[7][8] From Waconda Lake, the Solomon flows southeast for 184 miles (296 km) through the Smoky Hills region and joins the Smoky Hill River immediately south of Solomon, Kansas in western Dickinson County.

Kansas towns along the Solomon River include Cawker City, Beloit, and Minneapolis.

Before American colonization, the Solomon River valley was a popular hunting and trapping area for the Plains Indians.

French explorer Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont visited the area in 1712, claiming it for France.

In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike led an expedition through the area, camping on the Solomon's North Fork near the site of modern Downs, Kansas.