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Places We Protect

Smoky Valley Ranch

Kansas

Light green yucca flowers growing in front of a barbed wire fence, with red bluffs in the background.
Smoky Valley Ranch Chalk bluffs and yucca plants at Smoky Valley Ranch in Kansas. © Lance Hedges/TNC

Smoky Valley Ranch combines a working cattle ranch with thriving wildlife populations. It is home to lesser prairie-chicken, a bison herd and pronghorn.

Overview

Description

On this land, you’ll view sights that have almost vanished from America—bison roaming a prairie as they did hundreds of years ago; prairie-chickens dancing on their leks; herds of pronghorn and mule deer hopping across the horizon.

Dramatic chalk bluffs overlook large expanses of grassland, rocky ravines and Smoky Hill River. Breaks along the upper reaches of the river represent a transition zone between mixed grass and shortgrass prairie environments. When The Nature Conservancy purchased Smoky Valley Ranch in 1999, it was the largest land acquisition for conservation in state history. At that time, several parcels had been carved out of the ranch, sold to other buyers and converted to cropland. In 2020, TNC purchased the final piece of the 'donut hole' in the middle, making the ranch whole again. In 2021 & 2024, additional land at the edges of the ranch was also acquired, bringing the total size of the property to 18,749-acres.

This prairie supports tremendous plant and wildlife diversity while continuing its long history as a working cattle ranch. In western Kansas, 80% of the native prairie has been converted to some other use. Demonstrating that healthy wildlife populations and successful ranching operations go hand-in-hand is critical to retaining the 20% of the prairie that’s left.

Access

Limited Access

Trail access only; available during daylight hours.

Highlights

1-mile and 5.5-mile hiking loops on the western boundary take visitors past numerous historic and natural points of interest.

Size

18,749-acre working cattle and bison ranch. Public access is limited to the hiking and horse trails on the western boundary.

Explore our work in Kansas

GIF of two prairie chickens fighting.
Lesser Prairie-Chickens Lesser prairie-chickens jumping and flying during breeding season at Smoky Valley Ranch, Kansas. © Jim Richardson

Protection of the Smoky Valley Ranch is also part of a larger vision, the Southern High Plains Initiative, which seeks to conserve a network of lands and waters across the region to boost climate resilience, preserve biodiversity and support sustainable rural communities. The initiative spans 71 million acres at the intersection of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Plan Your Visit to Smoky Valley Ranch

DIRECTIONS

Smoky Valley Ranch is located in southern Logan County, Kansas. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the ranch from Oakley in the north or Scott City to the south.

The hiking and horse trails are located on the west side of the ranch, along County Road 350, between Plains Road and Indian Road. There is no street address for the trailhead.

  • Lat/Lon: 38.8875459, -101.018183
  • UTM: 4306232.634, 324958.723
Map showing boundaries of a large land holding and the surrounding streets.

TRAILS

The trails on the western edge of Smoky Valley Ranch are open for hiking and horseback riding year-round. Prairie vistas and chalk bluffs greet trail users as they wind their way around one of the two trail loops, a 1-mile hike and a 5.5-mile hike.

Both trails have rough terrain with rocks, hard soil, mud and animal burrows. The path narrows in places with steep drops to the side.  

DOWNLOAD the hiking and horse trail map.

TRAIL USER GUIDELINES

Smoky Valley Ranch is a large working ranch privately owned by The Nature Conservancy. Visitor access is limited because most of the ranch is leased for cattle grazing to local ranchers or is home to our bison herd. The Nature Conservancy is not responsible for your safety while you are on the trail.

Thank you for abiding by the following trail user guidelines:

  • Trail hours: daylight only. Plan your hike to be off the trail by sunset.
  • Stay on the trail. Please do not leave the trail corridor or take shortcuts.
  • No bicycles or motorized vehicles.
  • No firearms.
  • No camping or campfires.
  • No smoking or alcoholic beverages.
  • Keep dogs leashed.
  • Leave nothing but footprints. Please do not litter.
  • Take nothing but pictures. Collecting anything from the ground is not allowed. If you discover artifacts or fossils, please leave them and notify us at kansas@tnc.org or 785-233-4400.

