Konza Prairie - Godwin Hill Loop

Last July, I visited the Konza Prairie outside Manhattan, Kansas on my 50th birthday. I grew up in Northeast Kansas but have lived in Colorado the past twenty-five years. I frequently run in the Colorado foothills yet I still love the rolling flint hills of my home state. However, I have gotten rather spoiled by the low humidity in Colorado and my first attempt to hike at Konza Prairie left me sweaty and uncomfortable. So I looked forward to returning for another visit in early summer or fall. I had that opportunity on the Friday before Mother's day.

I decided to tackle the Godwin Hill Loop, the longest trail open to the public. At 6 miles, it is the average distance that I typically run on trails in Colorado. I downloaded a trail map of the Kings Creek loop before my visit and carried it along with a Camelback and my camera. In the parking area, there is a sign requesting a $2 donation for using the park. Good people pay the fee to support the trail. I did!

From the parking area, I followed the Nature Trail along Kings Creek. According to the trail guide, Kings Creek's headwaters are entirely within the boundaries of the protected Konza Prairie, which makes it a good benchmark for researching our environmental impacts on natural streams. You can see the erosion along the banks.

Kings Creek

As I approached the first trail junction, I was a bit confused about where to go. There was a sign that said K1A on the trail to the left, which would be the .6 mile segment that crosses over to the north side of the park. I continued to my right, which took me towards the limestone buildings of the Hokanson Homestead. There I found another trail sign close to the creek. Across the creek is the research area that is not open to the public.

There aren't a lot of trees on the prairie; most of the trees are along the creek. I really enjoyed this view of the green, rocky grass.

One of the reasons I love visiting trails is the opportunity to see wildflowers and learn more about them.  The Friends of Konza Prairie will host a wildflower walk on the first of June. I did my best to identify the flowers I saw on my own with the help of the Kansas Wildflowers & Grasses website but would welcome corrections.

There were small flowers in the grass next to the trail - White-eyed Grass and Violet Wood Sorrel. I found a pretty purple flower that appeared to be from the pea family - Blue Wild Indigo and later a pale yellow Plains Indigo. According to Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses, Indigo is actually in the bean family. 

White-eyed Grass

Violet Wood Sorrel

Blue Wild Indigo

Plains Wild Indigo

I also saw a couple of flowers that remind me of Colorado wildflowers - Groundsel and Lupine. According to the KS wildflower website, there is a Small or Rusty Lupine that grows in western Kansas in sandy soil. They don't have any photos of Lupine in eastern Kansas. 

Groundsel

Lupine

New Jersey Tea

Prairie Parsley

At the far end of the loop, the trail runs along a fenced area where cows graze. I think this cow was as interested in me as I was in it. In the last snapshot, looking towards Manhattan, you can see farmland in the Kansas River valley. 

As I came back down the hill at the end of my run, I saw a young couple and a photographer headed up the hill for some pictures. I enjoyed my second visit to Konza Prairie!