Curious minds who love learning about wildlife will appreciate the abundance of indoor nature centers in Kansas. Each one is unique, yet all offer visitors an affordable (sometimes free!) way to explore topics about regional ecosystems and animals year-round.
For families, nature centers are the go-to destinations for bringing kids, as many attractions include tactile exhibits designed for youth. You can scroll to the bottom of this post to learn about Kansas museums featuring exhibits and dioramas about nature.
I’ve visited all of the mentioned nature centers and wholeheartedly recommend them.
Indoor Nature Centers to Explore Year-Round in Kansas
Milford Lake Nature Center – Junction City
Open seven days a week, Milford Nature Center is a draw for its living animals and hands-on interactive exhibits. The indoor center has a main room with educational stations, retail gift shops, and several live animals inside aquariums. During repeated visits, I’ve found myself watching the bunnies and the prairie dogs at play.
In addition, winding hallways with dioramas showcase 300 fish, amphibians, and insects from the state’s marshes, prairies, and woodlands.
PRO TIP: Pack hiking shoes. If weather permits, take a nature walk along the Tallgrass Trail, a scenic 1.5-mile loop with views of a pond and natural prairie. Walkers gain access to an open-air pathway leading to learning stations.
Ernie Miller Park & Nature Center – Olathe
Don’t miss an opportunity to explore Ernie Miller Park & Nature Center in the Northeast corner of the state. Available to visitors seven days a week, with trails open daily from dawn to dusk, the center is a premiere destination for nature lovers.
The center’s hallway includes two enclosed classrooms, one housing an owl and the other a hawk. At the end of the hallways, a 500-gallon aquarium is filled with native stream fish. Visitors of all ages will appreciate an exploratory room devoted to learning about animal lifecycles.
PRO TIP: Sit and relax in the bird-watching room, a space with children’s books worthy of an afternoon read.
Kansas Wetlands Education Center – Great Bend
Kansas Wetlands Education Center is worth the short drive outside Great Bend to the Cheyenne Bottoms. Bring the entire family to enjoy walk-through exhibits highlighting the state’s ecosystems, which illustrate how they’ve evolved from the days of its earliest inhabitants to today. Kids will love the illuminated floor display.
Classrooms located in the rear of the building include dozens of aquariums housing snakes, insects, and waterfowl taxidermy.
PRO TIP: Bring binoculars if you plan on driving designated roads to view waterfowl on a good weather day in the Cheyenne Bottoms.
Dillon Nature Center – Hutchinson
The Dillon Nature Center welcomes nature enthusiasts seeking an outdoor escape via its 100 acres of walking paths and its indoor nature center. Open for self-guided tours seven days a week, indoor exhibits features tactile learning stations designed to engage youth.
If you’re inspired to shop the gift store, you’ll discover educational toys and merchandise ideal for outdoor adventurers.
Great Plains Nature Center – Wichita
Known for hosting educational events, the Great Plains Nature Center is an ideal place to explore on your own or with others any day of the year. I particularly enjoy standing in quiet observation of rehabilitated caged birds located near the welcome desk.
Koch Exhibit Hall includes 3,500 square feet of walk-thru displays with hands-on visual and auditory stations. Birdwatchers will appreciate the Bob Gress Wildlife Observatory for spotting native songbirds, deer, or turkey.
Don’t miss a chance to visit the Owl’s Nest gift shop before departing for home.
PRO TIP: If it’s a nice weather day, walk Chisholm Creek Park’s trails. Look for the Tunnel of Trees.
Bonus Nature Centers Worth Checking Out
I’ve visited all of the above nature centers, but there are a couple more I need to explore including Pratt Education Center and Southeast Kansas Nature Center. Each one is supported by the Department of Wildlife & Parks.
Kansas Museums Featuring Nature Exhibits
Kauffman Museum – Newton
Kauffman Museum sits just off of Interstate 135 across from Bethel College’s campus. While much of the museum is devoted to teaching about the town’s history and the Kansas Mennonite experience, a section of the museum includes animal taxidermy collected by the museum’s namesake.
The collection includes birds, wild animals, and Kansas native species. His collection of owls is particularly amazing, especially when in contrasted with big cats in close proximity.