PRECAUTIONS

  • Boots are recommended for the brought terrain. 
  • There is no restroom or water provided. Be sure to bring plenty of water any time of year.
  • There are rattlesnakes in this area, so wear boots and watch where you walk, especially in the early morning and late evening.
  • Note the two trees to the west of the trailhead—a good trailhead landmark that can be seen from any high point along the trail.
  • Cell phone coverage on the trails might be weak and spotty.
  • Trails are remote and medical facilities are 20 miles away.

WHILE YOU'RE IN THE AREA

Western Kansas is full of culturally and visually fascinating things to see and do. We suggest you start with the Western Vistas Historic Byway route.

And no visit to Smoky Valley Ranch is complete without a stop at the nearby Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park.

Lesser prairie-chicken running towards the camera in open field.
Lesser Prairie-Chicken © Harland J Schuster

Lesser Prairie-Chickens

More than half of all lesser prairie-chickens in the world are now found in western Kansas, between the Arkansas River and northern reaches of the Smoky Hill River. This is where the ranges for greater prairie-chickens and lesser prairie-chickens come together, forming a small overlap that doesn’t exist anywhere else. This small area is also home to the only steadily increasing population of lesser prairie-chickens, many of which can be found on The Nature Conservancy’s Smoky Valley Ranch.

Lesser prairie-chickens are icons of the western Kansas prairie, requiring large tracts of contiguous grassland in a part of the state where less than a quarter of the native prairie remains. They are also known as an indicator species: the presence of many prairie-chickens indicates the prairie is in good shape for other wildlife and plant health—and the opposite is true. Ranchers are stewarding the vast majority of these last wild places in Kansas and conserving wildlife, like the lesser-prairie chicken, that depends on those places.

Did You Know?

Each spring, male lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) face off at sunrise, competing to be selected to mate with awaiting females. The battles are more dance-offs than fist-fights, and the opportunity to witness them is increasingly rare.

The term lek describes the open patch of short grass where some grassland birds gather for courtship rituals. These mating grounds are often time-tested and generations of birds return to the same lek year after year. Lek and lekking can also be used as a verb to describe the action taking place: strutting, dancing, singing or generally showing off for female birds.

For prairie-chickens, the terms boom, booming and booming grounds are also used. Booming refers to the sounds that the birds make, their dance and the place where it takes place.

LekTV: Lesser Prairie-Chicken Videos

Sounds of the Prairie Listen to the lesser prairie-chickens and other birdsongs as the prairie wakes up in the morning.

9:02

Related Videos

Sounds of the Prairie

Now playing 9:02

Pronghorn on a Smoky Morning

1:01

March Morning on the Lek

1:43

With suitable habitat in just five states (Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas), the lesser prairie-chicken has long been considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It became a candidate species in 1998 and was listed as Threatened in 2014. A lawsuit challenging the listing ended in a judge vacating the listing decision in 2015. Another petition for listing as Threatened was received in 2016. In 2021, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed listing two distinct population segments under the ESA. The northern population of birds in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and across the northeast Texas Panhandle would be listed as threatened, while the southern population in New Mexico and the southwest Texas Panhandle would be listed as endangered. The effective date for the listing was March 27, 2023.

More than half of all lesser prairie-chickens in the world are now found in western Kansas, between the Arkansas River and northern reaches of the Smoky Hills River.
Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lek More than half of all lesser prairie-chickens in the world are now found in western Kansas, between the Arkansas River and northern reaches of the Smoky Hills River. © Justin Roemer/TNC

Providing lesser prairie-chickens with protection under the Endangered Species Act is supported by science—there’s no question that as grasslands continue to disappear, the lesser prairie-chicken is in trouble. But to truly recover the lesser prairie-chicken, we need to support private landowners who are on the front line of this issue. Private conservation organizations like The Nature Conservancy have a role to play, but increased funding and focused implementation of government conservation programs, like those in the Farm Bill, will also be necessary.

