Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
National Preserve · KS
Caution · Dangerous Highway Crossing
Highway 177 is 60 mph with a blind spot directly across from the house. Safely use the highway underpass to the Fox Creek Trail just south of the visitor center parking lot. Be smart, stay alive.
Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America, but within a generation most of it had been transformed into farms, cities, and towns. Today less than 4% remains intact, mostly in the Kansas Flint Hills. Established on November 12, 1996, the preserve protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Here the tallgrass makes its last stand.
- NPS site
- nps.gov/tapr
- Location
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (38.440, -96.567)
Track your visit to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
NP Tracker keeps a record of every National Park Service unit you visit — all 430-plus of them. Log visits with dates and photos, collect passport stamps, plan trips, and watch your map fill in. It's free.
Passport stamp locations
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Center
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Center
Hours
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Hourstoday: All Day
- Sat Oct 3All Day
- Sun Oct 4All Day
- Mon Oct 5All Day
- Tue Oct 6All Day
- Wed Oct 7All Day
- Thu Oct 8All Day
- Fri Oct 9All Day
Hiking trails are open 24/7; no camping, no open flames, no drones. Prescribed fire and cattle/bison operations may close specific trails. Watch for signs. Trail maps available at the Visitor Center and most trailheads. Cell phone tour information is available at the kiosk and on the waysides. Visitor Center and historic buildings are open daily from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm May 1st through October 31 and 9 am to 4:30 pm November 1 - April 30. Visitor Center closed Monday and Tuesday, from November 1 to March 31.
Hours are retrieved from the National Park Service and can change without notice — check the official site before you go.
Visitor centers
1
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Centertoday: 8:30AM - 4:30PMDirections
Self-guided tours
1
Spring Hill Ranch Buildings and Southwind Nature Trail Tour30–60 minutes · 5 stops
This walking tour will highlight the main buildings of the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch and provide an opportunity to hike through a portion of preserved tallgrass prairie.
Entrance fees
No entrance fee.