Education Tours
Educational tours of Konza Prairie are available to groups who contact the Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) office. Konza docents lead the tours and they delight in sharing their knowledge of the tallgrass prairie.
Contact information: Konza Environmental Education Program (785) 587-0381 keeped@ksu.edu.
School Groups
School groups visiting Konza Prairie have several different options to choose from for their Konza experience:
a. Guided Nature Trail walk. You may have a trained Konza docent accompany your group and provide you and your students with fascinating information about the biology, geology, and history of the tallgrass prairie. There are a variety of distances and options for the amount of time spent on the Nature Trail. A typical walk takes 2 – 2.5 hrs.
b. Hokanson Homestead Trail. This guided trail offers insight into the life of a homesteading family in the late 1800’s. The Hokanson Homestead still has the actual barn built by the Hokanson family and other original remnants to give visitors clues to life at that time. An accompanying .5 mile trail will show students what a gallery forest looks like near a prairie stream and how a prairie area was transformed by settlement.
c. Guided walk on Butterfly Hill. This is a walk on a shorter trail that is easier for young children (8 and younger) or faster (than walking the Nature Trail) if time is a factor. A trained docent will take your group through a lovely area around the Konza Prairie headquarters region that is typically not open to the public. Expect to take 1.5 hrs. for the entire trail.
d. Bison Loop drive. You ride with a docent and drive around the 10-mile Konza Prairie Bison Loop and view our resident herd of approximately 300 bison. Along the way you’ll witness the different management options for maintaining a healthy tallgrass prairie to support native grazers (bison). This Loop takes approximately 1.5 hrs.
School groups that are not part of USD 383 may be charged a fee for their visit to Konza Prairie. To review our fee policies, check here: Konza Educational Program Fees
General Public
The General Public is invited to explore our Konza Prairie Nature Trails. We have three distances available and you can take as much time as you wish to discover and enjoy the tallgrass prairie:
a. Nature Trail Loop – 2.8 miles – allocate 2 hrs.to hike
b. Kings Creek Loop – 4.7 miles – allocate 3-4 hrs.
c. Godwin Hill Loop – 6.1 miles – allocate 4-5 hrs.
Visitors to the Konza Prairie Nature Trail are asked to pay $2.00 admission at the trail kiosk. Groups of 10 people or more qualify for having a Konza docent lead your trail walk. Contact the Konza Environmental Education Program office to make a reservation.
Presenter’s Bureau
The Friends of Konza Prairie (FOKP) offers a Presenter’s Bureau to travel to Manhattan and surrounding communities to present talks about Konza Prairie. Contact the Konza Environmental Education Program office to schedule your free presentation. There are no fees for presentations from the Konza Prairie Presenter’s Bureau.
Special Groups
Please contact the Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) office (785-587-0381; or keeped@ksu.edu) if you have a special request for visiting the Konza Prairie Biological Station.