Search

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Lenora Webb Biggs
Apr 29, 2018
2 min read

After a few weeks of postponing due to crazy Kansas weather, today was the day we were finally able to visit Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located in the Flinthills of Chase County, just right outside of Strong City, KS. This place is a treasure!

A little bit of history about this amazing place:

*This land started being developed as a ranch (Spring Hills Ranch) in 1878 by Stephen F. Jones.

*Jones eventually expanded the land to 7,000 acres.

*Jones donated land and was responsible for the construction of Lower Fox Creek School, which is still standing.

*The land had various owners over the years, and was eventually purchased in 1994 by the National Park Trust.

The first thing to do when you visit, is to stop in the visitor's center.

Stop in, get a map, and have a chat with the park ranger or others in the center. I'm convinced that Kansas has some of the friendliest people.

Then go visit the historical buildings. There are various buildings on the property that Jones built. It's great to take a step back in time and experience a tiny bit of what life was like in the past.

Here are some of the buildings:

The Ranch House

The Spring Room

The Curing House

The Outhouse

The Icehouse

The Barn

The Chicken House

And my personal favorite, the school. (you do have to hike a bit to get to the school)

After exploring all the buildings, be sure and take a hike in the prairie. There are some great trails to hike on. There are various trails of varying lengths to take.