We visited the eastern unit of the Kiowa National Grassland in May of 2003 as part of our great dinosaur footprint journey. It was an amazing vacation, one of the best ever to my mind. Starting in Minnesota, we worked our way through Nebraska, then to Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma, winding up in northeastern New Mexico. Don't let the AAA map fool you, though. Mislabeled as the Rita Blanca National Grassland on their New Mexico map, in fact this is the Kiowa and it's only when you cross the state lines into Oklahoma or Texas that it becomes the Rita Blanca. By the way, there is a western unit of the Kiowa National Grassland some 75 miles further west, but we didn't make it that far on this journey.

The Mystery Grassland

As I've made clear throughout these pages, we like to plan our vacations well in advance so that we know ahead of time where the hiking trails, geologic curiosities and any other items of interest are—things only the locals know about. Usually, I turn to the Web in January or so and start scouring for info. Unlike most of the National Grasslands which sport fairly comprehensive Web sites, I wasn't finding much on the Kiowa. Oh, there was lip service paid here and there, but not much in-depth information of a practical sort. (I have since discovered they do have a Web site—see the URL below— but rather unbelievably it's not connected to the main National Grasslands page which is why it was so hard to find!) In fact, we almost scratched it off the list, since we had found so few details, such as if there were any trail heads one could park a car by, what kind of roads were available, or if there was a kybo somewhere along the way. For that matter, I couldn't even figure out if there was a standard Forest Service map available for the Kiowa. Hmmm...a very shy and retiring grassland.

I decided to write the District Ranger's office in Clayton, New Mexico. As usual, I received a nice packet of info by return mail, proving once again that the Forest Service people really take their mission seriously. Included with this was a nice letter and in it the Ranger mentioned a number of things I was totally unaware of: hiking along the Santa Fe Trail, camp sites, picnic areas and so forth. Best of all, she gave specific call-outs referring to the grassland map. And so, I found out quite by accident that a map was indeed available and promptly ordered one. To my great pleasure, it was a beautifully produced affair and really gave the inside dope on recreation opportunities in the Kiowa, showing not only which roads are passable but also giving wonderful historical information. And, oh, remember you can click the small pictures (like the one at the right) to enlarge them.

To make a long story short, here is a fantastic grassland containing oodles of great vacation destinations, and yet is apparently not so well known as its neighbors like the Comanche or the Cimarron. I'm so glad that we persevered in our info-quest, for what we found here was one of the loveliest shortgrass prairies in the country. Now that we know, a return trip for a longer duration is a sure thing.

Incidentally, this was our first time to New Mexico. Apart from the scenery which was spectacular and the weather which was marvelously cool in May, we were so impressed with how friendly and accommodating the locals were. From the outgoing Park Manager at nearby Clayton Lake State Park, to the kind owner of the private campground in Capulin who saved us from the hail, to the friendly clerk at the gas station who tried to ply me with homemade burritos, they all made two Minnesotans feel very welcome.

Wagon Trains, Footprints and Raucous Behavior

As it turns out, there's way too much vacation fun to be had in and around the Kiowa National Grassland, and yet we only had three days to spend here. What initially attracted us, of course, was a chance simply to walk through another shortgrass prairie. And then, when we found out about a two mile stretch of the Santa Fe Trail running right through the Kiowa (all on Federal land, so you can hike it legally) we were ecstatic. But there's more! Just a few minutes away in Clayton Lake State Park is a world class set of dinosaur footprints. Finally, the birding was absolutely nutty with large gangs of noisy mockingbirds, among others, our constant companions. I'll save our adventures to the Santa Fe Trail and dinosaur footprints for other sections of this Web presentation, but let me describe the Kiowa in general here.

Alone in the Prairie

We arrived at Clayton Lake State Park on Tuesday, and spent the remainder of the day setting up camp and lounging about with the birds and our books. The following day we decided to explore the Kiowa and hike among the trail ruts. Waiting until the sun wasn't quite so high, we set out in the later afternoon. We had our map, of course, but the hard part was figuring out where to start without retracing our path to the town of Clayton. But our friendly Ranger from the state park turned us on to a wonderful road we might have missed otherwise. Called the Spring Hill School road, it begins near the park and eventually heads northward into the grassland.

