Kansas is known for its flat prairies and rolling plains, but did you know there are some small mountain ranges hidden within the state? Though none are very high or steep, these rugged areas make for great riddles and brainteasers. Keep reading for 59 fun riddles all about the mysterious mountains of Kansas along with the answers.
Mountains in Kansas
There are a few small mountain ranges scattered across Kansas. The highest point in the state is Mount Sunflower standing at 4,041 feet tall located in Wallace County. Other notable mountains include:
- Smoky Hills – Runs through north-central Kansas with elevations around 1,700 feet
- Flint Hills – Extends from north-central into eastern Kansas, named for the flint rock found in the area
- Red Hills – Located in south-central Kansas, part of the Gypsum Hills region
- Chautauqua Hills – Rolls through southeastern Kansas with heights around 1,350 feet
Though not towering peaks, these elevated areas add some variety to the Kansas landscape. Their rich history and geology make for endless riddling fun.
The Riddles
Test your wit and knowledge of Kansas geography with these 59 brain bending riddles all about the mountains found within the state. Scroll down for the answers.
1. Though not pointy, I’m still a peak in the Smoky Hills range, who am I?
2. I’m an ancient shoreline high up in the Flint Hills, what formation am I?
3. Countless riches lie buried deep within my Red Hills, but I’ll never tell where they hide! Who am I?
4. My name comes from the French word for “chalk.” I’m a hill in the western region, who am I?
5. Prospectors once flocked to my fields when a shiny discovery was made, which Kansas mount am I?
6. I’m not the highest point, but I’m a famous summit known across the states, who am I?
7. Two water towers stand on my flat top, I overlook the town of Perry, what hill am I?
8. Cross me if you dare for I’m the hill that starts with a witch’s lair, what’s my spooky name?
9. Gold can still be found in my creeks today just like long ago they say, which mountains am I?
10. Counties are named for both my forested peaks, in what twin set of hills would you find me?
11. The Sunflowers grow tall here, I’m the highest mountain with a spear, what’s my name?
12. A city shares my handle, a broad plateau west of Vinegar Hill, I’m called _______ Mountain
13. Prospectors once had dreams of wealth untold when silver veins filled my limestone fold. What mountain’s name?
14. Clark’s beloved vista overlooks my tiered plateau pointed like a spur. What do they call me?
15. My name comes from early French voyageurs who called me “red sticks.” In what range am I found?
16. Tecumseh journeyed my forested bluffs and battled foes near my mountain gorge. Which hill am I?
17. Pawnee legend says I was formed from the blood of a giant as he fell to the ground. What peak am I?
18. Quartz filled cracks prove my craggy crest was once an inland sea bed. What limestone mount am I?
19. First used by cattle ranchers, then as a smoky army post. I’m a fort on the front range, what am I called?
20. My andesite cliffs loom o’er a stone city, a county is named for my ancient formation. What peak am I?
21. Some say I was named by a lady who ordered men hung from my branches. What’s my name?
22. Prospectors came seeking silver, but my dark dolomite slopes kept secrets well hid. What treacherous mountain am I?
23. The pony could be seen from my grassy heights on that fateful morning long ago. Which hill tell the tale?
24. Geodes sparkle within my sedimentary slopes, eroded from my ancient seabed crust. What am I called?
25. Early French explorers described my rocky riverside as a fortified meeting place. I’m the peak called?
26. Native legends tell of star-crossed lovers who jumped from my stony facade. What melancholy mountain am I?
27. My name seems joyful, but a camp along my creek saw suffering during a brutal winter march. What hill am I?
28. Some think I was called the “shining mountains” by very early Spanish explorers. In what range would one find me?
29. Strange sphere shaped boulders dot my dolomite cliffsides. The bones of an inland sea are exposed here. I’m known as?
30. The Pony Express passed my granite valley walls. A trading post once supplied pioneers here before heading west. Which peak would have seen them?
31. My limestone bluffs loom above the White Rock. Ancient carvings have been found along my cliffsides. What isolated hill am I?
32. My stone promontory emerges from ancient seabeds. Legends say my rock gypsum spires glow by moonlight. I’m called the _________ Mountains.
33. A prominent rancher and New York shipping heir lent me his appellation.. What hill bears his name?
34. Millions of years ago, my summit was covered by the Western Interior Sea. Erosion exposed my flat top. I am called __________ Mountain.
35. Felix Robinson, legendary mountain man called me the “Shining Mountains” and the name stuck. In what range can I be found?
36. My sandstone bluffs were shattered into heaps of gypsum by a catastrophic ancient earthquake. In what fractured hills would one find me?
37. A twisted horror tale revolving around my name tells of demonic possession and the darkness of the human soul. What macabre hill could inspire such a story?
38. Before finding its way to the plains, the explorers who mapped me out followed buffalo paths along my creeks and valleys. What destination mount was I?
39. Ranchers claimed my name was inspired by a rocky mesa resembling a supine lady seen while driving cattle to railheads north. I am called?
