Wool and Spice

 

To a girl from Vermont, there’s a lot of nothing out on the Flint Hills of Kansas. Nothing but acres of prairie tall grass.

 

 

 

 

 

And cow poop.

Produced by this guy and his brothers.

 

 

 

And if you’re looking for a tree to pee behind, you’d better be prepared to hold it for a while.

 

 

 

Where we were
My friend E and I went hiking at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills of Kansas a couple weeks ago. It’s 150 miles from Kansas City on U.S. 50, west of Emporia, Kansas. The Preserve includes a 125-year-old farmstead, complete with 3-story limestone barn, stable, home and school and 11,000 surrounding acres of prairie. The Nature Conservancy bought the majority of the acreage in 2005 and the National Park Service owns the farmstead. Together, the two organizations partner to run a truly outstanding destination.

The Conservancy leases the acreage for grazing in the spring and early summer before the cattle head for the feedlots. Hence the herds. At first, it’s a little disconcerting because there are no fences between you and the beef (with horns) which the ranger has warned you are wild and shouldn’t be bothered. Until you realize their flight instincts are better than yours.

Looking at the rolling hills it’s easy to imagine where the phrase “amber waves of grain” comes from. While eating our lunch we looked over miles of green hills without a building in sight. We talked about what it must have been like as an early settler to end up in this lonesome landscape, having travelled thousands of miles from the overcrowded cities of Europe. The nearest human is miles away. If an accident happens, a child gets sick, a tornado strikes, where do you turn for help?

It took an amazing amount of courage for early settlers, men and women, to make their homes here.

These wide-open spaces do tend to make the imagination work overtime.

The wildflowers added splashes of color and bird song provided our hiking music. The day was overcast, in the 60′s with a light wind, which made it ideal. When the temperatures hit their peak in August, it’ll be brutal with no sheltering shade. Not a place to be without your own supply of water.

There are a choice of trails for visitors, depending upon your activity level and interest. We walked the backcountry trails including the 6-mile round trip to the scenic overlook. We followed the gravel road even though I was hankering to head cross-country and short cut the route to the overlook.

We walked and walked and walked, so we ran out of time to check out the farm buildings. Sometime soon I’ll go back with Jack to explore the farm more closely and take the 90-minute bus tour for non-hikers.

If you go
The brochure describes the backcountry trails as moderately difficult. We did two out of three of the trails and with hiking boots, didn’t have any problems. It had been raining the day before and there was no avoiding the mud, but there’s no climbing involved and the elevations are gradual.

On the trails….
there is no traffic noise.
there is no shade.
there is no potable water.
there are no toilets.
there are no picnic tables, benches or bus stops.
there are no phones.

This is the wilderness as much as any forest. Instead of trees there’s tall grass. And wildflowers. And birds. Beautiful vistas and whistling winds. Open horizons. Snakes (although we didn’t see any, the ranger warns about them). Solitude. Mud if it’s wet and I imagine dust if it’s dry.

You should visit. 

What others have to say….
The New York Times has an article describing the Preserve, the Flint Hills Scenic Byway, Wichita and visitor information for the area.

The Nature Conservancy has information on field trips and events on their Preserve page.

 Rte50.com also has excellent pictures and more information from a visit in 2007.

 

Thank you, E, for letting me use your photos of the winding road, the tree and the barn.

Tags: kansas, tallgrass prairie