Scenic Overlook Loop, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas

Distance: Approximately 8 mile loop (12.9 km)
Elevation: 1,200-1,495 feet (368 - 456 m)
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Time of Year: Year Round

Located in the Flint Hills of Kansas, is the 10,800 acre Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. It is owned by The Nature Conservancy, but operated by the National Park Service as the only national park unit dedicated to preserving and protecting the tallgrass prairies that once spanned some 240 million acres of the Great Plains. At over 10,000 acres, it is large enough that from the center of it, it looks vast and almost unending, much like it did before the homesteaders plowed the plains.

It was best described at Homestead National Monument in Nebraska that "once the homesteads were tiny islands in a sea of prairie, but now the prairies themselves are tiny islands in a sea of farmland". But, the Flint Hills retain the most extensive tracts of intact and semi-intact prairies left. The reason is that the Flint Hills are made of limestone and the soils here are very thin. Thus, homesteaders were unable to plow the prairies under. Instead, grazing cattle was the only option. While cows do not graze exactly the way bison do, they were a partial substitute for the loss of bison and less disruptive to the ecosystem than farming.

They released 14 bison in the preserve last year.
The first time in 130 years bison have grazed this prairie

The loop trail begins at the Visitor Center located in the old barn. There you can pick up a map of the trails. You will be following the "blue trail" on the map that takes you to the "scenic overlook". It labels it 6.4 miles roundtrip, but that is if you go out and back. If you jump onto the yellow trail from there to make a loop, it ends up somewhere around 8 miles. If it is May-July, I recommend using insect repellent to protect against ticks and chiggers. But, when we went in October, it is just fine because despite the hot days, the bugs were gone by then.

Limestone gravel road is the first part of the route

The trail follows a dirt road that is used by the NPS us that takes people on the tour to see the buffalo. At the fork immediately past the horse corral, stay right. It slowly climbs the hill to a ridgeline with excellent views of the landscape. You will cross a cattle guard, at which time you have entered the buffalo area called Windmill Pasture. If you encounter them, keep you distance of at least 300 feet. If they are on the road, then take off across the grass to go around them.

When you get to the first intersection labeled #2 on the post, bear right. The route follows the ridgeline and then goes up to a hilltop crest for the most spectacular view across the landscape. At the "scenic overlook", there is a large turnaround spot for the bus. At this stage, you have hiked 3.2 miles. From here, you can really image how the prairie stretched out for hundreds of miles in all directions.

Leaving the hilltop and walking on the "grassy road"

From this hilltop, the route turns into a grassy and definitely less used 2-wheel track that is covered in short grasses. There are some dusty sections that appear to probably be pretty muddy in the wet season. If that is the case, you may choose to return on the drier limestone road you walked on back. But, if conditions allow, continue to follow the grassy road to the east. The route will soon veer north and then come to an intersection labeled #17 on a brick on the ground.

Stay right and follow that as it takes you southeast toward the highway and fenceline. Along the fenceline there are a lot of trees. But, since they do not graze this area with either bison or cattle, the grass is noticeably taller. Also, the soils are a bit deeper down in the drainage bottom. You will cross another gate and marker labeled #16 and then head off toward the old school house and farmhouse woodlot on the distant hill. Upon reaching the one room school house, you can check that out and then follow the nature trail back to the visitor center via a bridge over the wooded creek bottom (watch for poison ivy on the trail here)

Solitude on the prairie