Tag Archives: National Grassland

New Mexico

Kiowa National Grassland

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Kiowa National Grassland

New Mexico

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region

137,131 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/cibola/recreation/kiowa-national-grasslands-0

Overview

Kiowa National Grassland encompasses two discrete units in northeast New Mexico, the eastern one bordering Texas and Oklahoma’s Rita Blanca National Grassland.  This patchwork of public and private lands is administered together with the larger Cibola National Forest and Black Kettle National Grassland.  Elevations range from 4,500 up to 6,300 feet in the western unit where La Frontera del Llano Scenic Byway (NM 39) runs north to south.  Shortgrass prairie is the dominant cover type, with sand sagebrush and pinyon-juniper woodland mostly found in the west.  Ponderosa pines are dispersed on wetter hill faces and riparian areas support Fremont cottonwoods and willows. 

Highlights

Mills Canyon, Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Melvin Mills (an attorney, territorial legislator, and entrepreneur) established the Mills Orchard and Ranch along the Canadian River in 1881.  Flash flooding devastated the orchard in 1904, leading to the ranch’s abandonment a decade later.  In 2005, the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service collaborated to restore three ranch buildings, and for their efforts they won the Windows on the Past Award for historic preservation.  There are also interpretive signs and a free campground at the bottom of Mills Canyon, located nine miles down unpaved Mills Canyon Road.

Best Trail

A three-mile stretch of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail’s Cimarron Route is marked by rock posts 17 miles north of Clayton, and it is open for walking and horseback riding.  There are interpretive signs along the route and wagon ruts remain visible. 

Watchable Wildlife

An introduced herd of Barbary sheep are thriving in the Mills Canyon area.  The Canadian River supports largemouth bass and channel catfish.  Nomadic Naturalists blog reported seeing swift foxes, spiny softshell turtles, black-chinned sparrows, and pinyon jays on their visit.

Photographic Opportunity

Mills Canyon was cut by the Canadian River through sedimentary rocks ranging in age from 200-million to 90-million years old. 

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Past Mills Canyon Rim Campground, the unpaved Mills Canyon Road #600 is not recommended for trailers or passenger vehicles as it switchbacks down into Mills Canyon.  A high-clearance vehicle is also recommended for the two-track paralleling the Santa Fe National Historic Trail’s Cimarron Route.

Camping

Both the Mills Canyon Rim Campground (6 campsites) and Mills Canyon Campground (12 sites) are free with vault toilets, but no water.  Dispersed camping is allowed in the eastern unit around the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.

Related Sites

Cimarron National Grassland (Kansas)

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (Colorado)

Comanche National Grassland (Colorado)

Fort Union National Monument (New Mexico)

Nearest National Park

Great Sand Dunes

Scott exploring Mills Canyon
Tiff exploring the Canadian River
Heading out of Mills Canyon

Explore More – As an attorney, Melvin Mills’ work often involved outlaws, American Indians, and politicians; who saved his life when he was nearly hanged by an angry mob?

South Dakota

Buffalo Gap National Grassland

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Buffalo Gap National Grassland

South Dakota

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region

Established 1960

679,805 acres (595,715 federal/ 84,090 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nebraska/recarea/?recid=30329

Overview

Buffalo Gap is the second-largest National Grassland and it surrounds Badlands National Park and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site east of Black Hills National Forest.  The town of Wall, South Dakota is home to the National Grasslands Visitor Center, which serves as the main interpretive site for all 20 National Grasslands (plus Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie).  The exhibit hall is still under reconstruction following a flood that forced a relocation into a temporary trailer for years, but the theater is reopened showing a short film.  This is a good spot to pick up a map and buy some hard-to-find National Grassland merchandise. 

Highlights

National Grasslands Visitor Center, French Creek Agate Beds

Must-Do Activity

After starting your visit at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall (and making a required visit to Wall Drug—America’s best roadside attraction), head south through Buffalo Gap National Grassland towards the entrance booth for Badlands National Park (see Photographic Opportunity).  The only developed site is much further west at French Creek Agate Beds, where there is a campground and rockhounding is legal for Fairburn agate (the official State Gem of South Dakota), rose quartz, and banded jasper.  The collection and duplication of vertebrate fossils requires a permit and no commercial gathering of fossils is allowed, except for petrified wood. 

