Western Kansas towns are surrounded by land. Yet some communities have very few spaces to safely exercise and explore the outdoors.
While most of the land in this region is used for agriculture, residents of the area want designated spaces to connect with the arid plains. Those spaces also can improve community health and help rural economies.
In Scott City, a local community foundation is helping provide that by building trails for walking, running and biking.
“Out in western Kansas we're often limited on the things we can do,” said Ryan Roberts, executive director for the Scott Community Foundation, “you can make your community better by providing an alternative place to go, whether people are coming in or out of your community.”
The foundation helped build Happy Trails, a 4.3-mile walking trail that connects different parts of the town, like public parks. The trail is also used to host fitness events, like a community walk next month.
Building the trails is not as simple as putting down a sidewalk. Roberts said mapping out a walking path has taken years and cost about $1 million. The organization invested in solar lights to keep it well lit. It also had to navigate streets and railways.
The money came from a memorial that remembered the prominent Spencer family, who all died in a plane crash on their way to Topeka over 10 years ago.
Roberts said the trail was immediately popular.
“The community utilizes it all the time,” Roberts said, “whether it's just walking their dogs or riding their bikes.”
Walking can make a big difference for a person’s health. But in rural Kansas — where there are very few gyms, wellness centers and nature trails — it’s not that easy.
But the investment is likely paying off for the community’s health. Some studies show walking can reduce the risk of several age-associated diseases, like heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and dementia.
Elizabeth Burger works for the Sunflower Foundation, a state health organization. She said walking trails can also fulfill a community’s mental health needs.
“You don't even need to be exercising for your mental health to improve and your stress levels to drop,” Burger said.
The foundation has also given millions of dollars in grants for rural areas to establish new trails. The group hopes the trails can also help combat rural loneliness. Burger said isolation in the sparsely populated western side of the state can lead to poor mental health.
“A lot of times, Kansas towns don’t have amenities that offer a gathering place like senior centers and coffee shops,” Burger said. “A walking trail, even a simple one, can offer that place for social cohesion.”
The foundation also emphasizes towns that have trails and places for outdoor activity can more easily attract teachers and medical professionals, which rural towns often lack. That can help a rural town strengthen its economy by growing its population.
The trails can also appeal to outdoor enthusiasts on their way to Colorado through western Kansas, bringing tourism dollars to the area.Trail sports like running, cycling and wildlife observing can contribute billions of dollars to a state’s recreational economy, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.
“We have funded trails in another community, in Iola, and they claim they have personally recruited physicians and dentists that were sold because it was such a trail friendly city and they wanted that active lifestyle for their family,” Burger said.
The Sunflower Foundation is launching a website next month that maps out trails and outdoor opportunities in Kansas. The organizations also hopes to offer networking opportunities help more communities build trails in rural Kansas.
Calen Moore covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can email him at cmoore@hppr.org.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.
