Santa Fe Trail Remnants

In SW Kansas, near Elkhart, there is a place where you can see well preserved swales of the Santa Fe Trail. The place is about 7-10 miles north of town on the west side of the highway near "Point of Rocks." Point of Rocks is a bluff overlooking the Cimarron River, which was an easily identifiable landmark on the trail after miles of featureless terrain.

Swales are U-shaped indentions, or scars in the landscape, caused by frequent traffic of people and animals. Ruts are slightly different than swales in that ruts are small scars caused by wagon wheels (or modern vehicles).