Pioneer Nature Trail

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BUFFALO WALLOW LOOP DEDICATION ON NATIONAL TRAILS DAY, 2006.

Pioneer Nature Trail - 7-11-2018. Photo by Jim Walla.

Pioneer Nature Trail - 7-11-2018. Photo by Jim Walla.

Pioneer Nature Trail - 7-11-2018. Photo by Jim Walla.

Prairie Larkspur on Pioneer Nature Trail. Photo by Mieko Alley.

Blue Wild Indigo on Pioneer Nature Trail. Photo by M Alley.

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The Pioneer Nature Trail is located at Council Grove Lake, which is a 3,310-acre lake owned and managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The trail is located three miles northwest of the Historic town of Council Grove, near the Neosho River, which is nestled in the scenic east Kansas prairie known as the Flint Hills.

The 1.25-mile-long trail offers many wildlife viewing opportunities due to the abundance of wildflowers, butterflies, birds, mammals, and reptiles that make their home along and in the area of the trail. Another very interesting feature along this trail that is explained in more detail by an interpretive wayside sign that is located on the trail is the presence of buffalo wallows. The wallows were created back in the 1800s when millions of buffalo roamed the tall grass prairie region of the United States. Some wallows were 30 feet across and more than 2 feet deep and the remnants of the wallows that remain along the trail still benefit wildlife by providing protection, a nesting area to raise young, and a source of water during the rainy season.

The trail consists of two loops. The first trail loop is 1.25 miles long and was completed in June 1981 by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas State & Extension Forestry, and Kansas Trails Council. The Buffalo Wallow Loop is 0.58 miles long and was completed in June 2006 by the US Army Corps of Engineers Park Rangers and Volunteers.

The area in which the trail is located is historical and offers many outdoor recreational opportunities. Council Grove offers an authentic old trail town experience at the crossroads of the Santa Fe Trail and Flint Hills National Scenic Byway. A council held in 1825 between the Osage tribe and government agents gave the settlement its name. Ample water and grass and the last stand of hardwood timber between Missouri and Santa Fe helped make Council Grove the pre-eminent rendezvous point for the thousands of wagon trains traveling the Santa Fe Trail.

Over twenty-four historic sites are located in Council Grove including the Kaw Mission State Historic Site & Museum and one of twelve Madonna of the Trail Monuments in the United States. Council Grove Lake where the trail is located offers outdoor recreational opportunities such as camping, boating, picnicking, hiking, and fishing to over 375,000 visitors each year.

Reviews

Jim Walla

Oct 27, 2018

Pioneer Nature Trail - 7-11-2018

The start of this trail is not real obvious from the parking lot, but look for a series of stone markers that take you to an opening in the woods (picture attached). Roughly half of the trail goes through a forest and the other half is out in a tallgrass prairie. Nothing special, but a pleasant walk.

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Allowed Uses:

• Certified as an NRT
  May 25, 2009