Best Trail

Right to the southeast of the Wyoming border on Highway 18 is a section of Buffalo Gap National Grassland where we did some off-trail hiking along a waterway.  Conata Basin south of Badlands National Park is also a good option for prairie exploration.

Watchable Wildlife

Buffalo Gap National Grassland contains grazing allotments for cattle and domesticated bison herds, as well as wild herds of white-tailed deer and pronghorn.  In 2003, 151 black-footed ferret kits were reintroduced and placed in coyote-free areas, but these nocturnal predators only spend a few minutes above ground each day.  Swift fox and bighorn sheep have also been reintroduced in neighboring Badlands National Park.  Watch in prairie dog towns for burrowing owls and prairie rattlesnakes, as well as northern harriers, prairie falcons, golden eagles, and other raptors. 

Photographic Opportunity

There are free designated campsites along the popular Nomad Vw S Road just north of the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park, which offer great views from the cliffs above the striped geologic formations.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The bentonite clay soils can make the unpaved roads impassable to passenger vehicles when muddy.  There is also a deep stream crossing to access the French Creek Agate Beds that would require high clearance when there is water present. 

Camping

Unlike most National Grasslands, this one has a developed campground at French Creek (fee required) with vault toilets, fire grates, and picnic tables, but no potable water.  It is free to camp in designated sites along the busy Nomad Vw S Road just north of the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park.

Related Sites

Fort Pierre National Grassland (South Dakota)

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Badlands

River crossing at French Creek Agate Beds
Scott making the river crossing at French Creek Agate Beds
Tiff rock hounding at French Creek Agate Beds
Wyoming border and National Grassland border

Explore More – What is the status of 48,000 acres of the National Grassland set to be designated as Wilderness in a 2010 bill sponsored by South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson?

Colorado

Comanche National Grassland

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Comanche National Grassland

Colorado

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region

Established 1960

467,373 acres (443,081 federal/ 24,292 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/psicc

Overview

Near the Oklahoma border in southeast Colorado, Comanche National Grassland is comprised of two areas of shortgrass prairie co-managed with Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron National Grassland (in nearby Kansas).  The Timpas Unit is in the watershed of the Purgatoire (or Picket Wire) River, while the more southern Carrizo Unit is mostly centered around Carrizo Creek, a tributary of the Cimarron River.  There is a long history of human use of the canyons here, with petroglyphs dating back as far back as 8,000 years.  Before giving the National Grassland its name, the Comanche pushed the Apache out of this area in the 1700s and their circular tipi rings can still be found.  A branch of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail runs through the northern Timpas Unit with interpretive sites at Sierra Vista Overlook and Timpas Picnic Area (including a three-mile trail following the wagon tracks between the two). 

Highlights

Picture Canyon, Crack Cave, Picket Wire Canyon, Dolores Mission, Rourke Ranch, Carrizo Canyon, Vogel Canyon, Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Petroglyphs can be seen on trails near Vogel Canyon and Carrizo Canyon Picnic Areas, with the most famous found in Picture Canyon.  It is about 16 miles of unpaved roads to access Picture Canyon from Highway 287, and there are vault toilets and picnic tables at the site.  From there, the U.S. Forest Service traditionally leads a hike on Arch Rock Trail to Crack Cave on both the spring and fall equinox, when at dawn the sun’s rays illuminate a specific petroglyph that is usually behind a locked gate that blocks a narrow opening in the sandstone.  A similar petroglyph with deeply-carved lines can be seen in an opening above a blue-tinted pictograph about a quarter-mile down the trail.  Rock climbing is also a draw here, with a few permanent anchors in the sandstone behind the picnic tables. 

Best Trail

It is a 17-mile drive down unpaved roads to Picket Wire Canyon, where a long trail leads to dinosaur tracks (19 miles out-and-back) and Rourke Ranch National Historic District (25 miles) that dates back to 1871.  There are approximately 1,900 tracks left by Apatosaurs and Allosaurs over 150-million years ago.  Along the way, look for petroglyphs, a model of a dinosaur fossil, and the ruins of Dolores Mission (see Photographic Opportunity). 

