Rock City Park in Ottawa County, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Rock City Park, a National Natural Landmark, comprises over 200 giant concretions southwest of Minneapolis, Kansas, in Ottawa County. One of the most interesting natural curiosities in the State, the City of Rocks has been a part of the Kansas landscape for millions of years. Furthermore, the City of Rocks has become an integral part of the area’s history and gained notoriety long before Kansas became a State or Ottawa County was established.
Located on hillsides overlooking the Solomon River and within sight of the Smoky Hills, the area is unique because no other spot on the globe can lay claim to so many sandstone concretions. In an area about the size of two football fields, there are 200 giant sandstone boulders ranging up to 20 feet in diameter. Some of the rocks are hollow on the inside. It once consisted of several hundred round and oval-shaped rocks, half of which were perfectly preserved. The remainder are broken, and the fragments are somewhat scattered.
Rock City Park in Ottawa County, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
These large, spherical boulders are calcite-cemented concretions, typically referred to as “cannonball concretions” due to their distinctive shape. They range in diameter from 9.8 feet to 19.7 feet, with the average diameter being 12 feet. These large rocks lie 6.6 feet to 26.2 feet apart. The material is a white, flinty sandstone that occurs in thin layers or scales.
Geologists believe the rocks formed millions of years ago in the Dakota Sandstone, deposited when an inland sea covered parts of Kansas. As the seawater receded, groundwater with dissolved calcium carbonate seeped through the porous sandstone, cementing the sand grains together. Over time, spherical concretions grew larger until erosion from wind, rain, and floods exposed many of them, leaving some partially embedded with only their rounded tops visible.
Similar giant calcite-cemented concretions have also been found in a quartzite quarry within Lincoln County to the west. However, the specimens are not so numerous nor so perfectly preserved. Similar but more irregularly shaped Dakota sandstone concretions can be seen at Mushroom Rock State Park in Ellsworth County, Kansas. More similar-age sandstones have also been found in Utah and Wyoming.
An old Native American legend, the origin of which is unknown, describes the rocks as Thunderbird eggs. It was first published in detail in the Minneapolis Better Way and then later by the Topeka Daily Capital in August 1898:
Thunderbird.
“When the white people first came to this country, the Indians were pleased with their visit, but when they began to carry away their children in their great ships, and steal their hunting grounds, the chief became alarmed. Messages were sent to all of the great Chiefs, and a council was called for all of the tribes. Those who were at war buried their hatchets during the time of the Great Council, and their Chiefs joined together towards the center of their land. They came from the shoulders of the broad Atlantic and the land of the setting sun. They journeyed over the mountains and plains, through the forests and valleys until at last they met, one and all, on the site of the present Rock City. However, the great rocks were not there at that time. Oh no! For three days and three nights, they called to the Great Spirit to help them drive the Pale Face away. At length, the Great Spirit came and, in sorrowful tones, told them that the time had come when they must give up their Happy Hunting Grounds to the Pale Faces from over the sea. They were told that these new people were restless and strong and would soon sweep across their fair land from ocean to ocean, and the sons of the forest must bow to the will of their Pale Face brothers. But, the Sons of the Forest were not disposed to bow tamely, and after conferring among themselves, they told the Great Spirit that they intended to drive the intruders from the land. Then it was that the Great Spirit became angry with his people and declared that the people from over the sea should break up their wigwams and make their hunting grounds one of the great nations under the sun. Then, as a reminder of his words, the Great Spirit took the great round rocks from his own Happy Hunting Ground and placed them between the oceans. Those who came to the Great Council were told that when the winds rolled the great rocks into the sea. The waves washed them into the sand and cast them upon the shore, then would the Pale Face return to his home across the water. But, long before that time, the Indian would be a race of the past. A maiden daughter of one of the Great Chiefs humbled herself before the Great Spirit. She pleaded so elegantly for her people that the Great Spirit relented and promised life to those that the new people would teach, and not only life but that their blood should flow into the veins of some of the greatest of the Pale Face chiefs. Then the Great Spirit withdrew from the Council, leaving the rocks as a token of his visit, and the Indians, after vainly trying to scatter the rocks, returned sadly to their tribes.”
Until the 1960s, the rocks were privately owned and served as nothing more than an obstacle course for grazing cattle herds. In the late 1960s, a local non-profit group purchased the portion of the pasture that included the rocks and converted it into a tourist attraction.
Rock City was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1977.
Today, the area is neatly manicured and attracts more than 10,000 tourists annually from around the world.
The park also has interconnecting mowed trails that wander through native grasses and wildflowers. There is a small admission fee, which is used to maintain the park.
Rock City Park in Ottawa County, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
The park is open from dawn till Sunset year-round. The gift shop is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., March through August.
The “City of Rocks” is two and a half miles southwest of Minneapolis at 1051 Ivy Road.
More Information:
Rock City, Inc.
1051 Ivy Road
Minneapolis, Kansas 67467
(785) 392-2092 or (785) 392-4731
Also See:
Sources:
Hutchison News
Kansas Geological Survey
Live Science
Travel Kansas
Wikipedia