National Parks 2023: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

It’s time for the annual National Parks Club! Find out information about participating shops, Vacay Bingo, the KAL, and more here.

Where is it located?

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas, north of Strong City.

Whose land does it reside upon?

Human activity in the Kansas Flint Hills can be traced back about 12,000 years.

By A.D.1500 – 1825, efficient horticultural activity was combined with increased bison hunting, almost certainly due to acquisition of the horse by Native Americans. This transition on the Great Plains has clear association with specific Native American peoples. In the preserve area, these included the Wichita, Kansa, Osage, and Pawnee.

When was it established?

November 12, 1996

About this park:

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.