Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

A short drive from the campgrounds was the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.  After years of saying that I wanted to go here, I finally made it!  It was a really interesting place and I can imagine that hiking the trails would also be lovely.  

Our first stop was their brand new visitors center. We watched a video about the farmstead and the Flint Hills and then we explored the items they had on display in the center.

 Levi did some tremendous weight lifting.

 Then we headed outside!  Thankfully it was a cool morning so we could really enjoy being out and about.  The three story barn was incredible.

 The ingenuity and craftsmanship were remarkable.

 There was a crew working on rebuilding the limestone walls around the property. Watching them work was fascinating.

 The boys were inspired to do their own building with rocks they found on the ground. Then it turned into a fort or shrine or something for a (dead) cicada.

The house was also three stories and also full of amazing craftsmanship. 

 There were several outbuildings almost all of which were made of limestone.  The chicken house and the outhouse were the most impressive.  The ice house seemed like a luxury item to me, but maybe they were more common in the 1880s then I think. 

 The prairie was mostly different shades of brown, but we could pick out a few bright spots.

 Just up the road a bit from the farmstead is this school, built by the same family that owned the farmstead. The doors were locked but it was still interesting to look around outside and imagine what recess might have been like for kids back then.

 You should go check all this out in person - it's great and only about an hour and half from our house.  It might be worth a trip in spring time to see the prairie blooming!