You think Kansas is nothing but endless brown vistas of stinky ass cows?
You are very wrong.
Located in southwestern Kansas, Monument Rocks is perhaps the most mysterious and beautiful pile of dirt you will find on this planet.
Monument Rocks is also known as “The Chalk Pyramids”, and they are located in Gove county Kansas, about 30 miles south of the Interstate 70 town of Oakley.
In order to reach the rocks, you must drive down a harsh gravel road for about five miles, but it is completely worth vibrating your teeth out of your face.
Next to The Rocks
After trekking through this otherwise empty expanse, we pulled up to the rocks and were amazed at how comparatively large they were compared to every other facet of the surrounding desolate Kansas environment.
The rock formations reach as high as 70 feet into the air, making them an incredible oddity in the middle of the Kansas shortgrass prairie.
The Honda next to Monument Rocks
Touching the Rocks
I’m not sure if I was supposed to do this (probably not), but I touched the rocks.
It would seem that they are not rocks at all, but giant pancake stacks of magic dirt.
Some fine dirt powder fell from the wall, and I easily pulled a golf ball sized clump of rock/dirt/protected monument from the massive monolith.
When I attempted to feel the rock in my hand, it simply collapsed into dust and blew away in the wind. But how!
Touching the Rocks
Magic Formation
These very narrow but tall columns of dirt have allegedly existed for 80 million years.
Somehow, they have stood here without being blown down, washed away, *or* trampled by any number of prehistoric or current animals, humans, or aliens.
How?
I had never seen the name “Chalk Pyramids” until I started writing this, however the internet tells us that these rocks are more like chalk than anything else.
The rocks are actually carbonate deposits that were placed in the Western Interior Seaway, which ran through present day North America.
On that note, this was the first natural landmark chosen by US Dept of Interior to become a National Natural Landmark
Discovering the Rocks
Monument Rocks on the Map
Despite our endless search for all of the special features across the USA, this was one of a few places I had never heard of until I saw it on my Imus USA Wall map.
Given the many weeks I have spent driving in circles around the great state of Kansas, it was shocking to me we had never even seen a sign for this wonder.
It was a only a 30 minute drive from Interstate 70 to the entrance of the monument, and after around ten minutes of teeth vibrating fun, we were up close and personal.
It was quite an experience to be next to and practically inside of this magical monument, located in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Moments like this on special piece of Earth are very subtly spiritual.
Have you ever discovered a lost geological feature? Perhaps a historical artifact in your town or neighborhood that no one else knows about?
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