Motoring Monday - Big Basin

A pretty view can be seen from the southeast rim of the Big Basin. Credit: Keith Stokes

The Big Basin rim spring. Credit: Kansas Sampler

To the casual traveler, a trip through southwest Kansas on U.S. 160/283 offers the wide-open spaces and beautiful vistas that Kansas is known for.  But about halfway between Englewood and Minneola, a more astute observer might notice what appears to be a basin or depression on the east side of the highway and a Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism sign announcing the entrance to the Big Basin Prairie Preserve Wildlife Area. The Preserve, which includes Big Basin, Little Basin and Jacob’s Well, is marked by formations of white gypsum, dolomite, brick red shales, siltstones and sandstones.

Geologists estimate the basins formed in the last few thousand years when gypsum and salt formations dissolved and collapsed several hundred feet below the surface leaving naturally formed sinks. Big Basin is a mile-wide sinkhole which is more than 100 feet deep.  While it initially looks like a valley, it is entirely surrounded by higher ground. 

Above, the path to Jacob's Well.
Below is the well. Credit: Keith Stokes

Located just east of Big Basin is Little Basin, a second sinkhole that is about 280 yards in diameter and 35 feet from rim to floor.  In Little Basin, visitors will find the path leading to Jacob’s Well and the Living Waters Monument originally built by Plains Indians to mark the well. Jacob’s Well is actually a sinkhole within a sinkhole and has never been known to go dry.

In addition to its unique topography and geology, the area is rich in history and has attracted visitors for hundreds of years including prehistoric people and European settlements. 

In the 1800s, the area was often an encampment for settlers, cowboys and Indians, including the Northern Cheyenne who camped here in 1878 as they were fleeing re-settlement in Oklahoma. Today, visitors will find mixed grass prairie, rolling hills, a bison herd and stunning views.