Americans who have never been to Kansas probably envision the State to be a flat plain covered with wheat and sunflower fields. But then, they've never seen the Flint Hills.
A broad uplift of Permian sediments, stretching from Manhattan to Wichita, the Flint Hills have been carved into a landscape of ridges and valleys by numerous tributaries of the Kansas and Arkansas Rivers. The thin, rocky soil of the ridges, covered by tallgrass prairie following the Pleistocene Ice Age, was never amenable to farming; once grazed by huge herds of bison, these grasslands are now used for cattle ranching. Some crop production does occur in the wooded valleys, where the soil is thicker, richer and able to retain moisture. A wide variety of grassland birds and mammals inhabit the Flint Hills and prairie wildflowers adorn the slopes. Those interested in learning more about the natural and human history of the area are encour-aged to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, 16 miles west of Emporia (north of U.S. 50 on Kansas 177).
While I-70 slices through the Flint Hills and offers a scenic cross-section (between Topeka and Junction City), the landscape, flora and fauna are best viewed by travelling along Kansas 177, from Manhattan, on the north end, to El Dorado, northeast of Wichita; as noted above, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is on this route. Visitors in April will likely experience hazy skies and charred hillsides, the effects of seasonal burning to clear the grasslands of invasive plants and trees. By later in the month, new grass will be sprouting and summer birds, including western kingbirds, blue grosbeaks, upland sandpipers and scissor-tailed flycatchers, will return to nest.
