Bottomland Nature Trail

This stop offers a little of everything for a short visit. The small parking lot is equipped with bike rack, picnic tables, and comfort station restrooms. The one-mile figure-8 gravel is wheelchair accessible in dry conditions and dog friendly. Interpretive signs provide light reading. Spaced benches allow for a short rest to enjoy the surrounding wildlife. The loop connects to the grassy Fox Creek Trails for longer walks.

• Level hardened-gravel surface trail that meanders through a wooded area and continues through a restored bottomland prairie. Prairie grasses can reach well over six feet in a year with plentiful rainfall. Wildlife of turkey, white-tail deer, racoons, and more may be experienced in the area. A comfort station restroom with two handicap size stalls is available.

Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse

The Lower Fox Creek Schoolhouse District #14, completed in 1882, was just one of many signs that a more settled, stable, and established existence was taking shape in the American West. One-room schoolhouses would soon spread across the West as settlers established themselves, believing that only through education and knowledge could a child one day fully participate in American society. The school was operational from 1882 to 1930 and served neighboring children.

• The one-story limestone building measures 25 by 30 feet with a wooden shake roof and bell tower. It faces the east with two entrance doors, one for girls and one for boys. Three double hung windows are located on both the north and south sides, with a single window on the east side of the building. Near the roof on the east side is a circle embedded in the limestone face with the lettering "May 1882", the time of completion. Interior has a wooden floor with typical 1880s - 1890s furnishings.

Scenic Overlook Trail

The Scenic Overlook Trail is open 24 hours every day. It winds 3.2 miles (5.3 km) one-way through the center of the preserve to a 1492 ft (456 m) hilltop. The wide gravel trail starts at the visitor center or at the ranch complex. It continues into the Windmill Pasture where bison roam freely. Visitors are cautioned to keep at least 100 yards (92 m) distance from the bison. More safety information on bison can be found at the visitor center.

• Trail is 3.2 miles out to the highest point on the preserve, 1492 feet above sea level. Trail passes through Windmill Pasture, which is home to the resident bison herd. Along the gravel road, visitors will experience native tallgrass prairie with grasses short in the spring and taller in the fall. Grasses may reach five feet high in a year with plenty of rainfall. Scenic vistas, wide open spaces, bison, birds, insects, reptiles, and more to be experienced along the way.

Southwind Nature Trail

Southwind Nature Trail is open 24 hours every day. It starts from four locations on Spring Hill Ranch. Visitors can loop around and see the Lower Fox Creek School from a distance. Two overlooks highlight the 1.9 miles (3.1 km) dog-friendly trail through prairie and lightly wooded areas. The hike is along a mainly gravel path with some steps and uneven surfaces. For visitors wanting an easy prairie experience, this is the most popular trail.

• Southwind Nature Trail is a mowed grass trail with some gravel surfaces. It runs north of the historic mansion and makes a loop, returning to the main ranch complex. The one room school can be seen in the distance from several areas along the trail. Trail has a scenic overlook area, two interpretive kiosks for information, waysides, and a bench for a quick rest stop.

Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch Barn

The massive 1882 barn of the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch stands as an impressive example of form following function. The barn is a working center of the ranch. Storing hay, grain, and farm equipment, and housing animals have given it a beautiful working form. Its function has varied through many decades of activity. It measures 60 x 110 feet and three floors. At one time a large double header windmill was placed on the north side of the roof. It was later removed.

• The massive three story limestone barn measures 60 feet by 110 feet per floor. It is built into the hillside to aid with insulation. The lowest level housed horses, milk cows, and baby calves when needed. The middle floor stored loose hay, held the original grain bin, and allowed for some equipment storage. The top floor stored loose hay and later four large grain bins were constructed in the center. Large metal support beams were added throughout when this addition occurred. They were needed to support the added weight of the grain. Trap doors on the middle and top floors allowed for easier handling of loose hay to the animals below. Two very sturdy ramps made of metal railroad tracks and wood plank flooring are on the north side of the building. These ramps went to the top floor, allowing for a team of horses and wagon to cart up the loaded hay for storage. Original construction allowed for the wagon to enter one side, travel through the barn, and then exit using the other ramp. There was originally a large windmill on the barn, used to grind grain and chop hay. The roof was originally covered with tin (7,000 pounds), but has been replaced with asphalt shingles. Two large wooden structures called cupolas are atop the building and were added with the installation of the large grain bins. Their function is to allow for grain dust to escape when the grain was being placed into the grain bins upstairs. Without these structures, grain dust is highly explosive. The slightest spark can cause an explosion.

