Kansas Elevation Facts That Flip What You Learned In School
The lowest elevation point in Kansas is 679 feet above sea level at the where it crosses the Oklahoma border in Montgomery County, southeast Kansas, just south of Coffeyville.
Why It's Not Obvious
Kansas evokes images of endless flat prairies, yet its topography hides subtle surprises. Many assume the state's lowest spot lies in the eastern river valleys near the Missouri border, where early settlers noted elevations dipping to around 750 feet at Kansas City. However, precise U.S. Geological Survey measurements from 1925 confirm the site as the true nadir, beating eastern lowlands by over 70 feet.
This misconception persists because topographic maps of the 19th century, like those in Noble Prentis's 1899 A History of Kansas, emphasized eastern dips without modern GPS precision. Prentis documented Coffeyville at 734 feet-close, but not the record. Today's lidar data reveals the Verdigris' gentle southeastern plunge as unmatched.
"The lowest part of the State is where the southern line crosses the Verdigris valley." - Noble Prentis, 1899