Konza Prairie

October 24, 2016

After the fair in Topeka, it was time to head toward Denver to visit with family.

I decided to travel on I-70 for a little while (60 miles) to get to the Konza Prairie.

I walked on the trails for about 3 miles then I headed toward Salina, Kansas.

Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) is located on a 3,487 hectare native tallgrass prairie preserve jointly owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University. The KPBS is located in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas (39°05’ N, 96°35’ W), a grassland region of steep-slopes overlain by shallow limestone soils unsuitable for cultivation.

The Flint Hills region encompasses over 1.6 million hectares extending throughout much of eastern Kansas from near the Kansas-Nebraska border south into northeastern Oklahoma, and contains the largest remaining area of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America. Hence, the vast majority of Konza Prairie, and the surrounding landscape, has not been plowed and retains its native characteristics.

KPBS is operated as a field research station by the KSU Division of Biology. The station is dedicated to a three-fold mission of long-term ecological research, education, and prairie conservation. It is a unique outdoor laboratory that provides opportunities for the study of tallgrass prairie ecosystems and for basic biological research on a wide range of taxa and processes. The station is open to scientists and students from throughout the world.

You will get a pretty good workout getting to the top of the tallgrass prairie

It starts out as a gradual climb through the prairie
and then you see the stairs

The view is worth the effort to get to the top of the tallgrass prairie.

There are benches up top to rest and enjoy the
view.

I would like to spend more time in this area of Kansas, the Flint Hills, the tall prairies, this is the 2nd time I have traveled in the RV through this area. But I did not stay long either time.  Maybe this summer (2017), I will be able to travel more through this area.

Link to my day at The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in 2011.

After this walk, I headed to Salina, KS

I did some grocery shopping in Salina, found an Aldi store, would be nice to find more of these stores in the places I travel through.  I stopped for the night at the Salina KOA.


Next stop: Cedar Bluff State Park

then Colby, KS and Denver

Windy Kansas & Oklahoma

A few miles from the RV park in Emporia, Kansas is the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Cottonwood Falls, KS.  I arrived there this morning just before 9am, picked up a trail map, talked to the Ranger for a few minutes, toured the barn and walked on the trails (around 2 miles). It was a clear and sunny morning.

 Barn Cats @ The Tallgrass Preserve



The preserve has a daily bus tour at 11am and I think it goes out to see the Bison and their new babies. I didn't charge my camera last night and it stopped working after a few pics this morning and I didn't want to wait 'til 11am, so I left the preserve without seeing the new Bison.

I drove on the secondary roads all day today, driving through small towns. It was very windy today, so I slowed down and took it easy. There was not a lot of traffic, a few people passed by me, and some stayed behind me. Maybe I was blocking the wind and making their drive easier.

Last year, I read a book about the "Dust Bowl" in the 30's. I can't imagine living with this wind all the time and having to work outdoors in the fields or on the range.

Winfield, KS has a very nice downtown area that seems to be thriving. There were several retail stores and restaurants and people walking along the streets. Unfortunately, I didn't see this in too many small towns along the way. Many of the small towns have vacant storefronts in need of repair.

I stopped in at the new Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid, Oklahoma and learned about pioneers and a land run. On Sept. 16, 1893 the government opened up an area for settlement and the pioneers all ran or road their horses to a spot they liked and marked it as their own.  I suppose I read about these things in grammar school, but didn't remember. I was also following the Chisholm Trail for part of the day, and will continue on this trail tomorrow and hopefully stop at some of the museums along the way. The railroads played a big part in the development of this area, so I am hoping to get some pictures of train depots.

Taking my time... going on the slow roads

just like this guy that was on the trail this morning.

9762 - 10018 / 256 miles   gas prices 3.68

Missouri & Kansas

It was a grey morning. Pulled out of the campground just before 8am, heading south. Drove on country roads for most of the day. Went south for awhile, then just north of Kansas City I headed west towards Atchison, Kansas. There were some sprinkles during the morning, and there was hardly any traffic on the roads.  Crossed the bridge over the Missouri River into Kansas and wanted to take a picture of the old iron bridge because they are replacing it with a concrete bridge.

I pulled into a parking lot to the right of the bridge. The town of Atchison had a few things going on for the weekend. I walked to the Farmers Market and by a car show.  I walked near the Railroad Museum where some train cars were being restored.

Then I walked along the river, they have a nice riverfront park with a concrete walking path and benches and picnic tables. Not sure how long the path is, I followed it for awhile then turned back.  There are several nice looking restaurants along the river, as well. Looks like the town did a good job fixing up the riverfront and there were several people out enjoying it.

Left Atchison and headed southwest towards Topeka, Hwy 4 merged into I-70, so I as much as I try, I didn't totally stay off of the interstate. After a few miles on I-70, I took the exit to resume travel on Hwy. 4. This part of the highway is the "Native Rocks Scenic Byway". There was no place to pull over and enjoy the scenery on the scenic byway. This makes no sense to me. Lots and lots of signs about the scenic byway, but you can't stop anywhere. Lots of cattle along this highway and a herd of bison and "red dogs".

photo borrowed from the web

I then headed south on Hwy. 99, I ran into a detour that took me on 56 east for awhile, then Hwy. 56 had a detour, eventually the two detours split off. I was wondering why all of the detours. I saw a sign that I would be going through Reading, Kansas. Since I had been through several "train towns" already in Kansas, I thought maybe there would be a train depot in Reading. Instead, I drove through a town that had been devastated by a tornado on May 22nd. There were caution signs on the highway, I slowed down and wasn't sure if I could keep going, we were allowed to drive past. A lot of the streets were barricaded and people were out in the drizzly rain sorting through the remnants of their homes. I felt very sad driving through this area, I had never driven through an area hit by a tornado.

I was heading to a town south of Reading for the night. I want to go to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the morning.


Campground Review
Friday night I stayed at  Eagle Ridge RV Park  in Eagleville, Missouri. The owners were very helpful in setting me up with a spot even though it was the beginning of a holiday weekend. The website stated a 2 night minimum on holidays, but they were ok with me staying one night. I was in an overflow area, with electric only and they topped off my water tank. I was parked on grass with a slight slope, the owner put down boards for my front tires, to make the coach more level. This was a nice family park with a lot of trees and flowers. I would highly recommend this park.

I didn't make reservations because I am traveling around the weather reports and was not sure exactly which way I was going or how far I would go each day.  My thinking is that every single site in every park could not possibly be full, even on a holiday weekend.

9481-9762 / 281 miles   gas prices $3.64