K - S - U - Wildcats!
K.... S.... U.... WILDCATS!"
David Yoder
Conference Services CoordinatorManhattan / Area Information
Welcome to “The Little Apple®!”
Quick Facts
Manhattan Population
49,462
Riley County Population
62,826
Annual Average Temperature
High – 66.8°F
Low – 43.9°F
Average Annual Precipitation
33.71 inches
Average Annual Snowfall
17.4 inches
Located in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills, Manhattan is home to Big XII sports, first class accommodations, great restaurants, spectacular outdoor recreation, amazing history and regional shopping. Manhattan, Kansas is a city of approximately 50,000 people located on the banks of the Kansas River in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas, and during the school year, nearly 22,000 students call Manhattan home. It is 50 miles west of Topeka (the state capitol), 125 miles west of Kansas City, and 10 miles east of Fort Riley military post. It is adjacent to Tuttle Creek State Park, a 1,125-acre recreation area. Unlike the stereotype of Kansas seen in Hollywood --flat terrain and desert--the Flint Hills are indeed hilly and lightly forested.
The city was founded in 1855 by a group of riverboat traders who cruised up the Kansas River, hoping to establish a trading center that would rival the Manhattan of the East. The city takes its nickname, "The Little Apple,'' from its New York namesake. Today, Manhattan is the trade and cultural center of a five-county area. The town offers many of the advantages of a large city, yet it retains the wholesome flavor and attractions of small-town living. Adjacent to the University is "Aggieville,'' a shopping district of restaurants, clothing stores, gift shops, and night clubs, which caters to the student community.
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Points of Interest
Aggieville, the oldest shopping district in Kansas, is located across the street from K-State.
Colbert Hills Golf Course is a PGA licensed collegiate facility featuring 18 holes of Flint Hills landscaping highlighted by native Kansas limestone and vistas up to 12 miles.
The state’s second largest body of water, Tuttle Creek Lake is located five miles north of Manhattan with the dam and reservoir situated on the northern edge of the Flint Hills. The lake area offers 12,000 acres of water with 100 miles of irregular, wooded shoreline.
Guns & Gear Magazine recently named Tuttle Creek and Milford Lake one of the top five hot spots in the nation to hunt whitetail deer.
In the March 2002 Men’s Journal magazine, Manhattan was named one of “The 50 Best Places to Live.”
On the last full weekend in June, Manhattan hosts the Affiliated Foods Midwest Country Stampede. Country music’s hottest stars arrive in Manhattan to entertain fans from across the United States for a weekend of music, camping and excitement. Attendance for this four-day event exceeds 100,000. In the year 2000, the American Bus Association awarded Country Stampede a prestigious award as one of the Top 100 Events in North America.
The Konza Prairie Biological Station is an 8,600-acre tallgrass prairie preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University.
Only eight miles west of Manhattan on K-18 is America’s Army - Fort Riley. Founded in 1852, the Fort Riley Army Post was originally established to protect settlers on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails. Fort Riley is home to brigades of the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 1st Armored Division and the 937th Engineer Groups (Combat). The reservation covers more than 101,000 acres, spanning both Riley and Geary counties.