Mined Land Wildlife Area

Southeast Kansas sits over shallow coal seams that were mined intensively for generations, much of it by strip mining, in which enormous machines peeled back the earth to reach the coal beneath. The most famous relic of that era is Big Brutus, a colossal electric shovel now preserved as a museum nearby. When the coal played out, it left behind a landscape unlike any other in the state.

The abandoned pits gradually filled with clean water, fed by rain and groundwater, and the disturbed ground between them grew up in brush and trees. Rather than remaining a wasteland, the reclaimed land was managed into a wildlife area, and nature has transformed the scars of mining into a mosaic of lakes and woods teeming with life.

The strip-pit lakes are the heart of the area's appeal, especially for anglers. Because the pits are deep and steep-sided, with clear water, they hold healthy populations of bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish, and other fish, and their sheltered coves and drop-offs make for excellent and varied fishing. Many anglers consider these among the best fishing waters in Kansas.

The sheer number of separate pits scattered across the countryside means there is always another quiet cove to explore, and the area rarely feels crowded. For those willing to seek out the lesser-known pits, the reward is solitude and good fishing in a landscape that feels far removed from the open prairie most people picture when they think of Kansas.

The mix of open water, wooded ridges, brushy edges, and grassland makes the Mined Land Wildlife Area unusually rich in wildlife. The lakes and wetlands draw waterfowl, herons, and migrating birds, the woods hold songbirds, woodpeckers, and raptors, and the varied habitat supports deer, turkey, and small game across the many tracts.

That diversity makes the area a favorite not only of anglers but of birders and hunters, and the reclaimed land is a case study in how a heavily disturbed landscape can become valuable wildlife habitat. Walking the wooded ridges between the still, clear pits, it can be hard to believe the ground was once torn open by mining machines.

The wildlife area lies in the greenest, most wooded corner of Kansas, near the college town of Pittsburg, in country long known as the Little Balkans for the many immigrant miners who settled it. Long before the coal era, this was the homeland of the Osage people, who lived across southeast Kansas and whose nation continues today, now centered in Oklahoma.

The area pairs naturally with the region's other attractions, from Big Brutus to the famous fried-chicken houses near Pittsburg. Spring and fall bring the most pleasant weather and the best fishing and birding, when the woods leaf out or turn color. Summers are warm and humid and winters mild, and the clear pits reflect the surrounding trees in every season.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.