Entry No. 13 — the Wichita file — filed under: megaliths

Stonehenge Jr. (Solar Calendar)

Tucked into the northwest corner of Central Riverside Park, this circle of limestone megaliths, colored glass and mosaics by Wichita artist Steve Murillo (2003) is a working solar calendar. On the equinoxes and solstices the noon sun shoots through a metal eye atop one stone and lights up a glass medallion set in the ground.

The move: Time a visit to a solstice or equinox around solar noon to watch the sunbeam hit the buried glass marker, or just hunt the zodiac mosaics on the stones any day.

📍 Before you go It sits in the northwest corner of Central Riverside Park, in the Riverside neighborhood just across the Little Arkansas River from downtown, near North Nims Avenue. There's free park parking close by and no gate, ticket, or reservation needed — it's an open-air public sculpture you can walk right up to on any day the park is open. For the actual light-through-the-eye effect, aim for a solstice or equinox under clear skies, since clouds cancel the show; otherwise visit in soft morning or late-day light to photograph the mosaics. Make a loop of it with the riverside paths, Botanica gardens, and the Wichita Art Museum, all nearby.

• 📍 Riverside
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Outdoors

Hours: Open during park hours; the calendar 'effect' only triggers near solar noon on solstices/equinoxes.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Atlas Obscura · Roadside America

last checked: 2026-06-06