40. Texas longhorn cattle once grazed my rolling bluffs. After the Santa Fe Trail, railways came, connecting coasts at my feet. In what range do I lie?
41. My twin founders lent their names to a nearby meadow and an endless well another half mile beyond. What neighboring hills are we?
42. My woodland creeks once powered frontier sawmills. Wagon Train scouts carved their initials into my sandstone gorges. I’m called?
43. They say my name comes from early explorers confusing layers of unfamiliar rock for distant blue mountains. What mistaken identity peak am I?
44. Captain Pike and the Spanish both staked claims upon my plateau crest, but neither held it for long. Which highly contested summit am I?
45. Ignored since ’49 when gold failed to glitter in my streams. Why waste another thought on old abandoned ______ Hill?
46. Million year old ripples of an inland sea are visible in crossbeds along my eroded slopes of Dakota Sandstone. What ancient peak would have such formations?
47. Spanish explorers marked me as the boundary between known lands and terrifying wilderness beyond I’m the edge of the world peak called?
48. In ’42 they came for the beautiful gypsum found in my dusty draws. By ’45 a brief boom town of over 10,000 sprung up at my feet. Which chalky white hills hosted the rowdy settlement?
49. Strange shapes in my Dakota sandstone hint at the inland sea that once covered my summit. Fossils emerge with each rain. I’m known as?
50. Lone cedar stands bent by endless wind atop my island in the sky mesa. Cowboys passed by driving herds north along Smoky trails at my feet. Who am I?
51. Prospectors reckoned my Spanish name promising untold riches sleeping within my rugged slopes. But only fools gold glitters in my secret streams. I am the disappointing hills called?
52. Tallgrass prairie turns to stony desert along my cliffside gorge carved long ago by the ancestral Smoky Hill River In which strange Startling formations would one find such contrasts?
53. The Donner Party crossed my arid southern most heights on their doomed quest West. Another group retracing their route called me Gravestone Ridge. What ill-fated mountain am I?
54. A prominent early abolitionist lends her surname to my grassy bluff. Enslaved people risked all traveling my valley towards freedom. Which peak commemorates this brave pioneer?
55. Tumbling down my slopes researchers discovered proof that horses evolved here before spreading across the globe. In what ancient hills was this discovery made?
56. Lofty above the plains my flat summit provides views of five states on a clear day. Cattle trails converged here headed to rail depots north. I’m known as ___________ Mountain.
57. White rock gypsum spires emerge from red soil along my eroded scree slopes. What strange formations bear this banded facade?
58. The Donner Party trudged though my high desert valley leaving graves behind during a sorrowful winter descent. What are these dry hills called?
59. Cavalry units camped along my pine ridge while guarding Bozeman Trail travelers. Custer himself carved into my Dakota sandstone. I’m named for what topology?
Answers
Curious about the solutions? Here are the answers to all 59 riddles:
1. Table Mound
2. Flint Hills Uplands
3. Red Hills
4. Chalk Mountain
5. Silver Mound
6. Mount Sunflower
7. Jingo Hill
8. Witches Knob
9. Silverdale Mountains
10. Twin Mounds
11. Mount Sunflower
12. Salina Mountain
13. Silver Mountain
14. Flagstaff Mountain
15. Red Sticks Bluffs
16. Council Grove Mountains
17. Pawnee Rock
18. Fort Riley Limestone
19. Fort Larned
20. Pawnee Mountain
21. Hanging Woman Hills
22. Graves Mountain
23. Lookout Mountain
24. Rock City Hills
25. Post Rock
26. Lover’s Leap Butte
27. Happy Creek Buttes
28. Smoky White Mountains
29. Little Jerusalem Hills
30. Scotts Bluff
31. Medicine Bluff
32. Gypsum Hills
33. Schermerhorn Mountain
34. Cowley Mountain
35. White Shining Mountains
36. Blue Mounds
37. Hell’s Mound
38. Guide Rock
39. Sleeping Lady Buttes
40. Pawnee Pass Mountains
41. Twin Mound Spring
42. Mill Creek Mountain
43. Blue Mountain
44. Dispute Hill
45. Abandoned Mound
46. Dakota Hills
47. End of the Earth Peak
48. White Mountain
49. Inland Sea Buttes
50. Lone Cedar Mesa
51. False Treasure Mountain
52. Little Grand Canyon Gorge
53. Gravestone Ridge
54. Tubman Hill
55. Horsethief Canyon
56. Five States Summit
57. Red and White Buttes
58. Donner Hill
59. Pine Ridge
Conclusion
So there you have it – 59 tricky riddles all about the mysterious mountains found right in the heart of flat Kansas! From the Talgrass prairies to the High Plains desert, scattered peaks and ranges make for surprising landmarks rich in history and geology.
Hopefully these rhyming brainteasers put your riddling skills to the test and taught you something new about the many “islands in the sky” hugging the horizon across our central state. Despite what many assume at first glance, Kansas topography has some delightful variety hiding out there!
