Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, Canton

Very interesting spot to put on your "must do" list. The tour is awesome, very informative while getting up close to buffalo. No elk when we visited but heard February is the best time to see them. It is run by volunteers so only available by reservations. No phone number, just correspondence by email but received a quick response. Will definitely do again.

A great place to view the beautiful prairie of Kansas. There's a herd of prairie elk and bison. A gift shop is on site and staffed with friendly folks. We saw coyote tracks as well.

Maxwell wildlife Refuge is a greatnplace to drive through and get a close up view of free roaming buffalo and elk. Also McPherson County Lake is on-site along with the refuge. The lake is well maintained and full of healthy fish. I recently saw at a 7 lbs channel catfish that had been caught by the back dock and it was a beautiful looking and healthy.

Maxwell is a wonderful place, a treasure for the great Plains showing us a bit of how our land was inhabited 150 years ago and more. I think it's a must visit for anyone coming to central Kansas to see our bison and maybe elk (best chance to see elk is in the winter). I particularly appreciate that there are special events through the year like wildflower tours and Christmas on the Prairie in December.

Would be nice if there were actually more hiking trails but I understand that the emphasis is primarily on providing space for wildlife that is undisturbed by humans. Sadly when I made my visit this October it was obvious that extreme drought has really impacted the Buffalo herd as they are obviously underweight and facing winter. With the drought so drastically impacting forage perhaps the Buffalo are too numerous for the available feed. Didn't see any Elk on this visit. I'm hoping the resident Buffalo and Elk will be supported with supplemental feeding this winter.