Motoring Monday - Cimarron National Grassland



Pretty flowers can be seen throughout the area. Credit: Cimarron National Grassland

Point of Rocks. Credit: Cimarron National Grassland

Travelers to the extreme southwest corner of Kansas will find the Cimarron National Grassland, one of only 20 natural grasslands in the U.S.  A place that if you close your eyes for a few minutes can take you back in time almost 200 years to the gentle call of the Cimarron River, the quiet solitude of middle spring and the creaks and groans of the wagon trains as they bumped along the Santa Fe Trail.

The Middle Spring was a reliable water source. Credit: 
Larry & Carolyn and the Santa Fe Trail Research site.

With more than 100,000 acres, the Cimarron Natural Grassland is the largest area of public land in Kansas and home to the longest publicly-owned section of the Santa Fe Trail. Visitors will find Santa Fe Trail ruts still visible today, as well as Point of Rocks and Middle Spring.  Point of Rocks is a large outcropping of rock that could be seen from miles around and marked the way for trail weary travelers to Middle Spring, one of only three reliable water sources along a 50-mile stretch of the trail. 

Following its Santa Fe Trail days, the area was used extensively for ranching and grain production.  However, the Dust Bowl in the 1930s heavily damaged the area with Morton County, which is home to most of the Grasslands. It was named the most devastated county in the nation.  The Federal government began buying the land from bankrupt farmers and implemented aggressive conservation efforts that restored the Grasslands to their natural beauty.

Today, the Grasslands are home to three distinct ecosystems - the shortgrass prairie, sand-sage prairie and wooded riparian along the riverbed.  Visitors will find deer, antelope and other wildlife on the grasslands and opportunities to enjoy bird watching, scenic driving, picnicking, camping and fishing.