Sinkhole risk in Woodson County, KS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 40%
At or near the surface: 40%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 198 of Woodson County's 498 square miles on soluble rock, 198 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 3,111 residents (6 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 408 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Woodson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Wilson County, KS, about 23 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Wilson County, KS 23 mi south · 54% at surface
Coffey County, KS 24 mi north · 53% at surface
Allen County, KS 25 mi east · 90% at surface
Greenwood County, KS 26 mi west · 55% at surface
Neosho County, KS 33 mi southeast · 78% at surface
Anderson County, KS 34 mi northeast · 55% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian- Virgilian in age, covering about 29% of the county. Next is the Lansing Group at 11%.

Against the rest of Kansas

Woodson County ranks 33 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 84% of US counties on that measure.