It's a beautiful drive and the going was surprisingly good. We were expecting a dirt packed road, according to the map, but in fact found it a decent gravel one. It took us through acres of the most beautiful shortgrass prairie you'll ever see...miles and miles of yucca, cactus and other wildflowers dotting the scene. Toward the start we saw the tiny little school house which gives this road its name. Along the way, still heading north, we crossed the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail, passing Turkey Creek Camp, an important reprovisioning spot for the wagon trains. The ruins of its walls were still plainly visible.

Eventually we turned eastward on the road which takes you to Seneca which may or may not still exist, since we didn't go that far. Let me tell you, though, this is really isolated! Not once did we see another vehicle, and the only movement to the left or right of us was either grazing cattle or divebombing hawks.

Of all the grasslands we've been to, the Kiowa is the one in which we've really felt cut off the most—a not unpleasant sensation for two travelers trying to forget the current century and the workaday world we left behind just several days earlier. The carpet of shortgrass poking its way through scattered sharp-edged rocks carried on indefinitely and the horizon was unbroken in all directions, save one. Off to the southwest we could see the ghostly form of the Rabbit Ears Mountain, named for the Cheyenne chief who was killed by the Spaniards. He was supposedly interred in a hidden spot somewhere around here. We reflected on the timelessness of our journey as we stared at a landmark which would have looked down on dusty travelers in much the same way, only a century-and-a-half ago. No doubt about it, the open prairie evokes many thoughts that remain well hidden in a forest.

A few more miles and we found the beautiful kiosk and parking area put up by the Grassland several years ago. There were excellent interpretive signs, and best of all, a welcoming comment that visitors were free to hike the trail ruts here. I hope I don't sound too much like a broken record, but I think the U.S. Forest Service which oversees the National Grasslands, puts on one hell of a show. And yet so few people are aware of it, fearing (I suppose) to get off the main drag to see parts of America that are essentially still "frontier."

We did in fact take them up on the offer, and hiked in a couple miles along the Santa Fe Trail. After loading up with sunscreen, packing in a couple quarts of water and grabbing a bag of trail mix, we were off. It was a quiet amble through "the lone prairie," with a number of new sparrows to perplex us. For that matter, several of the grasses were foreign to us as well.

But of course, having spent some ten years ambling among the grasslands, I still felt right at home—below the big azure sky full of puffy cumulous, a herd of cattle dawdling along, rather impolitely staring at two city slickers, and the ever present attention one pays to footsteps, always on the alert for a prairie rattlesnake. If it truly exists, this certainly fits my idea of what heaven ought to be...

The western sky was growing blacker by the moment and rain was clearly pelting someone several miles away. Now I love rain, but I'm always acutely aware of the fact that when standing in the middle of a prairie like the Kiowa National Grassland, I'm the tallest thing jutting upward—a perfect lightning rod! And then there's the fact that my minivan really isn't suited to negotiating sloppy roads, some of which could be unmaintained and difficult to deal with in the best of weather. So it was time to bail out.

On the way back to camp we were rewarded with a spectacular rainbow across the prairie, just one more breathtaking moment making the 800 miles to get here worth it. For all these reasons and others that are too subtle to put into words, I found the Kiowa to be one of the most contemplative and relaxing Grasslands we've ever visited. I commend it and the surrounding territory of northeastern New Mexico to your attention as a rewarding place to unwind.

And for the record, we never did see any of the rattlers of which we had been warned by a local. But we finally got our wish two days later in the Comanche National Grassland...

• Federal
  • Forest Service Map Orders
  • National Grasslands Main Web Site
  
  
• State
  • Clayton Lake State Park
  • New Mexico State Parks Homepage
  
  
• Municipal
  • City of Clayton
  
  
• Other Interesting Sites
  • Birds of the Kiowa National Grassland
  • Capulin RV and Camp
  • Santa Fe Trail In NE New Mexico
  • The Swift Fox on the Kiowa
  • Watchable Wildlife Sites in the Clayton Area