Buttes of red clay loaded with gypsum, rocky spires, grassy meadows and canyons make up the landscape along the nearly 42-mile Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway, along US-160 from Medicine Lodge west to Coldwater. An ancient sea carved these mesas and ravines 65 million years ago in what is now cattle-ranching country. Although the highway has no paved shoulders, traffic is very light and easily manageable.