An Evening in the Kansas Badlands
On Labor Day of 2026 I drove out to Castle Rock Badlands for an evening shoot. Situated about 19 miles south of Quinter, KS the badlands of West-Central Kansas are populated with herds of cattle, prairie dogs, coyotes, tall grasses, snakes, and spiders.
I made the 4.5 hour trip out on Labor Day and had the most pleasant summer evening alone at castle rock. Well, alone if you don’t count the hundreds of cows off to the east, the coyotes yapping out to the west, the five foot long bull snake I almost stepped on, and the hundreds of palm sized, Carolina Wolf spiders with their sparkling little eyes lining the road the entire hike back to the car.
It was a hot and bright afternoon but developed into a beautiful, breezy, starlit and moonless night in western Kansas!
Twilight on the Plains
There are just a few prescious minutes between sunset and blue hour when the eastern sky is filled with bands of pastels. It is fleeting but magical if you are lucky enough to experience it.
Castle Rock Meteor
As twilight gave way to the moonless dark skys of west-central Kansas, the milky way rose over the badlands in the distance. About 30 minutes after the last light of blue hour had ended, enveloped in only starlight, I was incredibly lucky to catch a meteor break through just above Castle Rock during a 2 minute exposure of the milky way core.
Castle Rock and the Belt of Venus
I love rainbow sky that comes over the east just after sunset. Today, landscape photographers refer to it as the belts of venus. More specifically referring to the most prominent pink band along the horizon. Researching this phenomenon and the term, I discovered that the other name for it, which I like even more, is the antitwilight. So this image is now dubbed
Antitwilight on the Plains
Dusk in the Badlands
This limestone feature rises up and out of the western plains of Kansas. Once, an ancient ocean floor, these features now are covered in grasses and low bushes and encircled by a rutted, narrow dirt track, and bathed in the violets of twilight.
Company
This big guy showed up while setting up my tripod. Admittedly, not the best photo but considering the shear panic and haste in which it was taken it was good enough.