By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
Let’s visit all the nation’s national parks – and do that in a day.
Clearly that cannot happen, short of a Star Trek transporter machine. But what if we could learn about many of the country’s national parks while having fun during one afternoon?
Today we’ll meet Kansas entrepreneurs who are preparing an attraction that would enable just that.
Kelli and Todd Miller are owners of Mega Pines Mini Golf, a remarkable new attraction to be located near Andover.
Kelli and Todd graduated from high school in the rural community of Rose Hill, population 4,185 people. Now, that’s rural. They went to K-State where Kelli earned degrees in education and Todd earned degrees in education and wildlife biology. They are now teachers in the Wichita area.
They are also entrepreneurs, operating snow cone stands and other businesses. When the Covid pandemic hit, they were busy with their snow cone stands, which were located outside. Customers said how much they enjoyed being outside and going to the parks again.
“It got us thinking about what kind of outdoor activity we might be able to offer,” Miller said.
“When our kids were little, we tried to take them to all the national parks,” Miller said. This prompted the Millers to think of creating a national park-themed mini golf course, with each hole named for a national park. “It would be a fun activity with an educational element as well.”
They formed an LLC in 2023 and received a grant that enabled them to purchase a cargo trailer and a portable nine-hole mini golf course to take to special events. Miller’s long-term vision was to have the course in a permanent location between Augusta — where they live — and Wichita — where she works.
“I contacted every landowner on the highway between Augusta and Andover with no luck,” Miller said. She finally found a piece of land that was vacant, but which contained a lot of debris from the 2022 tornado. It had two ponds and plenty of natural wildlife.
Miller contacted the owner, Lonny McCurdy, and he loved the idea. “He said that this would be a great place to bring his grandchildren,” Miller said. It took a long time to clean up the tornado debris.
Miller worked with a company to design the mini golf course, with each hole describing a different national park. Rather than a typical concrete base that cracks due to the freezing and thawing of Kansas winters, the course is designed with a permeable base so that water passes through. This extends the longevity of the course.
Miller wanted the business name to connect with the trees in the natural setting in which it was located. Using their daughter’s name, along with a popular meme at the time, they named it Mega Pines Mini Golf. Daughter Meagan, an interior design student at K-State, designed the logo.
In November 2024, the area opened for winter fun using inflatables. The goal is to have the new course in place and open by May 2025. Season Putt Passes are now available for purchase online.
The mini golf course will be situated so that a player can go from Denali in the northwest to the Everglades in the southeast, just as the parks are situated on the continent. Eighteen national parks are represented with educational information about each one. Bumpers will be available at the holes to help kids or those with special needs – maybe including poor putters like me.
Other opportunities at Mega Pines will include gellyball, a food truck, yard games, picnic area, STEM activities, and more.
Funding has come from an Attraction Development Grant from Kansas Tourism within the Kansas Department of Commerce, along with financing from private banks and NetWork Kansas. For more information, see www.megapinesgolf.com.
How about visiting a bunch of national parks in one afternoon and playing a fun round of mini golf in the process? Thanks to the difference made by Kelli and Todd Miller’s entrepreneurship, people will be able to do this in rural Kansas.
The Millers are making it possible to putt through the parks.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at https://www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles/. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
