Topeka's Best View Is Atop This Free-To-Visit Golden Kansas Dome With Panoramic City Overlooks

There are many ways to experience Kansas' cities, and they're anything but conventional. You could head to Iola and sit in America's largest town square, enveloped by a charming downtown and scenic trails. Or if you find yourself in Greensburg, go underground into a giant engineering marvel of a well with deep history. Arguably, though, the most breathtaking city site takes you not down into the ground but high up into the clouds, in the heart of the state's capital of Topeka. At Topeka's Kansas State Capitol building (commonly called the Kansas Statehouse), visitors get the rare chance to climb up roughly 300 steps to the top of its dome for free and get the best view of the city from above.

An incredible architectural wonder in itself, the Kansas Statehouse began construction in 1866. It's recognizable for its sprawling pillared entryway and towering copper dome topped by a statue of the Kaw warrior Ad Astra. The dome puts the building at 17 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. When the statehouse first started offering tours of its dome in 2006, they were intended as a temporary draw for those who wanted an inside glimpse, but the tour was so loved and popular that it became a permanent fixture of the building, meaning that today, anyone can climb up the top and stand on the cupola balcony of Topeka's tallest building.

You wouldn't know it from the outside, but the Kansas Statehouse's dome is actually two domes: an inner and upper dome. The inner, glass dome is what you see looking up from inside the building, but the upper, copper dome that lies beyond the glass ceiling is where you get the aerial city views. The two-tiered structure, which predates air conditioning, was designed to keep the capitol building cool by trapping heat between the layers.

After getting to the fifth floor of the building, that's where the 296 stairs leading up the domes begin. Notably, there are no bathrooms or seating once you start making your way up. First, you'll climb along the rim of the inner glass dome. Notice the graffiti along the support columns, which lingers from a time when anyone was allowed to wander the dome unchecked. (Rumor has it that President Eisenhower signed his name somewhere on these columns.) After passing into the upper dome, you'll proceed to the most terrifying part of the tour: A steep staircase ascends from the rim to the heart of the dome, suspended in mid-air and overlooking the gleaming glass surface below. You'll then climb the final stretch — a spiral staircase — that leads up to the circular observation balcony at the top.

After you make the treacherous climb back down the domes, you'll want to explore the rest of the capitol building. Building tours are also offered (and are free), or you can do a self-guided tour with a brochure. Look carefully at the many gorgeous murals that adorn the walls, particularly those on the second floor on either side of the rotunda. These murals are by the artist John Steuart Curry, and one, in particular, is quite famous. Titled "Tragic Prelude," it depicts the bearded abolitionist John Brown as a giant figure standing amid an intense scene with flames and a tornado. Interestingly, Brown's actual sword is housed in the building's ground-level Visitor Center. On the third floor, you'll find the Kansas State Library, where you can walk its glass-floored deck and see books dating as far back as 1741.

Be sure to pay a visit to the Capitol Store on the ground floor. The store sells a variety of souvenirs, but a highlight is the jewelry made from the building's old dome's copper. The Statehouse is open every day except Sunday, with dome tours offered throughout each of these days. It's just over an hour by car from the Kansas City International Airport, and there's a free parking garage beneath the building. While you're in Topeka, drive about 10 to 15 minutes to the city's edge to visit the quirky, family-friendly attraction of Truckhenge Farm.