Mushroom Rock State Park 
  Managed from: 
Kanopolis State Park
200 Horsethief Road
Marquette, Kansas 67464
(785) 546-2565 

Mushroom Rock State Park Map

Rock City
Kansas Geology & fossil Attractions

Mushroom Rock State Park - Marquette, Kansas
Mushroom Rock State Park
Mushroom Rock State Park
Mushroom Rock State Park - Marquette, Kansas

About 20 miles SW of Salina, Kansas off Highway 140 is Kansas' smallest state park - Mushroom Rock State Park. The 5 acre park is about 2 miles south of the highway on dirt roads that can be very bad after a rain. The park is surrounded by farms and you can usually hear cattle lowing nearby.

It has Dakota sandstone concretions much like Rock City, but here most are not nearly as exposed. There could be a great many concretions at this park, but almost all are still covered by the surrounding soil and only a portion is seen. The underlying rock is softer sandstone and is eroding away, but some of it still remains and has been supporting three of the rocks for many years. 

The resulting combination of rocks have a mushroom shape. The unusual shapes caught the imaginations of the Native Americans and pioneers, some of whom have left graffiti in the limestone and sandstone.

There are Picnic tables and a rough toilet.

This may be the smallest state park in Kansas, but I think it is also one of the coolest!


The large tree next to this formation in 1920 (see below) is long gone and the "stem"
of the mushroom is getting smaller.

Mushroom Rock State Park
 


 

Mushroom Rock
Kansastravel.org web master at Mushroom Rock State Park in 2010
 


Mushroom Rock State Park Historical Marker

Mushroom Rock State Park graffiti
Generations of graffiti has been carved into the stone at Mushroom Rock State Park

Mushroom Rock State Park has been a travel destination for generations. The following photos were contributed by Earl Hooper. His father, Clearance, was born near Ellsworth, Kansas in 1911 and these are family photos from the park in about 1920.

Mushroom Rock State Park in 1920
Bill, Mike and Lloyd Hooper


Huggins/Hooper cousins, Nita, Clarence & Mike Hooper


Mike Hooper, Clarence Hooper, Nita Hooper, three Huggins cousins (unknown), Brad Hooper, Lloyd Hooper, Bill Hooper. 


Brad Hooper with Huggins nieces

Mushroom Rock State Park Map - Marquette, Kansas
Mushroom Rock State Park Map

More concretions in nearby Rock City
Kansas Attractions  Kansas Travel & Tourism Home

copyright 2002-2020 by Keith Stokes