Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve - Frontcountry Hiking Trails (U.S. National Park Service)

Two Frontcountry Hiking Trails - Open daily during daylight hours

Two frontcountry day hiking trails allow visitors to experience the tallgrass prairie first-hand. No permit is required to hike the frontcountry trails. Enjoy your hike by following these important safety rules.

For Your Safety Please Follow These Rules:
No Smoking on trails
Foot traffic only on hiking trails. No bikes, horses, or motorized conveyance.
Pets are allowed on the frontcountry trails only. Pets must be leashed at all times.
Hunting, firearms, and projectiles prohibited.
Please do not harass the wildlife. All wildlife is protected.
This is a natural area. Watch for snakes, poison ivy, and wild animals.
Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
Please enjoy the trail by staying on the path.
No camping is available at the preserve.

Southwind Nature Trail is open daily during daylight hours. A leisurely stroll across hill and valley, watercourse and prairie grassland, gives visitors a close-up look at what makes up the preserve. Named for the Kansa Indians, the People of the Southwind, this 1.75 mile trail presents marvelous vistas as well School and Southwind Nature Trail as an opportunity for a detailed view at the prairie ecosystem. Two overlook areas afford visitors a chance to experience the scenic beauty of the prairie.

The trail winds across rolling hills, over a spring-fed stream lined with cottonwoodand hackberry trees, and through a fascinating array of grasses and flowers. Along the way is evidence of the insects, birds, and mammals that make the prairie their home. Take your time and notice the gray and white rock, the limestone and steel-tough chert, commonly called "flint," that was formed between 200 and 300 million years ago and gives the name to the resulting hills. Hike all the way to the little one-room school house on the hill and then back to the ranch headquarters. This photo was taken along the trail.

Bottomland Trail is open daily during daylight hours. The trail is complete with an information trail head, 5 interpretive waysides, benches, overlook areas, and fully wheelchair accessible trail loops. Choose from two trail lengths- 3/4 or 1/2 mile loops. Cloud Family admiring wayside. A brochure has been developed to assist you as you travel the trail. You may receive one at the ranch headquarters or you will find one in the brochure box at the trail head kiosk. A comfort station is also available. This trail was made possible through a generous donation by the Cloud Foundation in memory of Roger Cloud who was an avid lover of the Flint Hills.

This trail provides visitors with an opportunity to experience a future bottomland prairie restoration, while gaining an understanding of its rarity as a natural plant community and its importance in the human history of the Flint Hills region. The area will be restored to bottomland prairie and will be viewed through this website as it develops. The restoration has already began as seeds will be planted in the spring.

Throughout its lifespan, this area has displayed many uses. One of the earliest and also most recent, the area has seen agricultural use. An area adjacent to rivers and streams, known as bottomland, is prime agricultural land for farming, due to the amount of sediment runoff from the nearby streams.