U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately 640 miles (1,030 km) in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21) in Springer, New Mexico and the highway's eastern terminus is at US 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Much of it follows the Santa Fe Trail.

The highway passes through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The eastbound shoulder also touches a corner of Texas at a small road junction near the New Mexico/Oklahoma border.

US 56 runs concurrent with US 412 for its entire length in New Mexico, and are signed as such through the state. The two routes begin in Springer and head east towards Abbot, where they serve as the northern terminus of State Road 39. Continuing east, US 56/412 meet the southern terminus of NM 193 south of Farley, the northern terminus of NM 120 east of Gladstone, and the southern terminus of NM 453. US 56/412 intersect US 64 and US 87 in Clayton, New Mexico, and US 64 joins with US 56/412 in their trek northeast. The three routes serve as the southern terminus of NM 406 as they enter the Kiowa National Grassland. The three routes then cross into Oklahoma together.

US-56's short path through Oklahoma consists of a diagonal slice across the western part of the Oklahoma Panhandle. US-56/64/412 enter Oklahoma near the southwest corner of the Panhandle, where they also enter Rita Blanca National Grassland. They leave the grassland near Felt. Three miles (4.8 km) southwest of Boise City, US-385 joins the concurrency. The routes then enter Boise City, where they enter a traffic circle around the Cimarron County Courthouse that involves US-56, US-64, US-385, US-412, State Highway 3, and SH-325. After leaving the traffic circle, US-56 overlaps US-64, US-412, and SH-3. 1.7 miles (2.7 km) east of the courthouse, US-56 meets US-287 at an interchange. US-56/64/412/SH-3 continue northeast for 6 miles (9.7 km), where US-56 splits to travel northeast on its own.

The route parallels the Cimarron Valley Railroad for the remainder of its time in Oklahoma. Keyes is the next town on US-56, and it also serves as the northern terminus of SH-171 where the two highways intersect. US-56 crosses into Texas County east of Sturgis. Just before crossing the Kansas line, US-56 meets the north end of SH-95. US-56 then enters Kansas on the east edge of Elkhart.

US-56 enters the state at the Kansas/Oklahoma border near Elkhart. It weaves its way across the state from southwest to northeast, passing through such towns as Dodge City, Great Bend, McPherson, Council Grove, and Baldwin City. It joins with I-35/US-50 east of Gardner, and goes northeast with I-35 into the Kansas City Metro Area. It exits the state as part of Shawnee Mission Parkway in Merriam.

For one mile (1.6 km) in Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, Route 56 follows the noted boulevard Ward Parkway along with 47th St through the Country Club Plaza. The route ends at an intersection with U.S. Route 71. It also includes Blue Parkway and Swope Parkway at certain points.

In the early 1950s, towns along what was then the K-45 corridor, connecting Ellsworth, Kansas to the Oklahoma state line at Elkhart, formed the Mid-Continent Diagonal Highway Association to push for a new highway from Springer, New Mexico (on US 85) northeast across the Oklahoma Panhandle, along K-45, and continuing to Manitowoc, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. By mid-1954, it was being promoted as U.S. Route 55 between the Great Lakes and the Southwestern United States. The first submissions to the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) to establish the route were made in 1954; all placed the northeast end at Manitowoc, Wisconsin (absorbing US 151 from Cedar Rapids, Iowa), while they varied on whether the southwest end was to be at Albuquerque, New Mexico or Nogales, Arizona. The first route considered in northeast Kansas was via US 40 from Ellsworth to Topeka and K-4 and US 59 via Atchison to St. Joseph, Missouri. A revised route adopted in March 1955, due to AASHO objections to the original route, which traveled concurrently with other U.S. Highways for over half of its length, followed K-14, K-18, US 24, K-63, K-16, and US 59 via Lincoln and Manhattan. In July, the US 50-N Association proposed a plan that would have eliminated US 50N by routing US 55 along most of its length, from Larned east to Baldwin Junction, and then along US 59 to Lawrence and K-10 to Kansas City; towns on US 50N west of Larned, which would have been bypassed, led a successful fight against this.

