photos courtesy National Park Service, Tallgrass prairie national preserve
The Flint Hills area of east central Kansas was created approximately 250 million years ago when much of midwestern North America was covered by shallow seas. As a result, most of the Flint Hills is composed of fossil-rich limestone and shale. When the seas receded, some of the softer shales eroded away, leaving behind hardened flint shelves, arranged like the layers of a cake. The Florence Limestone Member, a hard, 45-foot-thick layer of chert-bearing limestone has been historically quarried for building blocks. Shallow soils and hard limestone made farming almost impossible, thus protecting this area from development.
The tallgrass prairie is an expanse of rolling hills and wide-open vistas, a rare remnant of the vast tallgrass prairie that once covered 400,000 square miles of the Great Plains of central North America. Settlers moved into the area in the 1800s and within a generation much of the tallgrass prairie was plowed under or otherwise removed. Today, less than 4% of tallgrass prairie remain in the world, most of it contained in three tallgrass prairie preserves in the Flint Hills; the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve (TPNP) and Konza Prairie in Kansas, and the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma (the largest). There is also a Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Manitoba, Canada.
Historic home of the Kansa and Osage Indians and millions of American Bison, this 11,000 acre remnant of the tallgrass prairie conserves a threatened legacy of national significance. A unique management partnership between the National Parks Service, the Nature Conservancy, and the Kansas Park Trust, The TPNP is composed of 10,894 acres owned by the National Park Trust (purchased in 1994) and the Nature Conservancy. Approximately 32 acres is owned and managed by the National Park Service and includes an historic 1881 ranch house, limestone barn, outbuildings, and a one-room schoolhouse.
The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is alive with growth in the spring. Over 400 plant species, 39 reptile and amphibian species, 150 different birds and 31species of mammals await your exploration. Spring is also the time of storms and burning. The prairie is managed using fire, a historical and ecological component to the great plains, to mimic both natural and human-caused fires on the prairie. Native Americans used fire as a way to manipulate the range to attract bison so they didn't have to travel as far to hunt. These low intensity burns, if they are occurring during our trip, will make for interesting night-time images.
We will be based in the town of Cottonwood Falls and from there visit the Tallgrass Prairie and other sites in the area such as the Chase County Courthouse, a French Renaissance style building built in 1872 of native limestone, and Alcove Spring, named by the Donner party during their Oregon Trail journey in 1846. We will also visit the Konza Prairie Biological Station and the bison herd there. We will have the opportunity to attend an afternoon and evening of the Flint Hills Rodeo, if desired.
The gateway city for this workshop is Wichita, Kansas. Flights are also available into Topeka and Kansas City. Cottonwood Falls is half way between Wichita and Topeka (80 miles either way) and about 140 miles west of Kansas City. If you would like to drive yourself to Cottonwood Falls from any of these locations, let me know. However, participants who fly in will be picked up from Wichita, only.
General Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive Wichita on mid-morning or noon
flight. Transport to Cottonwood Falls. Other arrivals mid-day or afternoon.
Sunset.
Day 2 - 5: Explore Tallgrass Prairie
Day 6: Depart Cottonwood Falls for
Wichita and departures home.
Trip
fee includes:
Round trip transportation from gateway city (Wichita, KS)
Lodging
Transportation on site (except in the case of personal vehicles)
Admission fees to scheduled locations
Not included:
Transportation from home city to gateway city (Wichita, Kansas) or return
Meals
Trip insurance (click below on our Registration Policy for trip insurance information)
Fees for additional activities not covered in trip fee
A release form, gear list and other information will be mailed to you upon receipt of your deposit.
Registration Policy .
