Flint Hills of Kansas

Here it is peeps, one of my favorite places to go, the Flint Hills.

When I first met Harland he mentioned this place to me, and being from Missouri, I had never heard of it. But today I can’t imagine living without knowledge of this special place.

The Flint Hills is an area in eastern Kansas that contains the largest remaining area of Tallgrass Prairie on the continent.

Back before European settlement, large herds of bison, elk, and deer grazed here and were hunted by cougars or wolves. Native Americans came out onto the prairies every summer to hunt game. In the late 1800s, the European settlers were not able to farm the land due to it’s rocky nature and so it was used for ranching instead, leaving the prairie grasses and wildflowers intact.

Today the prairie is still used for ranching and is dotted with cattle through the summer months. From the tops of the hills one can look out over miles and miles of open land bisected in the valleys by rocky streams.

Wildflowers take turns blooming throughout the summer, and prairie birds like meadowlarks and dickcissels sing their songs from atop tall plants or fence posts. The wind, which rarely stops here, sweeps across the native grasses bending them up and down like rolling ocean waves.

Harland and I love to drive the gravel roads and explore.

We stop to look at the wildflowers, abandoned stone houses, or just to stand atop a high hill and gaze out over endless miles of prairie.

I feel a sense of freedom here and peace floods into my soul.

But there’s also a feeling of humility, of being a very small person in a very large world.

And then sometimes the locals stare at you, making you feel even smaller.

——>UP NEXT: Something I’ve wanted to see for years and years: Wild Mustangs.  

oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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10 Responses

  1. Glenda says:

    I had just finished reading about the Tallgrass Prairie and watching a YouTube video on the subject this morning. Neat!

  2. Tina says:

    It is absolutely breathtaking. So, so beautiful. Just to look for miles around with the wind blowing the grass and flowers. Probably one of the last natural things man has not ruined. As for the locals….just smile and wave, smile and wave!

  3. Kerry Hand says:

    Stunning. Kansas get even more grand.

  4. Elizabeth says:

    Straight out of Little House on the Prairie, or My Antonia! Exactly how I imagined it! Love these photos and thank you so much for posting. Beautiful1

  5. Amy says:

    This is a part of America I know I will never see with my own eyes. Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures. Even though it seems so flat compared the where I live, (in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains), I love that you can see for miles and miles. Such lovely land!

  6. A most stunning place for sure.
    Can’t wait for the mustangs!

  7. Beautiful!! I love it too! We visit our son at K-State on occasion, and I love the drive there.
    Have you ever been to the Symphony in the Flint Hills? I’ve heard that competition for tickets is fierce… that they sell out in less than 30 minutes. Maybe some year I will be fast enough!

  8. Doe in Mi says:

    That sounds so wonderful and peaceful. And it is very beautiful. Must be why I always loved our farm when I was a kid, at 5a.m. in the morning I’d go out a take a walk look out over the fields and listen to the early birds and it made me happy and pieceful.

  9. Kay says:

    I lived in Manhattan for four years and worked at KSU. The Flint Hills will always be one of the special things I love about my home state.

  10. Colt Larsen says:

    I love your pictures. Even the most simple form of clouds and curve of hills is breathtaking and beautiful. I could stare at them for hours any day.

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