?

My camping site at Scott Lake State Park. Blessed shade and a wonderful breeze that was sometimes way too strong – it kicked up dust devils every now and then! There was a beautiful sunset - I watched the sky change colors as the sun descended below the horizon from the comfort of my campsite – I would have had to have driven outside the park to get a view clear of the trees. But it was a lovely sunset. You'll have to trust me on that!