Watchable Wildlife

Elevations range from 3,900 to 6,200 feet atop Fallas Mesa with ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, juniper, Gambel oak, and cottonwoods trees found in moister areas.  Yucca and cacti are common in the prairie, as are desert-dwelling creatures like roadrunners and tarantulas (we saw one crossing the road).  Hunters come here for mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and wild turkey in season.  The National Grassland contains a lek for lesser prairie chickens, but it is typically closed during mating season due to their endangered status.  About 328 bird species have been identified here, including many eastern birds at the extent of their range. 

Photographic Opportunity

On the way to the dinosaur track site in Picket Wire Canyon, hikers pass Dolores Mission with a cemetery and the ruins of a small Catholic church dating back to 1898.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

None

Road Conditions

We have almost gotten stuck twice on the long dirt roads in Comanche National Grassland, once in deep mud following a spring thunderstorm and another time on thick ice following a spring blizzard. 

Camping

It is free to disperse camp almost anywhere not on private lands in Comanche National Grassland, with the exception of the parking lots at the following canyons: Picture, Carrizo, Vogel, and Picket Wire.

Related Sites

Cimarron National Grassland (Kansas)

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (Colorado)

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (Colorado)

Nearest National Park

Great Sand Dunes

Picture Canyon Picnic Area
Arch Rock Trail
Surprise overnight blizzard
Carrizo Creek
Tiff and a tarantula
Tarantula
Tiff in Picket Wire Canyon
Sunflower and ladybug
Tiff with petroglyphs
A shoulder blade (replica) from an Apatosaurus
Scott with dinosaur tracks
Bobcat on the trail
Tiff getting some lunch by the Picket Wire River
An old cemetery at Dolores Mission
Petroglyphs
A storm rolling in
Raven about the grassland

Explore More – The markings in Crack Cave are theorized by some people to spell out what word in Ogam (an ancient Celtic alphabet)?

California

Butte Valley National Grassland

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Butte Valley National Grassland

California

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

19,705 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/klamath/about-forest/?cid=FSEPRD494406

Overview

The flat, sandy soils of this former lakebed attracted homesteaders to plow fields and graze livestock, but following droughts in the 1930s it was largely abandoned.  Under the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tennant Act of 1937, these lands were purchased by the federal government and used as a practice bombing range during World War II.  Later, the Soil Conservation Service administered the area and planted more than 4,000 acres of crested wheatgrass.  In 1954, management was reassigned to Klamath National Forest who tried in vain to sell the Butte Valley Land Use Project (LUP) until it was named the newest National Grassland in July 1991.

Highlights

Windmill, Butte Valley Museum

Must-Do Activity

Located in the dry northeast corner of California, Butte Valley National Grassland is dominated by sagebrush, rabbitbrush, bitterbrush, basin wildrye, and intermediate wheatgrass, with western juniper being the only tree species.  Local ranchers graze cattle here under permit with the U.S. Forest Service, so be sure to close all gates behind you as you drive around.  The recommended driving loop is to take Highway 97 to Meiss Lake Sam’s Neck Road for 4.9 miles to Indian Point Road, which has low rock bluffs and a fenced-off windmill along its 4.6-mile length.  Richardson Road will take you 5.2 miles back to Highway 97, just south of the town of Dorris where you can visit the Butte Valley Museum.

Best Trail

There are no defined trails, but you could walk cross-country through the sagebrush or on the dirt roads.

Watchable Wildlife

Large mammals found in Butte Valley National Grassland include bobcats, coyotes, porcupines, jackrabbits, mule deer, Roosevelt elk, pronghorns, and possibly some reintroduced bighorn sheep.  Reptiles include Pacific gopher snakes, western rattlesnakes, California red-sided garter snakes, pygmy horned lizards, and western fence lizards.  We saw several large birds on our visit: a California quail, golden eagle, northern harrier, magpie, and common ravens.  A 35-year study of Swainson’s hawks has been conducted here as they nest in the western juniper trees.  Other bird species of interest include the sandhill crane, red-tailed hawk, ferruginous hawk, rough-legged hawk, prairie falcon, American kestrel, merlin, bald eagle, great horned owl, short-eared owl, and long-eared owl.  The adjacent 11,520-acre Butte Valley Wildlife Area encompasses Meiss Lake, a remnant of a much larger lake that still serves as an important site for migratory waterfowl.

