Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve
Over the Memorial Day Weekend, I made my way out to Kansas City to visit friends and took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve in the Flint Hills region of Kansas near Emporia.
As a Kentucky native, I must say that I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so much SKY. Most of the hiking I do in the Kentucky and Indiana area is through forests, so I wasn’t quite prepared for the scope of this park.
There are only 4 trails in the park that include a 4 mile loop, an additional 2 mile loop and a short 1.6 mile wildlife trail along with a one-way trail to an overlook which can also be seen via a bus ride and interpretive tour. The trail to the overlook is 3.2 miles one way. Needless to say that if you had a mind to, you could hike all of the park’s available trails in a single day.
There are very few trees in the park and there are cattle on the site as well for the complete experience. Most of the trees that are in the park are gnarled cottonwoods. It really is a beautiful place and I would highly recommend checking it out if you’re ever in that area of the country. It is a distinctly different hiking experience.
If you’d like to see all 28 photos I took while in the park and elsewhere in the Flint Hills of Kansas, check them out here in the album Tallgrass Prairie.
Collared Lizard
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