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Smoky Valley Ranch is a critical, rare venue for one of the most important strategies for protecting lesser-prairie chicken: using grassland grazing techniques that encourage nesting and brooding habitat. The Nature Conservancy also works with other landowners in the area to help them improve and maintain conditions for prairie-chickens on their land without sacrificing agricultural profitability.

 

Together with landowners, state and federal agencies and private investors, The Nature Conservancy is helping bring this emblematic bird back from the brink.

Read about Nine Other Birds that Put on a Show

Resources

Get a closer look at Smoky Valley Ranch

Yucca Yucca is one of the most noticeable plants at Smoky Valley Ranch. Birds nest in it and many animals eat the seeds. © Lance Hedges/TNC
Bison Smoky Valley Ranch is home for a satellite herd of bison from Wind Cave National Park, to protect the rare genetics of the U.S. national mammal. © Lance Hedges/The Nature Conservancy
Ferruginous Hawk Most ferruginous hawk nests in Kansas are found in the western chalk bluffs and along the Smoky Hills River that runs through Smoky Valley Ranch. © Bob Gress
Badger Badgers are powerful digging machines with strong shoulders and forelimbs. They mostly eat other burrowing animals like gophers or prairie dogs and smaller mammals like mice. © Bob Gress
Black-tailed Jackrabbit The shortgrass prairie of Smoky Valley Ranch is prime habitat for the black-tailed jackrabbit. © Bob Gress
Burrowing Owl Family Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are active during daylight, hunting rodents and insects. They live in burrows taken over from prairie dogs. © Bob Gress
Swift Fox Pups Once common in the shortgrass prairie of the Great Plains, swift fox have become increasingly rare. In Kansas, they are most abundant in the area around Smoky Valley Ranch. © Bob Gress
Black-tailed Prairie Dog Prairie dogs are a keystone species for the shortgrass prairie but have been eradicated from most of the grassland in the area. © Bob Gress
Black-Footed Ferret Once feared extinct, a small number were discovered in Wyoming in 1981. They were re-introduced to Smoky Valley Ranch in 2007. © Bob Gress
× Yucca Yucca is one of the most noticeable plants at Smoky Valley Ranch. Birds nest in it and many animals eat the seeds. © Lance Hedges/TNC
× Bison Smoky Valley Ranch is home for a satellite herd of bison from Wind Cave National Park, to protect the rare genetics of the U.S. national mammal. © Lance Hedges/The Nature Conservancy
× Ferruginous Hawk Most ferruginous hawk nests in Kansas are found in the western chalk bluffs and along the Smoky Hills River that runs through Smoky Valley Ranch. © Bob Gress
× Badger Badgers are powerful digging machines with strong shoulders and forelimbs. They mostly eat other burrowing animals like gophers or prairie dogs and smaller mammals like mice. © Bob Gress
× Black-tailed Jackrabbit The shortgrass prairie of Smoky Valley Ranch is prime habitat for the black-tailed jackrabbit. © Bob Gress
× Burrowing Owl Family Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are active during daylight, hunting rodents and insects. They live in burrows taken over from prairie dogs. © Bob Gress
× Swift Fox Pups Once common in the shortgrass prairie of the Great Plains, swift fox have become increasingly rare. In Kansas, they are most abundant in the area around Smoky Valley Ranch. © Bob Gress
× Black-tailed Prairie Dog Prairie dogs are a keystone species for the shortgrass prairie but have been eradicated from most of the grassland in the area. © Bob Gress
× Black-Footed Ferret Once feared extinct, a small number were discovered in Wyoming in 1981. They were re-introduced to Smoky Valley Ranch in 2007. © Bob Gress

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