Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Sedan and Wamego, Kansas
Follow the Road to Oz – or highway 99 and Lincoln Avenue east of Manhattan, Kansas.
Follow it all the way to Wamego, Kansas, to the yellow brick road, which begins in City Park and ends across the street from the Oz Museum, Toto’s Tacoz and the Oz Winery.
Kimberly Shepherd, operations manager at the Oz Museum gift shop, said last year about 40,000 visitors from the United States and about 40 countries saw the Oz Museum. She said most of the time the visitors only knowledge of Kansas is from what they have seen in the classic film “The Wizard of Oz.”
Tornadoes and dusty farms are two myths perpetuated by those who have never visited Kansas except via Hollywood. Even so, Wamego residents boast about their Oz-related activities and consider them a source of pride to be in the state Dorothy called home.
Shepherd said Kansas has more to offer than tornadoes and farms.
“You could make a whole day of Oz in Wamego,” Shepherd said. “There’s the Oz Museum. A block south you have the Oz Winery. Across the street is the yellow brick road. There is Toto’s Tacoz, which is fabulous for lunch.”
Another myth is about the topography. People who have not been to Kansas tend to think the state is flat.
“They have not visited the Flint Hills which are absolutely breathtaking,” Shepherd said.
“There are parts of Kansas that are flat and dusty, but there are also areas of Kansas that are covered with rolling hills and the tallgrass prairie,” added Chris Glasgow, guest services at the Oz Museum.
Visitors who get out and explore will quickly discover those rolling hills and the events and attractions in the towns nestled among them.
Annually in September, the people of Wamego celebrate Oztoberfest. The three-day event includes kids’ activities, the Ruby Slipper Run, the Yellow Brick Road Bike Ride and a wine-tasting event in downtown Wamego.
The Oz Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children age 4 through 12. Children age 3 and under are free. Military Discounts are also available. For more information about group rates and exhibits, call 785-458-8686.
Visitors to Kansas can find more Oz inspiration in Sedan, near the Oklahoma-Kansas border. It’s about a 3.5 hour drive from Fort Riley. Visitors can find a yellow brick road with more than 11,000 golden bricks with names printed on them from every state and about 18 foreign countries. That road leads to boutiques and gift shops.
Since 1988, the road has been quite the attraction with about 45,000 visitors annually. A “celebrity section” of the road features bricks from several of the original Munchkins.
Nita Jones, tourism volunteer for Sedan, is known as the “yellow brick road lady” in the town of Sedan.
“We invite you to come and visit the World’s Longest Yellow Brick Road on the sidewalks of downtown historic Sedan,” she said. “We do guided tours or you are invited to tour on your own at your own pace.”
