Explorer Zebulon Pike coined the term “flint hills” for the rocky, flinty limestone-rich tall grass prairie that runs north to south down the eastern 1/3 of Kansas into Oklahoma.
Rolling prairie as far as the eye can see, dotted with cattle.
Early settlers found the ground much too rocky to farm, but it made good cattle pasture. Today, the prairie is managed by regular burning, which returns the previous year’s nutrients to the soil, and creates a lush green carpet.
The contrast of green, previously burned and yellow-brown, unburned prairie is obvious on opposite sides of the highway. We just barely outran the thunderstorm that was moving east as we drove south.
The Flint Hills are the most dense coverage of tall grass prairie in all of North America. Imagine what this must have looked like in the early 1800s when huge herds of buffalo roamed the prairie.
Why is this extensive formation here, you might wonder? Because 250 million years ago, this area and much of the Midwest was covered by a shallow sea, where silt and sand, as well as the carbonates from the rich invertebrate fauna in the sea, were deposited in layers. Erosion of softer materials over time left the rocky, flint- Continue reading
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