When: Thursday, September 8 to Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Where to Stay: Rocky Pond (Belleville, Kansas)
Cost: $20/night for full hook-ups
Biking: Blue River Trail (Marysville, Kansas)
Beer: Irrigation Ales (Courtland, Kansas) / Kansas Territory Brewing (Washington, Kansas)

One of the things we love about living in our RV on a full-time basis is the flexibility to visit family for significant chunks of time. We spent about three weeks in my hometown of Belleville in North Central Kansas in the fall of 2022. Even though I grew up in the area, I still like coming back to see those gorgeous Kansas sunrises and sunsets, to gawk at the sunflower fields, and to drive out to the family farm. This year, I also checked out some other local things to do in the area.

Highway 36 Treasure Hunt

Belleville (population 2,007) is known as the Crossroads of America because it lies at the intersection of Highway 81 and Highway 36. For the past few years, most of the towns along Highway 36 have organized the Highway 36 Treasure Hunt (usually in mid-September). Basically, it’s a HUGE garage sale that spans most of Kansas! Most of the towns have either google maps or pdf maps online, with a teaser of the type of goods that might be found at the various locations.

My parents recently downsized from their home, but that didn’t stop my mother from hunting for some treasures! The video of my mother and me shopping for bargains is priceless.

Local Breweries

Irrigation Ales (Courtland Kansas)

Our flight at Irrigation Ales in Courtland, Kansas

Craft breweries are all the rage. We’ve probably been to 400+ breweries, but there is something special about Irrigation Ales brewery about a mile from Highway 36 in Courtland, Kansas (population 294). The brewery is a nod to the local irrigation canals, and there’s some old patent drawings on the walls showing the evolution of irrigation systems.

Luke and Jennifer Mahin opened the place in early 2022, with a little help from Luke’s dad. Luke grew up in Courtland and was the director of economic development in Republic County for twelve years before opening the brewery. We could immediately tell Luke knows a lot about running a business….and beer. The brewery is only open Thursday-Saturday, but there’s usually live music, a book signing, bingo gathering, or some other event happening. The brewery also partners with the local restaurants on some occasions so that customers often have food options as well. The brewery’s social media is always giving a shout-out to some of the other small business in the area so that’s nice too. As for the beer, I liked the Scandiego, a West Coast IPA that gets its name from neighboring town, Scandia (population 344), while Kasie liked the Dunkel Cold Medina. My mother sipped on her Lovewell Lager as she reminicsed about the irrigation tubes she had to carry as a kid. The beer selection rotates quite a bit so customers are sure to like something on the list.

Kansas Territory Brewing

Washington, Kansas (population 1,071) is home to Kansas Territory Brewing. We had visited the old downtown brewery several times (as we wrote about here), but this was our first time at the new facility on the south side of town just off Highway 15. Owners Brad and Donna Portiener own the very successful Bradford Built truck bed manufacturing plant next door and spared no expense with the new facility.

The new “brewery” is HUGE – and includes a beer production facility, large tap room, outdoor patio, gazebo, and separate distillery, which was still undergoing construction at the time of our visit. Simply put, the brewery is not just a brewery; it’s an event space. The brewmaster remembered us from our last visit, and once again, gave us a tour of the facility. We came home with TWO cases of the Pineapple Life Coach Lager if that tells you how much we like it.

Black Squirrel City

Marysville, Kansas (population 3,447) is big enough to have a Walmart, but small enough that it hasn’t lost its charm. We’ve driven through the town several times, and I’ve always wanted to figure out the story behind all of those decorative fiberglass squirrels.

In 1912, a carnival passing through town had a cage of black squirrels as a sideshow attraction. A young boy felt sorry for them so he decided to release them. As the population of black squirrels grew over time, the city embraced them (much to the chagrin of the resident brown squirrels and grey squirrels, I’m told). In 1972, Marysville even enacted The Black Squirrel Ordinance (No. 1027), which protects the black squirrels by imposing a $25 fine if one is harmed. That ordinance also designated the black squirrel as the “Marysville City Mascot” and proclaimed an annual “black squirrel day.”

In 2016, the city installed 34 fiberglass black squirrel sculpture throughout the city. We made a day out of trying to find each one as you will see in our video! (Confessions: We cheated with this map. We also could not find Caleb at the Pepsi-Cola bottling center). Not too long after we visited, the town celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Black Squirrel with a big festival and the unveiling of 17 new squirrels to bring the total statue count to 50. I guess we will have to go back to see the new black squirrels (and get the story on Caleb’s whereabouts) next time we are in the area.

Travel Tip: During our squirrely explorations, we also learned that Marysville provides FREE CAMPING in the city park for five days. From what we could tell, there are a couple of electrical hook-ups, and it looks like water is available for RVers who want to fill their tanks.

Biking in the Blue River Trail

Marysville is also the starting point for the the Blue River Trail, and we decided to make another trip to Marysville with our electric bikes to ride the trail. At the Kansas-Nebraska border (about 12 miles from Marysvillle), the trail connects up with the Standing Bear Trail. That trail is named after the Indian leader and pays homage to the Ponca “Trail of Tears” that follows the route. A good historical summary can be found here. The Blue River Trail is brick in town, but crushed gravel the rest of the way. It’s a flat, easy ride with the occastional glimpse of the Big Blue River. The trail is covered much of the way by trees, which was a little surprising to me, given that it runs right through several farming communities.

Where to Stay: Rocky Pond (Belleville, Kansas) – A $20/night bargain!

Rocky Pond RV Park and Dog Park in Belleville, Kansas

Rocky Pond is my favorite campground! The fifteen 50-amp full hook-up sites are all first-come first-serve for just $20/night, and campers can stay as long as they want. There are also some cozy cabins for rent adjacent to Rocky Pond that are not owned by the city. The pond area contains a nice fountain, new showers/bathrooms (undergoing construction at the time of our visit), small pier, and picnic shelter areas. Adjacent to the RV park is a the “Buff Ruff” dog park, and within walking distance are the Belleville fairgrounds, home to the fastest half-mile dirt track in America. Just beyond that is a city park with swimming pool, basketball courts, horse shoe games, and an outdoor amphitheater. Simply put, RVers will find a lot of outdoor activities to do when camping at Rocky Pond.

If you are traveling on Highway 36 during the holidays, be sure and check out the Christmas Light display at Rocky Pond, which I previously wrote about here. Or, if you are not in the area, just enjoy the video of the 2021 Rocky Pond Light Display below.

WARNING: Unfortunately, RVers may have some difficulty finding a site at Rocky Pond starting in the fall 2022. In September 2022, the Republic County commissioners approved a huge controversial wind farm development in the county, despite a massive public outcry. Unless the city council decides to designate some RV sites as being available for locals or true RVers, all of the sites at Rocky Pond are likely going to be filled up by construction workers working on the wind farm. I raised this issue with the Belleville City Council when I was in town, but so far, there has not been any changes on the rules governing Rocky Pond. If you care about Rocky Pond, please reach out to the Belleville City Council.

Final Thoughts

Sure, I’m biased about the area where I grew up. I didn't start feeling that way until I actually had the time to appreciate all that small town life has to offer. I owe a lot of that to RVing. RVing some place — even some place that I thought I knew because I lived there for 18 years — has made all of of the difference. What does North Central Kansas have to offer? Community. Family. Nature. Good Beer. There’s a sense of familiarity here, but also adventure. You just have to look for it.

Things to Do In North Central Kansas Along Highway 36