Photographic Opportunity

The eastern face of glacier-covered Mt. Shasta is visible from the National Grassland on clear days.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Highway 97 and Meiss Lake Sam’s Neck Road are paved.  We found Richardson Road to be somewhat rutted, but unpaved Indian Point Road was in good shape.  We drove an unnamed two-track road through the center of the National Grassland with a passenger car, although we would recommend a high-clearance vehicle.

Camping

You can probably disperse camp in the National Grassland without a problem, or drive into Klamath National Forest for its campgrounds at Juanita Lake, Martins Dairy, Shafter, and Orr Lake.

Related Sites

Klamath National Forest (California-Oregon)

Tule Lake National Monument (California)

Lava Beds National Monument (California)

Nearest National Park

Lassen Volcanic

California quail
Mt. Shasta
Mt. Shasta
Butte Valley Museum
Raven about the grassland

Explore More –According to archeological records, how many thousands of years have the Modoc Tribe and their ancestors been in this area?

South Dakota

Fort Pierre National Grassland

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Fort Pierre National Grassland

South Dakota

207,017 acres (115,890 federal/ 91,127 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nebraska/recarea/?recid=10637

Overview

Fort Pierre National Grassland is located south of the state capital of Pierre, north of Interstate 90, and west of the Lower Brule Indian Reservation.  The topography ranges from gently rolling hills to steeper slopes along creeks that flow into the Bad River and the Missouri River.  Portions of the movie Dances with Wolves were filmed here in the early 1990s.  If there is abundant spring precipitation, wildflower blooms of goldenrod, spiderwort, purple coneflower, and daisy fleabane are supposed to be incredible.

Highlights

Richland Wildlife Area, Sheriff Dam Recreation Area

Must-Do Activity

Before arriving, download the maps of Fort Pierre National Grassland through the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Maps app, or pick up a paper map at the visitor center in Wall, South Dakota.  Look online for the publication South Dakota Fishing Guide to the National Grasslands, which provides information on 41 fishing ponds in Fort Pierre National Grassland.  Originally built in 1934, Richland Dam was renovated in 2014 and now features handicapped-accessible fishing and a concrete boat ramp.  The reservoir contains largemouth bass, yellow perch, bluegill, black crappie, and bullhead catfish.  Fishing ponds are generally open December 1 to August 31 to avoid overlap with hunting season. 

Best Trail

We did not see any defined trails, but you could walk cross-country, on the dirt roads, or circle around the many ponds.

Watchable Wildlife

Richland Wildlife Area is 540 acres managed to provide nesting cover for greater prairie chickens, sharp-tailed grouse, and ring-necked pheasants.  Black-tailed prairie dog towns provide habitat for prairie rattlesnakes and burrowing owls.  Both mule and white-tailed deer are found here, in addition to pronghorns, jackrabbits, badgers, and coyotes.  We saw a prairie falcon, bald eagle, and northern harrier hunting from the air.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Look for muskrat activity along the banks of Sherriff Dam Reservoir.  This is also where we saw more than 200 red-winged blackbirds take flight from a field of sunflowers (see photos below).

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The clay soils of Fort Pierre National Grassland can make the unpaved roads impassable to passenger vehicles when muddy, plus the deep ruts make it easy to get high-centered.

Camping

It is free to camp at Richland Dam or Sheriff Dam Recreation Areas, and dispersed camping is allowed anywhere on public land parcels (so be sure to consult maps).

Related Sites

Cedar River National Grassland (North Dakota)

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Badlands

Living wind break
Meadowlark
Tiff at Sherriff Dam Reservoir
Muskrat activity
Sherriff Dam Reservoir
Red-winged blackbirds
Prairie dog holes
South Dakota state capitol in Pierre

Explore More – Now considered a suburb of the capital city of Pierre (although it is in a different time zone), when was Fort Pierre originally constructed on the Missouri River?