A highlight for us was getting to hike the Konza Prairie Biological Station. It is over 8,600 acres of land in the Flint Hills south of Manhattan, Kansas. The land was purchased by partners including The Nature Conservancy, Kansas State University, and a private philanthropist. Nice to see examples of very wealthy people doing good things.
An easy 20-minute drive put us in the parking lot and at the trail head. We knew this was going to be a hot one but due to a slightly lazy morning didn’t get there as early as we wanted. Clearly many others had the same idea as there were lots of cars and lots of folks on the trail. Very nice to see a place like this being used so much. What an amazing resource so close to the city.
Informational kiosks at the trail head which are wonderful. It is a sobering fact that of the more than 170 million (let’s look at that written out – 170,000,000) acres of tall grass prairie that once covered the middle of the U.S., only 4% remains today. And of that, about 2/3 can be found in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma. The Konza Station is part of that treasure. The kiosks also give you some tips on identifying a few of the grasses and the history of the Native Americans, the Kaw and the Osage, that lived and were pushed out of this area. There is also information about the ongoing study of a buffalo herd here. On a very large, fenced, internal portion of the Konza that is closed to the public, researches are studying how the tall grass prairie ecosystem benefits from the presence of buffalo.
We opted for the 4+ mile loop trail. It was marvelous. A mix of shade and sun, flat areas and hills, a great workout and a great introduction to what a tall grass prairie is. Absolutely spectacular. I will let a photo gallery do the talking knowing anyone interested out there can easily look them up to learn more.