However, in September of that year, the Kansas Highway Commission accepted that plan, taking US 55 east to Kansas City. On June 27, 1956, the AASHO Route Numbering Committee considered this refined plan for US 55, between Springer, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri, with a short US 155 along the remaining portion of US 50N from Larned west to Garden City. The committee approved the request, but since the proposed route was more east–west than north–south, it changed it to an even number – US 56 – and the spur to US 156.

On June 26, 1958, AASHO denied the New Mexico Department of Transportation's request to extend US 56 west from Springer to Santa Fe, which would have followed US 85, US 84 and US 285.

State Highway 114
Location	Near Boise City, Oklahoma – near Elkhart, Kansas
Existed	c. 1961

US 56 originally took a different route between Boise City, Oklahoma and Elkhart, Kansas. The original route followed US 64 east to an intersection south of Eva. It then split off to the north towards Elkhart. By 1961, the section north of US 64 had been overlaid with SH-95. The following year, US 56 was rerouted over SH-114, bringing it to its current diagonal path across the Oklahoma Panhandle. The old alignment is still on the Oklahoma highway system as the north half of SH-95.

State	County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
New Mexico	Colfax	Springer	0.000	0.000		NM 21 west (4th Street west) – Miami	Continuation beyond western terminus
						I-25 BL (Maxwell Avenue) to I-25 / NM 58 – Las Vegas, Raton, Cimarron, Taos Ski Valley, Springer Lake US 412 begins	Western terminus of US 56/US 412; western end of US 412 overlap
		Abbott	19.719	31.735		NM 39 south – Roy, Mosquero	Northern terminus of NM 39
		​	31.690	51.000		NM 193 north – Farley	Southern terminus of NM 193
	Union	​	46.688	75.137		NM 120 south – Yates	Northern terminus of NM 120
		​	54.040	86.969		NM 453 north – Grenville	Southern terminus of NM 453
		Clayton	82.400	132.610		NM 402 (S. 1st Avenue)
			82.530	132.819		US 64 west / US 87 (1st Street) – Dalhart, Raton	Western end of US 64 overlap
		​	85.890	138.227		NM 406 north – Seneca	Southern terminus of NM 406
New Mexico–Oklahoma line			94.172 0.00	151.555 0.00		Mileposts reset at state line
Oklahoma	Cimarron	​	28.49	45.85		US 385 south – Dalhart	Western end of US-385 overlap
		Boise City	32.31	52.00		US 385 north / SH-3 west (Cimarron Avenue north) / SH-325 west (Main Street west) – Kenton, Denver Co.	Traffic circle around Cimarron County courthouse; eastern end of US-385 concurrency; western end of SH-3 concurrency; eastern terminus of SH-325
		​	34.03	54.77		US 287 – Amarillo, Denver CO, Stratford TX	Interchange
		​	40.09	64.52		US 64 / US 412 / SH-3 east – Guymon	Eastern end of US-64/US-412/SH-3 overlap
		Keyes	48.54	78.12		SH-171 south – Kerrick	Northern terminus of SH-171
	Texas	​	71.46	115.00		SH-95 south – Guymon	Northern terminus of SH-95
Oklahoma–Kansas line			71.68 0.000	115.36 0.000		Mileposts reset at state line
Kansas	Morton	Elkhart	2.366	3.808		K-27 north – Richfield	Southern terminus of K-27
		Rolla	17.746	28.559		K-51 west – Richfield	Western end of K-51 overlap
	Stevens	​	25.994	41.833		K-25 south – Guymon OK	Western end of K-25 overlap
		Hugoton	33.629	54.121		K-51 east – Liberal	Eastern end of K-51 overlap
			35.775	57.574		K-25 north – Ulysses	Eastern end of K-25 overlap
	Seward	No major junctions
	Haskell	Satanta	61.813	99.478		K-190 west – Ulysses	Western end of K-190 overlap
			62.893	101.216		K-190 east – Liberal, Meade	Eastern end of K-190 overlap
		Sublette	69.316	111.553		US-160 / US-83 – Liberal, Garden City, Meade
	Gray	​	87.201	140.336		K-144 west – Ulysses	Eastern terminus of K-144
		​	100.191	161.242		K-23 – Cimarron, Meade
	Ford	Dodge City	116.209	187.020		US-400 west – Garden City	Western end of US-400 overlap
			119.752	192.722		US-283 south – Minneola	Western end of US-283 overlap
			123.182	198.242		US-400 east – Greensburg	Eastern end of US-400 overlap
			126.894	204.216		US-50 west – Cimarron	Western end of US-50 overlap
		Wright	128.630	207.010		US-283 north – Jetmore	Eastern end of US-283 overlap
	Edwards	Kinsley	156.790	252.329		US-50 east – Hutchinson	Eastern end of US-50 overlap
