1
Kanopolis Recreation Area
Nature preserve
16,459 acres17.4 mi of trail
Prairie TrailsAvenue NNHorsethief Canyon Trails
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
Outdoors · Empire
Empire, KS parks, trails & bike paths
About 38% of Empire is conserved land, roughly 17,452 acres. There are about 37 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Kanopolis Recreation Area (17.4 mi) and Kanopolis State Park (14.3 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Empire, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Empire outdoors
Conserved land
38%
17,452 of 45,740 acres
Trails
37 mi
0.5 mi per sq mi · 32 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
2
named on the map
Bike routes
0.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 0.0 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Kanopolis State Park
Managed by Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
1,237 acres14.3 mi of trail
Horsethief Canyon TrailsRockin’ K TrailSplit Boulder TrailBuffalo Track Canyon Nature TrailWildlife Viewing Area Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Campgrounds in Empire
Showing 1–10 of 11 campgrounds
Kanopolis State Park Buzzard Bay CampgroundIn Kanopolis State Park
Kanopolis State Park Eagle Point CampgroundIn Kanopolis State Park
Kanopolis State Park Rockin' K CampgroundIn Kanopolis State Park
Kanopolis State Park Rockwall CampgroundIn Kanopolis State Park
Kanopolis State Park Sandyshore CampgroundIn Kanopolis State Park
Unnamed campground in Kanopolis Recreation Area
Unnamed campground in Kanopolis Recreation Area
Unnamed campground in Kanopolis Recreation Area
Unnamed campground in Kanopolis Recreation Area
Unnamed campground in Kanopolis Recreation Area
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 18.9 miHorses 16.7 miUnpaved 20.6 mi
- Horsethief Canyon Trails7.0 mi
- Prairie Trails5.7 mi
- Rockin’ K Trail3.9 mi
- Split Boulder Trail1.3 mi
- Buffalo Track Canyon Nature Trail0.9 mi
- Avenue NN0.5 mi
- Wildlife Viewing Area Trail0.5 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
17,452 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 884 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Empire
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Recreation Management Area 16,484 acState Park 1,375 acAgricultural Easement 884 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kanopolis Recreation AreaRecreation Management Area | Army Corps of Engineers | 16,484 | Open |
| Kanopolis State ParkState Park | State parks | 1,375 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Buckeye CemeteryCemetery
Scates CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Empire and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Empire's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 27.3-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.