Main |
Buffalo Gap |
Cimarron |
Comanche |
Fort Pierre |
Grand River |
Kiowa |
Little Missouri |
Oglala |
Pawnee |
Sheyenne |
Thunder Basin
My car only knows how to go West, because that's where the shortgrass prairies are. I love the open prairies, for their immense skies, geologic freaks, seas of grasses and abundant birds. Best of all, they're completely devoid of people, cell phones, barking dogs and the bourdon bass notes of boom boxes. The National Grasslands are my favorite places to hang out, and I've been to ten of twenty in this country so far. They're among the few wildernesses left where you can actually sleep under the stars a good fifty miles away from the tangle of civilization and remain blissfully ignorant of 5-to-4 votes from the Supreme Court. It's just you and the coyotes and the grasses and the wind and the sky — oh, that sky!
See the Prairies Before They're Gone
The prairies aren't for everyone (even though we all depend upon them), but if you're at all interested in the diversity of life on this planet, then I urge you to try them. I've had the best experiences you can imagine with our fellow inhabitants, from buffalo to bull snakes to horned larks to golden eagles to pronghorn antelope to prairie dogs. And the sheer quantity of wildflowers, grasses and sedges is staggering. (But don't look for any trees, unless you're keen on the cottonwood or redcedar.) Like John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves, you may just want to stand in the midst of little bluestem up to your waist, brushing the soft, swaying tops while gazing at a horizon unbroken by telephone poles, farm silos, and in places, even roads. It's still possible, but go for it before Washington decides that every acre of land must produce something of commercial value for human consumption. If you haven't noticed, wildernesses are currently held in contempt by the bigwigs, so see them before they're gone forever. (Do you remember when a commanding officer asked John Dunbar why he wanted to be posted to Fort Sedgewick, which was considered a lonesome, worthless outpost? His response was, "I want to see the frontier before it's gone...")
The Best Camping Around
Most people aren't aware of it, but the National Grasslands have some of the best camping in the country — far better than what you find at state or national parks. The campgrounds usually only support a dozen units at best, and are devoid of electricity. This helps keep the ninnies with their semi truck sized RV's and yapping french poodles at bay. The kybos are among the tidiest you'll ever find, and drinking water is usually available. Another thing many people don't know is that the federal government publishes a ton of excellent material to help you plan a trip: you can find maps, bird and plant checklists, local history, write-ups on the archaeology and geology, etc. It's all there; you've just got to know how to ask for it. Best of all, it's free — well, actually, your tax dollars pay for it.
My Grassland Experiences
If you make a choice from the Grassland Selector at the left, you'll be taken directly to the appropriate section in my scrapbook. (Or you can use the mini-menu at the top of this and all of the other grassland pages). Once there, you'll find some of my own photos and observations, along with links to a number of "official" Web sites. I've only listed the Grasslands that I've actually visited; stop back again later and perhaps the roster will have grown!
If you would prefer to read all of my grassland experiences, simply click the big blue arrow at the bottom of each page. This will chain you sequentially from one grassland to the next, in alphabetical order. The left arrow will take you back one notch to the previous grassland. Thus, using the blue arrows lets you read all of the pages of this Web site in order just like you might a book.
As usual, in the pages to follow, most photos are shown in thumbnail (reduced size) format. If you'd like to see the real thing, just click the thumbnail. This will enlarge the picture to its normal size. And by the way, I expect to be adding new photos from time to time, so check back every now and then. I should probably mention that grasslands are perhaps the most difficult of all photographic subjects. It's darn near impossible to capture the panoramic expanse of the land and sky or the fine detail and colors of the flora, and I have yet to encounter a mammal or reptile that will pose for more than a microsecond!
About Our National Grasslands
Before you head off to a specific Grassland, here's some general information you might find useful. Our National Grasslands are overseen by the U.S. Forest Service (a division of the USDA) and not the National Park Service. These are not parks with programmed activities and tourist oriented entertainment. Instead, they are public lands governed by a multi-use policy. This implies that you may meet a variety of other users there, from hunters to miners to ranchers to oilmen to foresters. The main thing to keep in mind is that the National Grasslands literally belong to all of us, or at least are supposed to. Unfortunately, with a few notable exceptions, the mind-set of Washington bureaucrats has almost always been that grasslands are not forests and mountains (which everyone loves in a Disney sort of way), so why bother protecting them from overuse? Anyway, the point of a grassland is, you're supposed to make your own entertainment. They're great for hiking, camping, and observing plants, birds, butterflies, reptiles and many mammals more interesting than humans. And don't forget amateur astronomy; most of these are situated far away from the light pollution of big cities and offer the blackest skies you'll ever see!
National Grasslands Visitor Center
Did you know that we have a National Grasslands Visitor Center? It's the only one in the country, and is located in Wall, South Dakota (just several blocks from the infamous free glasses of ice water). It sports a very nice little museum of flora and fauna, some beautiful artwork, and a decent book/map shop. When we visited it early on, we got to see a black-footed ferret being made ready for release in Badlands National Park (which is surrounded by the Buffalo Gap National Grassland). An extremely knowledgeable and helpful person by the name of Mary was at the desk then; she really took an interest in sharing her vast knowledge of local grassland lore with us. Some of the newer and younger personnel we've met since then don't seem quite so enthusiastic.
The Center advertises fairly extensive hours, but on a later trip, after driving some 450 miles to get here, we found things closed up early — off-season hours I suppose. So, you may want to call ahead or plan on arriving in the middle of the day, for this really is a wonderful Visitor Center interpreting the National Grasslands of America. Tell your friends about it!
