Visit the Prairie

Descriptions of these Colorado prairie sites and directions are posted with permission from Stephen R. Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman, authors of Peterson Field Guides: The North American Prairie.

Boulder (City) Open Space and Mountain Parks
66 S. Cherryvale Road, Boulder, CO 80303
Thirteen thousand acres of protected grasslands surrounding Boulder include the Tallgrass Prairie State Natural Area along South Boulder Creek. Prairie dog colonies attract golden eagles, wintering bald eagles, and ferruginous hawks. Wetlands support threatened Ute Ladies' Tresses orchids.

Comanche National Grasslands
Box 817, 1420 East Third Street, La Junta, CO 81050
Lesser prairie chickens dance and neotropical migrant birds begin to arrive in April and May. Penstemons, evening primroses, and prickly pear cactus bloom in May and June. Female pronghorns defend their tiny fawns from coyotes and other predators in June. Young Mississippi kites fledge in July. In October, flocks of sandhill cranes stream over silent, nearly deserted canyons, and in December, bighorn sheep battle and mate.

How to Get There: Drive south from La Junta on SR 109; east from Trinidad on US 160; or south from Springfield on US 287. Watch for signs and explore on various country roads.

Pawnee National Grasslands
Pawnee District Office, 660 "O" Street, Greeley, CO 80631
Migrating warblers and curlews pass through Crow Valley Campground from April through June, when white penstemon, purple loco, lupine, spiderwort, and scarlet globemallow bloom. Watch for pronghorn and deer fawns and for prairie dogs, coyotes, and swift fox pups in May and June. July and August can be very hot, but in August shorebirds pass through and the spectacular plains evening star blooms.

How to Get There: The two units of this grassland are located about 90 miles northeast of Denver, 30 miles east of Fort Collins, and 20 miles northeast of Greeley. SR 14 skirts the southern boundary of the grassland, and numerous Weld County roads also give access.

More prairie destinations to be posted soon!