Visitors take refuge in Salina

To find out more ...

Visit www.salinakansas.org for information on Salina or call the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce at (785) 827-9301. Admission to the Rolling Hills Refuge Wildlife Conservation Center is $8 adults, $5 children ages 2 to 12, $7 senior citizens and free for children under 2. Visit the Refuge Web site at www.rhrwildlife.com or call (785) 827- 9488 for more information.

By PHIL ANDERSON

The Capital-Journal

SALINA --- If you build it, will people come? Salina businessman Charlie Walker is gambling they will.

Walker's Rolling Hills Refuge Wildlife Conservation Center opened its doors in October 1999, 5 1/2 years after ground was broken on the multimillion-dollar zoo that features 40 species of animals, one- third of which are endangered in the wild.

It isn't hard to find the refuge. Take Interstate 70 about 10 miles west of Salina and look for the Hedville-Culver exit, then go two miles south.

As you travel south from the interstate on a narrow, hilly, two- lane road, the well-manicured Rolling Hills Refuge emerges to the west. It is located on 95 acres, smack dab in the middle of Kansas farmland.

I was amazed by the magnitude of this project, which has a major- league feel and animals you won't find at your average zoo: African hunting dogs, Amur leopards, Bactrian camels, Bennett's wallabies, Bongos, red kangaroos, red-ruffed lemurs, snow leopards, southern white rhinos and white tigers.

Rolling Hills Refuge is a pristine facility free of many of the odors associated with zoos. It has clean, wide, asphalt walkways, and wood and metal rails that make the park feel like a large ranch.

Only a handful of cars were in the parking lot the day I visited, but I think the crowds will find their way here. I wouldn't be surprised to see it become a major attraction for Salina, as well as for Kansas.

Impressive as it is, Rolling Hills is a work in progress. A 15- acre mixed African species exhibit is planned, along with an aviary, gorilla exhibit and museum of natural history.

Also on my Salina visit was a trip to the Smoky Hill Vineyards and Winery, on 212 W. Golf Link Road, north of Salina on 9th. It attracts visitors from across the nation, including California, some of whom are surprised to find grape vines in Kansas. Most leave with a bottle or two of Smoky Hill wine.

Pam Rush, the winery's events coordinator, said the vineyard has six varieties of grapes on 6,000 vines, filling 5 1/2 acres. The first vine was planted in 1991.

She said it takes three years for a vine to yield grapes that can be turned into wine. A drip irrigation system feeds droplets of water between the vines, forcing the root system to go deep into the ground, which is important for plant survival during harsh winter months in Kansas.

One of six working wineries in the state, the Smoky Hill plant bottles 28 varieties of wine. Most are sweet and semi-sweet, although dry varieties also are made there.

Also on my Salina tour was the Lakewood Discovery Center and Nature Area, on the city's east side. It is a well-maintained public park area with trails that lead to a lake wooded area and meadow.

For those who enjoy the simple pleasure of hiking a nature trail, much of it in the shade, the Lakewood Discovery Center offers a chance to incorporate native plants and grasses into their walk and glimpse animals native to Kansas wooded areas.

Sunday, a look at Lindsborg, a small Kansas town known as much for its arts as for preserving its Swedish heritage.

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