Tallgrass Prairie Preserve

There's not a lot to do at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. That's part of the point. There is the obligatory gift shop, of course, which, incidentally, stocks one of the best collections of nature books around. There's a picnic area, a short (3 mile) trail, and a couple dozen miles of county roads. Add in a historic bunkhouse, which is almost always locked up, and that's about it. Oh, and of course there's the prairie and the buffalo. Which is quite enough.

The Tallgrass Prairie once stretched from Texas to Manitoba, 140 million acres. That vast expanse is gone, plowed under to turn the Great Plains into the breadbasket of the nation; less than 10% of it remains. The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, north of Pawhuska is the largest remaining swath, almost 40,000 acres. Hiking the trail and driving the roads of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve allows one a small glimpse of what that primordial prairie was like. Sit and listen to the wind shake the grass, and there comes a sense of both the loneliness and the grandeur that defined the prairie over a century ago.

Once part of the Osage Indian reservation, this land was never plowed. Ranchers raised cattle on the land for decades until 1989, when it was purchased by the Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy brought back the two critical elements of the original ecosystem; bison and fire. A herd of about 2500 bison range over the preserve, while the Conservancy practices a "patch burn" management system. Every year about a third of the persevere is burned in a series of about three dozen controlled burn. This creates a "patchy mosaic" of plant communities as each patch progresses from freshly burnt to mature prairie. This leads to a healthy biodiversity. Over 300 plant species flower on the Preserve. There are over 250 regularly occurring bird species in the area, including the greater Prairie Chicken.

The bison herd at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is not wild in the sense that the Yellowstone herd is wild. These bison are fenced within the preserve, and are rounded-up once a year, but they are not ranched in the way other bison herds in the area are. Within the very broad confines of the preserve, they are free to wander and breed as they will. Driving the county roads through the preserve, including the Bison Loop to the west of the preserve Headquarters will usually yield bison sightings. The herd, however, is free to wander the 21,000 acre Bison Unit, and much of it is away from the roads. There are no fences between the road and the range though, so you may find yourself sharing the roads with the bison. The bison are attracted to recently burnt areas, so if you don't see any bison on the way into the headquarters, ask where recently burnt areas are. When you do find the bison, stay in you car, as the they are very large, and can be quite dangerous.

The Preserve Headquarters has a small gift shop / information center. It is staffed by volunteer docents who are quite knowledgeable and understandably eager to share their enthusiasm. The Headquarters preserve also has the historic Barnard Ranch bunkhouse (listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The Bunkhouse is usually not open to the public, although the breezeway is a delightful place to sit and rest. To the west of the headquarters is are the nature trails, the smaller, 1 mile loop, runs through the Sand Creek bottoms and up into the prairie. The longer, 2 mile loop, runs through the prairie. Neither are within the "buffalo zone".

The Tallgrass Prairie preserve is most easily reached from Pawhuska. Take Grandview Avenue north from downtown Pawhuska. Grandview will turn into County Road 4201. The entrance to the Preserve is about 7 miles north of town. The Headquarters another 10 miles beyond. The gift shop, staffed by volunteer docents, is open from March through mid-Novmber from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The trail and picnic areas are open from dawn to dusk. The county roads can be driven at anytime. Although there is not much wildlife to be seen at night, northern Osage County is one of the darkest spots in the state, which makes the Prairie Preserve, especially the north end a great place for star-gazing. There are restrooms at the headquarters that are open year round. There is no camping available on the preserve. The nearest hotels are in Pawhuska and Bartlesville.

Nature Conservancy page.

First image from Wikipedia, uploaded by DBinfo. Second image originally uploaded to Flickr by by and by.