CRAWFORD COUNTY IS CRAWLING WITH
Outdoor
Adventures
On an early spring day that seemed made for fishing , Tom Pebley , of Kansas City , cast his lure into one of the more than 1,000 strip pits that dot Crawford County . The blue Kansas sky above was picture perfect : White clouds dotted it , and a slight breeze rippled the water . Nothing but occasional birdsong interrupted his thoughts . Pebley already had channel catfish on his stringer , but was hoping to add crappie . One of tens of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts who come to Southeast Kansas each year , he enjoys the fishing and camping the Mined Land Area offers . “ We have nothing like this where we live ,” he says . “ What you have down here is unique .” Spanning Crawford and Cherokee counties , the Mined Land Area is comprised of 14,500 public acres belonging to the Kansas Department of Wildlife , Parks & Tourism . It includes 13,000 acres of land and 1,500 acres of water .
Strip pits , as the locals call them , vary in size from one-quarter of an acre to 50 acres , with depths as shallow as a foot and as deep as 60 feet , owe their existence to coal miners . From the 1920s through the mid-1970s , they were carved by steam and electric shovels in search of coal veins . When the shovels were turned off and the miners left , the countryside grew quiet , and the strip pits were left to Mother Nature . The land is sought out after by hunters , hikers , mushroom and berry pickers , campers , boaters and kayakers .
If you ’ re looking for a more traditional , lake fishing experience , Crawford County has that as well with Crawford State Fishing and one of the hottest bass fishing lakes in the region , Bone Creek Reservoir .
Photos courtesy of Kansas Department of Wildlife , Parks & Tourism
80 | Spring 2017 | Adventure Outdoors