Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Incredible experience! My husband and I hiked the 7 mile loop through the bison pastures. At about 3 miles in we saw the herd. They were really close to the trail. It was a little scary knowing there was nothing in between us! Make sure to bring lots of water and a hat would help. The sun is relentless. There is absolutely no shade anywhere. (It's a prairie 😉) Also, a fabulous place for bird watching.

Such an incredible experience! We got to visit with the park rangers a bit and then hit the trails. Bring water, sunscreen, and a hat if you come in June! There are so many trails to visit we ran out of time to try them all (a good problem to have!). I can't wait until we come back again!

I especially drove to Kansas to see this Prairie, a tiny beautiful remnant of what was. Thank you Nature Conservancy!! We hiked 4 miles round trip into the Windmill Pasture and saw 7 Bison. Wish there had been more. Eerie to see them with nothing but Big Blue Stem between you. We came in early May, would like to return after Memorial Day and late summer to see more color. Would also like to return for stargazing, trails are open 24/7. Four miles in the Sun and we were tired, imagine walking alongside a covered wagon for 15 miles a day for 6 months, half the visitors we saw never went beyond the visitors center.

We heard that Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is an excellent place for stargazing. And indeed it was so amazing! This place is two hours from where we live and was so worth a quick day trip. Go during the new moon and when there are no clouds at night. If you have never experienced the night sky it will take your breath away. Also, it will take a minute to adjust to being in such darkness...in fact it might be a little scary at first but once you get adjusted you will be mesmerized! We took these pics on 1/28/25 about 7pm using a google pixel phone's night feature. It's the best we could do to capture the stars. We must have seen thousands of stars but can't tell by our pics. Go to their Facebook page and click on the photo tab to find better night sky pics. The daytime photos were taken on our 2nd trip to TGNP in March 2025. We hiked to marker 15 to see bison. We also saw bison at the little school house.

So cool seeing the bison. Chuck at the visitor's center was nice and fun to chat with. Taking the dirt roads out after doing the bison loop was a blast! Great little hiking trail right by the visitors center and a picnic area

A friend visited me from Michigan. She wanted to see more of Kansas so naturally I chose highway 177 and the preserve. We had a fun time exploring the barn and beautiful home. This was my fourth visit. It’s so close to Wichita that I will make this trip annually. We did stop in Cottonwood Falls for a little antiquing and found a few items to bring home.

Thus was a great surprise only 2.5 hours from Kansa City. The visitor center was very well done and park employees took the time to explain displays. Then go out tor the trail across the prairie grasses. We were told there are approximately 100 bison in the herds in that area. We counted about 45 adults and 15 baby bison. We were not separated by fences, but never felt threatened by any aggressive behavior. It was a tremendous visit.

Glad we decided to take a day trip from KC to visit the preserve and do the scenic byway. We didn’t spend a lot of time at the preserve but I’ll definitely go back. Facilities are newer, clean, and well maintained. Bring sneakers and lots of sunscreen if you’re going to walk the trails as shade is almost nonexistent. Be sure to visit the schoolhouse that’s up the road. Neat little spot! Sadly we didn’t get to see any buffalo as they were further in than we were going to walk.