Get wild in search of blooming flowers in KC
Wildflowers often enter and exit before we know it. Check out these local natural areas and view them in all their glory.
By Roy Harryman
Publisher
In the Midwest, we’re short on mountains (though we have plenty of hills). Epic waterfalls are also few and far between. Yet I firmly believe there is immense beauty to behold in Greater Kansas City if we allow ourselves to see it. Exhibit A is wildflowers. It’s stirring to see whole fields of them, multi-colored and waving in the wind. Since their “inventory” is constantly changing, every month can yield new finds. In addition, wildlife is abundant in the same places you find wildflowers. Here are some of the top places in Greater Kansas City to view them.
“To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower.”
Missouri
Jerry Smith Park in South Kansas City is home to the largest remaining tract of native prairie on the Missouri side of the Kansas City area.
Burr Oak Woods, in Blue Springs, is a 1,000-acre refuge with diverse landscapes. Prairie areas are home to many wildflowers.
The 10-acre Gorman Conservation Discovery Center in Kansas City is a beautifully manicured display of native habitats including woods, wetland and prairie.
Kansas
Lone Elm Park is named after its historic designation as a campground for early settlers heading west. It offers paved and mowed trails that explore a prairie environment.
Prairie Center Natural Area in Olathe contains about 300 acres of native prairie and land that is in the process of restoration. There are about six miles of trails.
Day Trips
Wildflowers abound at Mt. Mitchell Heritage Park. This reserve, near Manhattan, Kansas, is the epitome of stark Flint Hills beauty. About 170 acres of tallgrass prairie rise 250 feet above the Kansas River and lowland plains, giving a glimpse of what the prairie used to be.
Van Meter State Park stands out like a green thumb in the gently-rolling prairies of Mid-Missouri. Prairie, lowland marches and wooded uplands all offer their own varieties of wildflowers.
What did we miss?
The danger in producing best-of lists is leaving out beautiful areas that may be your favorite. Since we can’t list them all, let us know your top spots to view wildflowers in Greater Kansas City.
Carpe diem!
Roy Harryman is the publisher of Kansas City Hiker.