Does Eastern Kansas have a lot of trees? (Topeka, Leawood: design, estate)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by edujop

What is the significance of "all planted". Thanks.

Most suburban areas of Johnson County occupied previously agricultural areas or tall grass prairie. The tree cover is much more expansive in the area as the result of mostly deciduous trees planted.

[Jayhawker434]

Generally the further east you go in Kansas the more trees there are. Lawrence area is really pretty by Kansas standards. There won't be as many trees as Illinois but a lot more than people generally expect when they think of Kansas.

If you are looking for a smaller city, Lawrence and Manhattan are great choices. Manhattan is a little more isolated but a nice place. Lawrence is only about 30-40 minutes to KC so there are a lot more people in the general area. I'd look at Lawrence and Manhattan but would skip Topeka. I'd even look around KC. You can live in a very country area and still be pretty close to all that KC offers.

[brooksider2brooklyn]

I thought I saw a tree near Overland Park once. There might be a couple near Lawrence too.

[pioneer88]

Here's a couple of aerial images of eastern Kansas. The first is near Leavenworth the second in Douglass County.

edit: photos aren't working, I'll come back later and fix

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by brooksider2brooklyn

I thought I saw a tree near Overland Park once. There might be a couple near Lawrence too.

Lee Blvd in Leawood has very good tree coverage, feels much more like the eastern US, dramatically different than SW JOCO that has not been radically modified to a suburban built environment.

[Rivertowntalk]

Although there are large amounts of farmland and pastureland, particularly in the river valleys, rural, eastern Kansas also has massive, expansive areas of hardwood trees/timber and the undergrowth is very thick. The Manhattan area is less so on trees and they moreso follow the draws and rivers. Trees are more invasive in the eastern part in Douglas, Jefferson, Leavenworth and many other eastern counties north and south. The Big Bluestem in the Flint Hills is more prevalent around Manhattan. Little Bluestem is more prevalent in the eastern part of the state.

[thriftylefty]

Somewhere I have old transcripts of letters from a young man crossing Kansas in 1832. He traveled from Alton Illinois to California to teach and he writes that he didn't see a single tree until he got across the Colorado border. This is a little before the California Trail or the Mormon Trail but either way he would have at least crossed through eastern Kansas.

[Ithuvanian]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Somewhere I have old transcripts of letters from a young man crossing Kansas in 1832. He traveled from Alton Illinois to California to teach and he writes that he didn't see a single tree until he got across the Colorado border. This is a little before the California Trail or the Mormon Trail but either way he would have at least crossed through eastern Kansas.

That seems to be true about a lot of the state back then, before settlers changed the landscape. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about travelling through endless expanses of treeless grass in Southeastern Kansas. That part of the state is now partially forested- the kind of landscape OP is looking for, but no real cities there.

[KSDeputy]

I live in NE Kansas, and the area near me has a lot of trees. In fact I planted a lot on my land, as I love trees. Parts have the most trees along rivers and creeks, but that differs depending on the county you live in.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Somewhere I have old transcripts of letters from a young man crossing Kansas in 1832. He traveled from Alton Illinois to California to teach and he writes that he didn't see a single tree until he got across the Colorado border. This is a little before the California Trail or the Mormon Trail but either way he would have at least crossed through eastern Kansas.

I got news for that young man............He might not have seen any trees in Kansas but he damn sure didn't see any in eastern Colorado either.