Spring Hill Ranch House

The grand four-level ranch house forms the centerpiece of the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. Completed in 1881, it stands as a beautiful example of French Second Empire architecture, a style popular in the late 19th century. This large stately home is also an example of great change in the American West: the transition from small ranches on the vast open range to large enclosed ranching businesses, laying the foundations for the present-day American cattle industry.

• The grand four-level ranch house forms the centerpiece of the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. Completed in 1881, it stands as a beautiful example of French Second Empire architecture, a style popular in the late 19th century. This large stately home is also an example of great change in the American West: the transition from small ranches on the vast open range to large enclosed ranching businesses, laying the foundations for the present-day American cattle industry.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America, but within a generation most of it had been transformed into farmland. 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.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Center

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Store merchandise is provided by Eastern National.

• The visitor center has a 10 foot long (3 meters) by 6.5 foot wide (2 meters) single door entry space with doors that swing outward from the right wall. Automatic door buttons are on the right outside the entry, inside the entry, and inside the main atrium. Entering the atrium, the restrooms are in an alcove to the immediate left. Eleven feet (3.3 meters) forward is the information desk. The desk is 11 feet long (3.3 meters), 2.7 feet high (0.8 meters) with a tiered 3 foot high (0.9 meters) at the center. The desk continues left into the store alcove. Past the desk on the left is the store alcove. It is 8.5 feet long (2.6 meters) by 8.5 feet wide. Merchandise is arranged right and center on pegs and shelves from the floor to a height of 7 feet (2.1 meters). To the left, the checkout register is centrally inset on the marble counter 2.7 feet high (0.8 meters) and 2 feet deep (0.6 meters).

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Center

• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Visitor Center
• Begin your preserve visit with the visitor center, complete with 10-minute orientation video, exhibits, indoor and outdoor restrooms, and water fountains. The visitor center is located on the left side of the breezeway. Rangers attend the visitor center during regular business hours. Summer hours run from May through October. Shorter winter hours run from November through April.

• Nature Trails
• Three nature trails (shorter in length) allow visitors to experience the tallgrass prairie first-hand, while remaining in closer proximity to visitor services. These trails are dog friendly, but please help all visitors enjoy them by keeping dogs on a visible 6' maximum leash and picking up after your pet. Enjoy your hike by following these important safety rules. Permits are not required to hike the trails. All trails open 24 hours; no camping.

• Take a Self-Guiding Tour of the Ranch
• Stephen F. Jones named his ranch the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch for the springs found on the hill west of the house. The house was built on a hillside with a two-story exposure on the upper side and a three story on the lower level. The three-level limestone barn measures 60 feet by 110 feet and is built into the hillside. It originally was roofed with 5,000 pounds of tin and sported a very large double-header windmill. Other outbuildings make up the ranch complex.

• Try Catch and Release Fishing
• Three preserve ponds and Fox Creek are open to the public for catch and release fishing under the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Park and Tourism's Fishing Impoundments and Stream Habitats (F.I.S.H.) program. The fishing program is available year-round.

• Explore Tallgrass Visitor Center
• Park rangers attend the visitor center with a range of exhibits. Geology, ecology, history, and culture all shaped today's Tallgrass Prairie. A modest gift shop provides souvenirs and the park stamp for collecting memories. Junior Ranger books, event posts, trail maps, and brochures constantly draw visitors.

• Take 12 to West Branch
• Up for a full day hike? Set out for marker 27 on the north end of the preserve. This 12 mile rounder provides a grand view of the landscape, bison, and who knows what else. Learn more about backcountry hiking.

• Bison viewing on the Scenic Overlook Trail
• Walk along the gravel trail into the unplowed Flint Hills. Here an array of prairie wildlife make their home. The trail winds uphill through Windmill Pasture where a bison herd grazes. It continues to a hilltop on the far side. Several trail options allow extended backcountry hikes or alternate routes when bison block the path. The visitor center to the overlook is just over 3 miles (5 km) one-way.

• Break on the Bottomland Trail
• The Bottomland Trail offers many amenities and a short walk through the prairie. It's an ideal stop for passing through with a tight schedule. The fine gravel trail loops through a small meadow by the river.

Spring Hill Ranch Buildings and Southwind Nature Trail Tour

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.