The Scout Statue — Attraction in Kansas City

Agree with a previous reviewer- I was sorely disappointed in this statue that represents Kansas City and its history. Have always taken small day trips to KC from my city less than two hours away, but never was able to make it here. Felt very unsafe as well, even with two other people and a dog in our group. Parked cars with people in them filled up almost the entire lot to park to walk to statue, but no one was actually up at statue (except homeless population). People were sitting in cars with dark clothes and hoods, smoking weed, and definitely were some drug exchanges going on at the time. I feel like if a different reviewer said the same thing just a week ago- it must be a hot spot for that kind of thing. Should have checked the reviews first. Went on a Friday mid-day. Also expected to see a statue with good upkeep because of its historical value to city, instead it was tagged on 50% of the rock base and a little bit on the statue itself. Things like "the end is near" and "love, laugh, pu**y" There were tents and other personal belongings on the hill belonging to the homeless. View and the thirty additional minutes it took just to find it (kept driving past because there are no markers) was not worth it. Definitely would not suggest bringing children up here or going at it alone unless you're a native or ballsy as heck, as it's just too worrisome safety-wise. Sad, definitely will not make the drive there again unless something changes, but doubt it will. Keep...

Where the Wizard lives...

I spent an afternoon wandering the city shooting photos, and meandered over to shoot the skyline from The Scout. While walking up the hill, I saw a cloaked man, middle aged and scruffy skulking about in the woodline. I added him to my overall mental map as I worked my way around the statue, searching for a unique angle. As I set up, I noticed him coming toward me. Closer, closer, and closer he ambled, until he was just a few feet away.

I turned and said, "Hey, man...what's up?"

He said nothing, but continued to edge closer.

He appeared to be some sort of Wizard, or perhaps a Druid. He was clearly living rough, perhaps collecting scraps of wisdom and spells here and there. I felt like I was disturbing his space, and, as he continued to follow me around as I shot, decided to move on.

I've not been back up there in several years, but every so often, when I drive by on I-35, I swear that I catch a glimpse of him, there in the edge of the woods...guarding his secrets. I wish him well.

Cool place to take...

In general I would visit the WW1 memorial park and stay close to the monument, Specially if you're traveling alone or with a family. I really enjoyed the world war one Monument and grounds however I really wanted to see the Kansas City scout monument but when I did I was severely disappointed. In order to get to the Scout you have to drive or Walk a half a mile from the monument, the road to the scout is on a one-way road that comes to a dead end(never a good transitional space). I've been exploring Kansas City for weeks now and this was the only time that I felt unsafe, there was graffiti on the walls and on the monument, homeless population on the grounds next to the monument, broken glass on the grounds and at the end of the one-way road it looked like a drug deal is going down. This is very unfortunate because I bet at one time this monument was a great symbol for Kansas City but they have a lot of work to do to clean it up before I would recommend anyone to go...