The highway enters from Colorado into Cheyenne County, and shares a seven-mile (11 km) concurrency through the town of St. Francis with K-27, the first north–south route intersected in Kansas.

K-27 splits east of St. Francis and heads south toward Goodland, and US-36 then continues through Bird City and McDonald before intersecting K-25 in Atwood, the seat of Rawlins County.

The highway becomes full-access again before entering Doniphan County for its final trek through the state, passing through Troy and into Wathena, where it picks up freeway status though Elwood before crossing the Missouri River on the Pony Express Bridges and entering Missouri.

Prior to 1926, the portion of future US-36 between Norton and the Missouri state line was known as the Rock Island Highway.

Then in a March 21, 1939 resolution, it was approved to realign US-36 between Seneca and Fairview on a straight alignment, eliminating the overlap with K-63.