Museum hours and admission fees
Sternberg Museum of Natural History – Hays
I can vouch first-hand that Sternberg Museum of Natural History is no ordinary attraction. The collections are impressive in size and quality focusing on evolutionary science emphasizing the Great Plains.
Fossils, rocks, minerals, dinosaur bones, and aquariums with snacks, frogs, and bugs make touring the museum an immersive experience for all ages. A native Kansan, I loved the artifacts found in the Sunflower State, including massive geodes and crystals.
PRO TIP: Animatronic dinosaurs and life-size taxidermy may frighten the museum’s youngest visitors, so prepare your self-guided tour accordingly.
Museum hours and admission fees
KU Natural History Museum – Lawrence
Situated on the University of Kansas campus, I’ve visited the KU Natural History Museum multiple times to view an array of exhibits focuses on planet, specifically the Great Plains. One of my favorite exhibits is the Bee Tree display behind glass and the reptiles section of the museum.
Ignite your curiosity on a self-guided tour of mammal skulls and taxidermy ranging from Arctic animals and the Rocky Mountains to the rain forest and the Kansas prairie.
Museum hours and admission fees
PRO TIP: Parking is available in a nearby public garage. It is a short walk to the museum.
Open year-round, Kansas nature centers offer visitors an opportunity to learn about native plants and animal species.
Is there a Kansas nature center that I left off this list that you’d recommend? Please leave your suggestion in the comments to add to my travel bucket list.
Bonus: Cross the Missouri border to experience 
K18 Café
Bonus: Although the following restaurants are not located at an airport, each restaurant’s interior is designed with aircraft in mind: 
Committed to adopting out the cats in their care through a strict vetting process, I was impressed with the store’s mission to provide cats and book lovers with a space where they can get to know one another.
You’ll quickly be impressed by the high-quality selections as you peruse the bookcases. Of course, my eyes darted right to the cookbooks and travel guides, but I also found myself gazing at the rest of the gently-used books. The backend of the story is dedicated to the littlest shoppers, while the rest of the store stocks books for all ages.
Open since 2015, the store is operated as a non-profit with the hope of connecting people with the resources they need. Within moments of my visit, I spotted books and supplies for every age. Parents with children in tow will appreciate the dedicated kids’ section, which caters to their reading needs.
A haven for college students, the upstairs tables are typically occupied by college-aged scholars seated behind laptops. Downstairs, the register area doubles as a cafe.
Decorative ravens cut from paper dangle from a string overhead as shoppers choose their next read. Like any good indie bookstore, a couple of curious cats are known to greet customers.
Shoppers can expect a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles, and I was impressed to see several best-selling titles in stock. Are you on the hunt for a good read during a road trip? Do you have a young adult reader interested in a new book? You’ll find multiple genres at Seven Stories.
You’ll notice that they don’t carry just best-selling titles but also curate new books that might not be found elsewhere. For example, they stock a sizable selection of books by Indigenous authors, and the children’s book inventory is sizable.
But you’ll find more than books at Red Fern Booksellers. I was impressed to discover handmade gift wrap, stationery, puzzles, stickers, and handcrafted greeting cards. My visit ended perfectly when a butterfly greeted me as I exited the store, a delightful experience.
The café offers patrons a place to sit back and relax with a book or meet in small groups. During my visit, several locals met friends and colleagues at oversized tables with free Wi-Fi access. Other areas of the coffee house were dedicated to families with kids, and the back patio offered a quiet, more secluded place to unwind.
I particularly appreciate their local interest and Kansas history books, a modest section located on the second floor. In 2021, I was proud to see they stocked my first book and encouraged me to sign it when visiting.
In business since 1977, the store regularly hosts author signing events and book talks.
Also in Wichita, adults will appreciate 
In Andover, the entire family will find something to love at 
Outdoor landmarks worthy of touring include 
Other places to view well-known holiday light displays include 
You don’t have to be an experienced painter to appreciate the fun of adding paint to canvas at 
Hopefully, this list inspires you to add more delight to your Thanksgiving break spent with family. It’s the time of year when we’re reminded that quality time spent with family is important.
