Settlers named this region of steep, grassy hills and bluffs the Smoky Hills because of the haze that seems to settle on them at sunrise and sunset. This loop in west-central Kansas crosses the Smoky Hill River Valley in a region where mixed-grass prairie begins giving way to the short-grass prairie which is able to endure the hot, arid summers of the western High Plains. The route takes you by two crossings of the frontier Butterfield Overland Dispatch freight and passenger wagon trail and Cedar Bluff Reservoir. US-283 has a paved shoulder and the other highways do not but they have very low traffic.