The Trail: From South to North
I’m always doing things from north to south. Let’s switch gears and take a general (not too detailed because the route will remain a very fluid thing in many areas for a long time to come) look at the Great Plains Trail from south to north. Break out the atlas and check it out. The […]
American Bison Extraordinaire
Just this past December, a Bill to make the American Bison the National Mammal unanimously passed the U.S. Senate! It now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. We here at Great Plains Trail Alliance say, “Well, it’s about time.” Our mascot, ABE (American Bison Extraordinaire) agrees. I guess you could call it the […]
Why Not? It’s Free!
If you’ve ever driven I-90 across South Dakota, you’d know that the state is not afraid to advertise its charms. In addition to the ubiquitous signage for the famous Wall Drug, there is also 1880 Town, and one of my favorites from the eastern part of the state, the Corn Palace in Mitchell. Of all […]
New Top Ten!
It’s been almost five years since I posted the “Top Ten Places to See on the Great Plains Trail,” and while some things are going to remain the same, a lot has changed as far as routing and highlights are concerned. When I posted that first list, the Great Plains Trail project was in its […]
Plains Conservation Center
Great Plains Trail Alliance had a nice meeting yesterday with the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora, Colorado. Their mission is holistic grassland conservation as well as providing educational opportunities in the grasslands of eastern Colorado. I’m particularly fond of their tagline: “Find Your Roots in the Grasslands.” Brilliant. They own about 1,100 acres in Aurora […]
If Grass Falls . . .
There’s a nice article out this week from the Boulder Weekly about Pawnee National Grassland and the current plight against oil interests. The article is titled, “If Grass Falls in a National Forest, and No One is around to Hear it . . .” and it’s written by Joel Dyer. Here is link to the […]
Here Comes Old Uncle Joe . . .
One of the cool things (among a list of many cool things) about long distance trails is the tradition of having a “trail name.” It probably started somewhere along the Appalachian Trail. I don’t really know. If anyone out there has some solid history on this, please post it in the comments. Anyway, I think […]
More Great Plains Poetry
The American poet, Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) was something of a mystic, and he once walked from his home in Illinois all the way to New Mexico preaching “the gospel of beauty.” Why is it not surprising then that he spent most of that walk in the Great Plains? Here is his poem, “The Flower-fed Buffaloes:” […]
Texting Meriwether Lewis
This may not be the best spelled quote, but cut him some slack. He was writing in the days before “autocorrect.” How did he possibly manage? I shudder to think. 😉 (Actually, it was pretty difficult to even transcribe the quote as he wrote it, because WordPress kept wanting to fix everything, and I […]
Montana – The Northern Reaches of the Great Plains Trail
I recently returned from Montana after having participated (all too briefly) in American Prairie Reserve’s Transect2015. The Transect involved a group of APR staff and some guests traveling over 200 miles and camping out along the way in search of beauty, wildlife, conversation, and friendship. Although I wish I could’ve stayed longer (I only really […]
The Road Less Traveled
We posted this topic recently on Facebook, but I also wanted to open up a wider discussion to any and all potential GPT hikers out there. Like the North Country Trail, The American Discovery Trail, and the Ice Age Trail, The GPT will incorporate a fair amount of road in order to connect with existing […]
The Trail Continues in South Dakota
Just got back from a highly successful scouting mission for the Great Plains Trail in South Dakota and North Dakota, the details of which I will describe in a later post highlighting a few sections. Below are some of the highlights from Custer National Forest, South Dakota:
