Highest point in Topeka and located on it's southwest side, Burnett's Mound was named after former owner, Potawatomi Chief Abram B.Burnett.

Associated with Indian legend and devistated by a tornado that swept through Topeka in June, 1966, Burnett's Mound has since seen construction of a water tower on its eastern slope, apartment complexes, businesses and high-dollar homes on all sides. The top still remains a city park, closing at dusk. A walkway leads from parking to the summit, where visitors get a spectacular bird's eye view of the wide vistas on all sides of the Mound.

When visiting, use respect. There well may be ghost spirits. You can feel them near.

Kids who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s were known to sneak out at night and visit this area, walking up the steep hill on mild summer nights, carrying along flashlights. This photographer, who had not been back, even once, for more than forty years, could still feel a special kinship with this wild place.

Also read:

Burnett's Mound goes green again —by Phil Anderson, Topeka Capital-Journal, 10/2/2010