Pawnee National Grassland is a United States National Grassland located in northeastern Colorado on the Colorado Eastern Plains. The grassland is located in the South Platte River basin in remote northern and extreme northeastern Weld County between Greeley and Sterling. It comprises two parcels totaling largely between State Highway 14 and the Wyoming border. The larger eastern parcel lies adjacent to the borders of both Nebraska and Wyoming. It is administered in conjunction with the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest from the U.S. Forest Service office in Fort Collins, with a local ranger district office in Greeley.

The grassland is in an especially depopulated area of the Great Plains. It saw limited cultivation in the early 20th century but was withdrawn from farming after the Dust Bowl. The communities of Keota and Purcell are located within the grassland. The town of Grover is located directly between the two large parcels of the grasslands near Crow Creek. Briggsdale sits at the southern end where State Highway 14 and State Highway 392 meet. State Highway 71 traverses the eastern unit north of Stoneham. The eastern unit is drained by Pawnee Creek, a tributary of the South Platte. The western unit is largely drained by Crow Creek.

Recreation and access

Camping is available at the Crow Valley Recreation Area northwest of Briggsdale. The grassland contains several hiking trails, including one that allows foot access to the Pawnee Buttes, the most notable geologic feature of the grasslands. Bird watching is a popular recreational activity for day hikers, especially at the Chalk Bluffs, a raptor nesting site.

Recreational activities on the Pawnee Grasslands have been somewhat curtailed over the last 10 years due to the discovery of extractable oil and natural gas. According to the US Forest Service, there are 63 active vertical oil and natural gas wells, and less than 3,000 acres of the 193,060 acres is protected from drilling.

Geology

The grasslands is a joining of two soil types. In the east are prairie soils that are deep, and dark or reddish. From the west are chernozems of a chestnut, becoming brown. The chestnut soils are the dominant type across the areas. These soils develop in semiarid climates with of rain annually. They are associated with buffalo grass and blue grama. Around the buttes, the soils are most likely brown soils which are characteristic of cool, semiarid condition and are evidenced by short grasses and shrubs.

Water is available from a Cretaceous period aquifer. Three springs are in the vicinity of the buttes: Nelson Ranch north, old Linglebach Homestead south, and an arroyo west. The main access to the aquifer is by windmill pumps. The aquifer is recharged from the west and flows eastward. There are Tertiary and Quaternary aquifers which are recharged by precipitation and seepage from streams. The Brule Formation, where available provides a large quantity of water.

  • Blue flax (Linum lewisii)
  • Buffalo bur (Solanum rostratum)
  • Cryptantha (Cryptantha species)
  • Groundsel (Senecio species)
  • Hartweg evening primrose (Calylophus hartwegii)
  • Hood's phlox (Phlox hoodii)
  • Narrow-leaved penstemon (Penstemon angustifolius)
  • Nuttall's violet (Viola nuttallii)
  • Pink cleome (Cleome serrulata)
  • Plains prickly pear cactus (Opuntia polyacantha)
  • Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
  • Prairie evening primrose (Oenothera albicaulis)
  • Prairie onion (Allium textile)
  • Prairie snowball (Abronia fragrans)
  • Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum)
  • Purple ground cherry (Quincula lobata)
  • Salsify (Tragopogon major)
  • Scarlet globe mallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea)
  • Snow on the mountain (Agaloma marginata)
  • Star lily (Leucocrinum montanum)
  • Sunflowers (Helianthus species)
  • Tansy aster (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)
  • Threadleaf yellowrays (Thelesperma filifolium)
  • Tufted sandwort (Arenaria hookeri)
  • Western wallflower (Erysimum spermum)
  • Wooly locoweed (Astragalus mollissimus)
  • Yucca (Yucca angustifolia)

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Image:PawneeGrasslandInColorado.PNG|Colorado, with Pawnee National Grassland highlighted in red.

Image:Pawnee National Grassland location in Weld County.png|Weld County, Colorado with Pawnee National Grassland highlighted in red.

Image:Pawnee National Grassland.JPG|One of the signs marking the entrance to the grassland. This one is at the west side along State Highway 14.

Image:Pawnee Grassland Butte.jpg|Rock formation near the Pawnee Buttes.

Image:Pawnee Grassland Sunrise.jpg|Sunrise over the grassland.

Image:Pawnee Gulley.jpg|A gully near the Pawnee Buttes.

Image:Pawnee grass.jpg|View of Pawnee National Grassland from County Rd 116 in February.

Image:Thundercloud over the Pawnee.jpg|A thundercloud rolling in over the prairie.

Image:Pawnee Prairie.jpg|Uninterrupted prairie

Image:Pawnee oil.jpg| Oil wells on Colorado State Highway 14

</gallery>

See also

  • Chalk Bluffs Natural Area
  • List of protected grasslands of North America

References

  • Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland (United States Forest Service)