Hiking the Prairie at the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Pawhuska, Oklahoma
“Hike the prairie,” we hear you say and we have to admit we were wondering the same thing. That was until we got out there and started to explore and experience just what it meant to be in the middle of last remaining remnants of the original tallgrass prairie that covered central North America. For us, it was something so completely different then our hikes anywhere else.
Paul, the Oklahomo Hiker took us on a hike in the Joseph Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve just outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The plan had also been to visit the Pioneer Woman's restaurant and shop (The Pioneer Woman Mercantile), but we hadn't realized the shop was closed on a Sunday. Just a heads up that more or less all of Pawhuska is closed on a Sunday - about all we could find were some gas stations.
Not spending time in Pawhuska, gave gave us more time to check out the Preserve, which included a large driving tour on the Preserve roads, a visit to the visitor center, and then a hike on the just over 3 miles long Nature Trail.
At almost 40,000 acres, the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Pawhuska, OK, is the largest protected piece of tallgrass prairie left on earth. Farming and development have left this once extensive landscape, at less than 4% of its original size today.
The Nature Trail Loop Hike
The Nature Trail at the Joseph Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is made of up three interconnected trail loops which pass through major habitat types found on the preserve and across the prairie. The trails are all well maintained and easy to walk, though that’s all relative. For us coming from the Catskills, these trails were about as easy as they come, but if you read the trail description in the brochure, some of the trail sections traverse “rough terrain with steep hills.”
Do pick up a trail brochure: first it’ll help you navigate the three interconnected trails so you maximize your hike and cover all the terrain; and second there are numbered markers along the trails that coincide with information presented in the brochure, so you can learn about the ecology and history of the area as you hike along.
We began our hike at the trailhead and followed the Study Trail up to its intersection with the Prairie Earth Trail. From there we followed the Prairie Earth Trail for its entire two miles. The trail gently climbs to top of a hill on the prairie, then descends down towards Sand Creek where it at first follows the edge of an oak forest that surrounds the creek, and then enters the forest and follows Sand Creek downstream. It’s here where some of that “steep and rugged” terrain comes into play, but it’s just the trail going up and down the drainages along Sand Creek, along with rocky and during wet times, muddy conditions. The trail eventually moves away from Sand Creek towards the intersection with the Study Trail.
Only bison I got to see!
At the end of the loop on the Prairie Earth Trail, we returned to the Study Trail and continued following its in a clockwise fashion from where we had left it to join the Prairie Earth Trail. We followed the Study Trail back towards Sand Creek and the oak forest. The trail follows the creek downstream again (where we saw some deer browsing on the bottomland), gets close to the creek channel, and then enters into a large open, mostly flat bottomland alongside the creek. The trail here joins the Bottomland Trail and returns to the the trailhead where you started.
Depending on just how much you walk, the total potential mileage here is 3.5 miles. We covered just about everything in our trek and it was a great time to spend a few hours. For the two of us, who haven't ever really spent time on foot in the prairie, especially in remnants of the original prairie, it was an incredible experience. The openness of the terrain is just something you don't see at all in the northeast. It was also very cool to see the different plants and animals (though we never did see a real bison) along the way. Combined with checking out the rest of the Preserve, this was definitely worth the time and travel to check out.
For More Information On This Hike
To find additional information about the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve visit:
Explore the rest of Oklahoma’s natural areas and hiking opportunities with these guides:
Gear we used and/or carried on this hike:
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