  As with other amenities in the Northland, recreation and entertainment are coming into their own.
Smithville Lake is a good example. With 7,000 acres and nearly 200 miles of shoreline, it’s not surprising to find excellent fishing, sail boating, camping and sandy beaches. But as the Northland’s growing urban population increasingly accesses the lake, it’s adding other amenities such as a new hiking/biking trail that eventually will circle the main part of the lake. Expanded in 2004, two golf courses include some of the most stunning scenery in the Midwest. As one East Coast writer marveled after visiting the lake, having such a large and diverse facility 30 minutes from the center of a major metro area is unique.
Platte County has its own features. The most dramatic are recreation centers funded by a special tax passed by voters just for recreation. The newest was opened this year in Parkville. Other communities offer facilities such as North Kansas City’s state-of-the-art community center and Liberty’s premiere sports facility, Fountain Bluff Sports Complex.
Kansas City has the area’s largest municipal parks, Tiffany Springs in Platte County and Hodge Park in Clay County. Hodge has both an 18-hole golf course and Shoal Creek Village, a recreated 1800s town where historic reenactments are held weekly.
After something of a slow start, the Northland’s interest and support for hiking and biking trails are growing dramatically. The Northland Trails and Greenways organization is helping to promote a coordinated network of trails that eventually will connect the region. Early entries include the newest sections opened at Smithville Lake, but others already are open in Kearney, Parkville and Liberty.
The most enterprising entry may be the soon-to-open Riverside “levee-top” trail, one of the first in the nation to offer a ride along a major river atop a Corps of Engineers’ levee. That trail also will connect with a trail in Parkville and eventually help form a single river trail from North Kansas City to western Platte County.
The Northland is also host to a number of fine arts and cultural activities. These include the nearly 40-year-old Northland Symphony Orchestra, the equally celebrated Bell Road Barn Theater and newer groups such as Corbin Theatre in Liberty and the Paradise Playhouse dinner theater in Excelsior Springs.
A major addition to the Northland’s cultural entertainment comes from its colleges and universities. William Jewell College’s Harriman Fine Arts Program is nationally known, attracting international talent. William Jewell also provides support for activities such as the Liberty Symphony. Theater groups at Maple Woods Community College and Park Uni-versity are equally influential, both through direct programs such as theater and music, and through support of community activities.
Along with the Northland’s growing retail, commercial entertainment such as movie theaters have expanded in recent years. Some commercial activities are more unusual, including a “paintball battlefield” in Clay County.
Clay and Platte counties also host three riverboat casinos, the largest collection in the state: the AmeriStar in Kansas City, North, the Argosy in Riverside and Harrah’s in North Kansas City. All three report significant success and are in the middle of major expansion programs that include new hotel and convention facilities being added to their theater, restaurant and, of course, gaming. Including the three, plus Buchanan County’s St. Joseph Frontier Casino, the Northland is one of the busiest casino scenes this side of Las Vegas.
The Northland also benefits significantly from the recreation and entertainment throughout greater metropolitan Kansas City. Due to the excellent area highway network, Northlanders are only minutes from the Nelson Art Gallery, the Kansas City Museum or dozens of art galleries, parks and other amenities.
Significantly, these regional attractions include the increasingly dynamic offerings of downtown Kansas City. A large entertainment district and a new sports arena are being constructed only minutes from southern Clay and Platte counties.
As with other amenities in the Northland, recreation and entertainment are coming into their own.
Smithville Lake is a good example. With 7,000 acres and nearly 200 miles of shoreline, it’s not surprising to find excellent fishing, sail boating, camping and sandy beaches. But as the Northland’s growing urban population increasingly accesses the lake, it’s adding other amenities such as a new hiking/biking trail that eventually will circle the main part of the lake. Expanded in 2004, two golf courses include some of the most stunning scenery in the Midwest. As one East Coast writer marveled after visiting the lake, having such a large and diverse facility 30 minutes from the center of a major metro area is unique.
Platte County has its own features. The most dramatic are recreation centers funded by a special tax passed by voters just for recreation. The newest was opened this year in Parkville. Other communities offer facilities such as North Kansas City’s state-of-the-art community center and Liberty’s premiere sports facility, Fountain Bluff Sports Complex.
Kansas City has the area’s largest municipal parks, Tiffany Springs in Platte County and Hodge Park in Clay County. Hodge has both an 18-hole golf course and Shoal Creek Village, a recreated 1800s town where historic reenactments are held weekly.
After something of a slow start, the Northland’s interest and support for hiking and biking trails are growing dramatically. The Northland Trails and Greenways organization is helping to promote a coordinated network of trails that eventually will connect the region. Early entries include the newest sections opened at Smithville Lake, but others already are open in Kearney, Parkville and Liberty.
The most enterprising entry may be the soon-to-open Riverside “levee-top” trail, one of the first in the nation to offer a ride along a major river atop a Corps of Engineers’ levee. That trail also will connect with a trail in Parkville and eventually help form a single river trail from North Kansas City to western Platte County.
The Northland is also host to a number of fine arts and cultural activities. These include the nearly 40-year-old Northland Symphony Orchestra, the equally celebrated Bell Road Barn Theater and newer groups such as Corbin Theatre in Liberty and the Paradise Playhouse dinner theater in Excelsior Springs.
A major addition to the Northland’s cultural entertainment comes from its colleges and universities. William Jewell College’s Harriman Fine Arts Program is nationally known, attracting international talent. William Jewell also provides support for activities such as the Liberty Symphony. Theater groups at Maple Woods Community College and Park University are equally influential, both through direct programs such as theater and music, and through support of community activities.
Along with the Northland’s growing retail, commercial entertainment such as movie theaters have expanded in recent years. Some commercial activities are more unusual, including a “paintball battlefield” in Clay County.
Clay and Platte counties also host three riverboat casinos, the largest collection in the state: the AmeriStar in Kansas City, North, the Argosy in Riverside and Harrah’s in North Kansas City. All three report significant success and are in the middle of major expansion programs that include new hotel and convention facilities being added to their theater, restaurant and, of course, gaming. Including the three, plus Buchanan County’s St. Joseph Frontier Casino, the Northland is one of the busiest casino scenes this side of Las Vegas.
The Northland also benefits significantly from the recreation and entertainment throughout greater metropolitan Kansas City. Due to the excellent area highway network, Northlanders are only minutes from the Nelson Art Gallery, the Kansas City Museum or dozens of art galleries, parks and other amenities.
Significantly, these regional attractions include the increasingly dynamic offerings of downtown Kansas City. A large entertainment district and a new sports arena are being constructed only minutes from southern Clay and Platte counties.
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