Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday all walked the boardwalks of Dodge City, the cattle town that gave the English language the phrase "get out of Dodge". Today it is a working city of about 27,000 on the Arkansas River in southwest Kansas, where the smell of feedlots and the sight of grain elevators remind you that cattle still drive the local economy.
Dodge City began in 1872 beside Fort Dodge, just as the Santa Fe Railway arrived. Buffalo hunters came first, then from 1876 the great Texas longhorn drives, which filled Front Street with saloons, gamblers and lawmen. The rough early burials on Boot Hill became legend, and later the radio and TV series Gunsmoke made the town famous worldwide.
Boot Hill Museum recreates the old Front Street with a saloon, general store and summer gunfight shows. A downtown Trail of Fame links bronze statues of the town's lawmen, the 1898 Santa Fe depot still serves Amtrak, and west of town real wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail cut across the prairie. Dodge City Days and its rodeo fill the town each summer.
A museum built on the site of the original Boot Hill cemetery, with a recreated 1870s Front Street, the Long Branch Saloon, a general store and galleries on the cattle trade and lawmen. In summer there are gunfight reenactments and a variety show. Allow two to three hours and check the summer show times.
A small museum honoring outstanding Kansas teachers, with displays on each inductee and a restored one-room schoolhouse classroom with old desks, slates and books. Admission is free. It makes a pleasant change of pace after the gunfighter sights and is close to downtown.
A self-guided downtown walk linking life-size bronze statues of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and other characters, along with sidewalk medallions honoring Gunsmoke actors and Western figures. Pick up a map at the visitor center and plan about an hour on foot.
A large brick depot built by the Santa Fe Railway in 1898, which once also held a Harvey House hotel and restaurant. Today it houses the Depot Theater Company, which stages melodramas and musicals, and Amtrak's Southwest Chief still stops here. Check the theater schedule for evening shows.
The town's 1907 Carnegie library building, with its distinctive round shape, now serves as a community art center. Galleries show work by regional artists and the gift shop sells local crafts and pottery. It is free to enter and sits a short walk from the Trail of Fame.
Also called the Mueller-Schmidt House, this limestone home was built in 1881 for a bootmaker and is one of the oldest buildings in Dodge City still on its original site. Furnished rooms show family life in the cattle-town era. It is open seasonally, so call ahead before visiting.
A frontier army post founded in 1865 to protect the Santa Fe Trail, five miles east of town. Several original stone buildings survive as part of the Kansas Soldiers' Home, and a small museum and library tell the post's story. Drive through slowly and respect the residents who live on site.
About nine miles west of town on US 50, a prairie tract preserves deep swales worn by thousands of wagons on the Santa Fe Trail in the 1800s. A short path and interpretive signs explain what you are looking at. Late-afternoon light makes the ruts easiest to see and photograph.
A craft distillery set in the former city hall on top of Boot Hill, making vodka, gin and whiskey from grain grown by local farmers. Tours show the stills and end with a tasting in the bar. Book a tour ahead on weekends, and note the strict age limit for tastings.
A ten-day summer festival in late July and early August with a parade, concerts, a car show and the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, one of the largest professional rodeos in Kansas. Book lodging months ahead, as hotels fill quickly, and bring sun protection for the arena.
Several blocks of brick and stone commercial buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s, after the wooden Front Street era burned away. Look for the old theater facades and the longhorn statue nearby. Walk it together with the Trail of Fame, which passes through the same streets.
No reviews yet. Been to Dodge City? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Dodge City? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: Gerald B. Keane, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Lithistman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Lithistman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Ammodramus, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Megan Duree, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Gerald B. Keane, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Gerald B. Keane, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Gerald B. Keane, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Ichabod, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Doug Kerr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Lithistman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Charles O'Rear, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: NPS, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