			116.838	188.033		US-183 south – Greensburg	Western end of US-183 overlap
	Pawnee	​	165.995	267.143		US-183 north – La Crosse	Eastern end of US-183 overlap
		Larned	182.397	293.540		K-19 Spur south – Belpre	Northern terminus of K-19 Spur
			183.810	295.814		K-156 west – Jetmore	Western end of K-156 overlap; former US-156 west
	Barton	Great Bend	204.229	328.675		K-96 west – Ness City	Western end of K-96 overlap
			206.006	331.535		US-281 – St. John, Russell
		​	209.801	337.642		K-156 east – Ellsworth	Eastern end of K-156 overlap; former US-156 east
	Rice	Lyons	236.876	381.215		K-96 east / K-14 (Grand Avenue) – Ellsworth, Hutchinson	Eastern end of K-96 overlap
	McPherson	McPherson	265.669	427.553		K-153 south – Hutchinson	Northern terminus of K-153; former US-81
			266.667	429.159		US 81 Bus. south – Newton, Hutchinson, Opera House	Western end of US-81 Bus. overlap
			269.185	433.211		US 81 Bus. ends / I-135 / US-81 – Salina, Wichita	Eastern end of US-81 Bus. overlap; I-135 exit 60
	Marion	​	285.158	458.917		K-15 south – Newton	Western end of K-15 overlap
		Lehigh	286.642	461.306		K-168 north – Lehigh	Southern terminus of K-168
		Hillsboro	291.156	468.570		K-15 north – Abilene	Eastern end of K-15 overlap
		Marion	301.399	485.055		K-256 south – Marion	Northern terminus of K-256
		​	305.390	491.478		US-77 south / K-150 east – Emporia, El Dorado	Western end of US-77 overlap; western terminus of K-150; roundabout
	Dickinson	Herington	324.997	523.032		US 56 Bus. east – Herington	Western terminus of US-56 Bus.; no access to US-56 Bus. from US-56 westbound
			327.060	526.352		US-77 north / US 56 Bus. west – Herington, Junction City	Eastern end of US-77 overlap; eastern terminus of US-56 Bus.
	Morris	​	337.304	542.838		K-149 north – White City	Southern terminus of K-149
		Council Grove	351.155– 351.323	565.129– 565.400		K-177 – Cottonwood Falls, Manhattan
	Lyon	Admire	372.731	599.852		K-99 – Emporia, Alma
		​	376.162	605.374		I-335 / Kansas Turnpike – Emporia, Topeka	Kansas Tpke. exit 147
		Miller	378.469	609.087		K-78 south – Miller	Northern terminus of K-78
	Osage	​	386.959	622.750		K-31 south / 229th Street – Osage City	Wye intersection; western end of K-31 overlap
		Burlingame	393.732	633.650		K-31 north – Harveyville	Eastern end of K-31 overlap
		​	383.775	617.626		US-75 – Lyndon, Topeka
	Douglas	Baldwin City	426.126	685.783		US-59 – Lawrence, Ottawa
		​	436.919	703.153		K-33 south – Wellsville	Northern terminus of K-33
	Johnson	Gardner				New Century AirCenter	Interchange
			448.458	721.723		I-35 south / US-50 west – Wichita	Western end of I-35/US-50 overlap; I-35 exit 210
		Olathe	451.688	726.921	214	Lone Elm Road / 159th Street	Exit numbers follow I-35
			453.208	729.368	215	US-169 south / K-7 – Paola	Western end of US-169 concurrency
			454.468	731.395	217	Old Highway 56	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			455.668	733.327	218	Santa Fe Street
			457.998	737.076	220	119th Street
		Lenexa	460.198	740.617	222A	I-435 / US-50 east	Eastern end of US-50 concurrency; I-435 exit 83
					222B	I-435 west to K-10	I-435 exit 83
			461.658	742.967	224	95th Street	Diverging diamond interchange
		Lenexa–Overland Park line	462.908	744.978	225A	87th Street Parkway
		Overland Park–Lenexa line			225C	75th Street	Eastbound exit only
		Lenexa	463.398	745.767	225B	US-69 south (Overland Parkway)	Western end of US-69 concurrency; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		Overland Park–Merriam line	464.788	748.004	227	75th Street	No eastbound exit
		Merriam	465.828	749.677	228A	67th Street
			466.348	750.514		I-35 north – Des Moines	Eastern end of I-35 overlap; I-35 exit 228B
		Overland Park–Shawnee line	467.710	752.706		US-69 north (Metcalf Avenue) to I-635	Eastern end of US-69 overlap; interchange
		Mission–Fairway line				Roe Avenue / Johnson Drive	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		Westwood–Mission Woods line	471.201	758.325		US-169 north (Rainbow Boulevard)	Eastern end of US-169 overlap
Kansas–Missouri line			471.450 0.000	758.725 0.000		State Line Road	Mileposts reset; no state maintenance inside Missouri
Missouri	Jackson	Kansas City	2.948	4.744		US 71 (Bruce R. Watkins Drive)	Interchange; eastern terminus; road continues as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled

U.S. Highway 56 Business
Location	Herington, Kansas
Existed	October 13, 1979–present

U.S. Route 56 Business (US-56 Bus.) is a short business loop through Herington, Kansas. US-56 begins at US-56 and US-77 south of Herington. At this intersection, there is no access to eastbound US-56 or northbound US-77 from US-56 Bus. and no access to US-56 Bus. from westbound US-56 or southbound US-77. US-56 Bus. heads north through flat lands with scattered trees for 1.1 miles (1.8 km) then enters Herington. The highway continues for roughly 0.55 miles (0.89 km) then curves east and becomes Trapp Street. US-56 Bus. then crosses Lime Creek as it continues through the city. After roughly 0.85 miles (1.37 km) the highway exits the city and reaches its eastern terminus at US-56 and US-77.

US-56 Bus. and US-77 Bus. was approved through Herington in a meeting on October 13, 1979. US-77 Bus. was approved to be decommissioned in a meeting on June 9, 1991, leaving just US-56 Bus..

Major intersections

The entire route is in Dickinson County.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
​	0.00	0.00	US-56 west / US-77 south	Western terminus; no access to US-56 east/ US-77 north from US-56 Bus. west; no access to US-56 Bus. from US-56 west/ US-77 south
Herington	2.5	4.0	US-56 west / US-77 – Junction City, Lincolnville	Eastern terminus
​			US-56 east – Council Grove	Continuation beyond eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

U.S. Highway 56 Temporary
Location	Near Boise City, Oklahoma – Elkhart, Kansas
Length	42.9 mi (69.0 km)
Existed	July 11, 1956–c. 1961

U.S. Route 56 Temporary (US-56 Temp.) was a 42.9-mile-long (69.0 km) temporary route of US 56 in Oklahoma. It began on modern US-56 northeast of Boise City, Oklahoma and followed US 64 and SH 3 east to SH 95. It then traveled north along SH 95 to Elkhart, Kansas. The route was approved on July 11, 1956, along existing highways, when the current routing of US-56 was being constructed. By 1962, US 56 was rerouted over SH 114, bringing it to its current diagonal path across the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Cimarron	​	0.00	0.00	US 56 / US 64 / SH-3 west / SH-114 east	Transitioned to US 56 west; west end of US 64/SH-3 overlap; western terminus of SH-114
Texas	​	27	43	US 64 / SH-3 east / SH-95 south	East end of US 64/SH-3 overlap; west end of SH-95 overlap
	​	41	66	SH-114 west	Eastern terminus of SH-114
Oklahoma–Kansas line		42.9	69.0	SH-95 ends US 56 east / K-27 north	Transitioned to US 56 east; eastern end of SH-95 overlap; northern terminus of SH-95; southern terminus of K-27
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

• K-156 (Kansas highway)
• U.S. Route 156

• Endpoints of U.S. Highway 56
• Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT

Browse numbered routes
← NM 55	NM	→ NM 56
← SH-55	OK	→ SH-56
← K-55	KS	→ K-57
← I-55	MO	→ I-57