September 4, 2020
About twenty years ago, the Nature Conservancy purchased the 17,000 acre Smoky Valley Ranch in western Kansas with the goal of restoring the land to something closer to what it had once been. Little of the original prairies of western Kansas remain.
Kansas
You're looking at around ten miles of unpaved roads to get to the trailhead. The roads aren't bad; but, there are no services and you won't find even a bench (let alone water or restrooms) at the site.
There are two interconnected trails: the first is a one mile loop, and the s econd is a longer six mile loop. I took photos along the longer loop.
The trail is marked for people walking the loop counter-clockwise. I did not, and therefore had some difficulty keeping to the trail when it was crossed by old ranch roads and there were no signs to help.
In general, the longer trail loops around that large basin in the photograph (below).
American Bison are apparently on the site, but I did not see them. Of course, the trail covers only a small section of the entire location.
Part of the restoration will be the eventual removal of invasive plants.
The Butterfield Overland Dispatch stage Line came through here; there are springs that provide at least some water, year round.
It's a beautiful area.