The Prairie Trail is part of the hiking trail system at Kanopolis Lake, Kansas, that connects the Alum Creek Trail and the Horsethief Canyon Trail and is open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders.
Getting There
You can get to the Prairie Trail from Kanopolis State Park by hiking the Horsethief Canyon Trail, or you can drive to the trailhead that’s north of the lake.
To get to the trailhead, drive north on Highway 141, turn west on Avenue K, and then turn south on 25th Road. The trailhead is on the east side of the road across the street from a house.
Once you’re at the trailhead, be sure to grab a map. The trail can get a little confusing in some spots and I’m sure you don’t want to unintentionally add or take away miles.
At the trailhead, the mowed path immediately goes left or right. Going left will put you on the Prairie Trail.
I went right which put me on the Alum Creek Trail that loops back to the Prairie Trail in a few spots. To learn more about that section, read my blog post “Hiking Kansas: Alum Creek Trail, Kanopolis Lake.”
At the end of that post, I had hiked about 6.6 miles and made it to the northern end of Red Rock Canyon where the Alum Creek Trail and the Prairie Trail meet.
The Prairie Trail
The two trails met at Gate 1B. You have the option to go through the gate and start heading back to the trailhead if you’d like, or you can go right. I went right.
Going right takes you into the red rocks where you’ll find some really interesting rock formations. I stopped and climbed around this area for a while just for the fun of it.
Be careful in this section, the sandstone creates a fine powder that can cause you to slip. This area is a few miles from help in either direction so it would be a terrible place to injure yourself.
After playing around on the rocks, I took the trail down into a ravine through grass that was tall enough to touch my elbows. I went through some woods and came to a small gate.
Once through the gate, the trail ascends uphill and out of the canyon. At this point, it splits. Going left takes you east through open prairie and right takes you south along the ridge of the canyon. Since this is a loop section, going either way will lead back to this spot.
I took the trail to the left which became pretty narrow as it continued along a hillside with a creek below to the left. Eventually it curved around and followed along a barbed wire fence.
The trail turned south toward the lake and past another gate to the left. If you go through the gate, you’ll be on the Horsethief Canyon Trail and you can continue on into Kanopolis State Park. This would be a good option if you wanted to do an overnight backpacking trip, camp in the campgrounds and hike out the next morning.
I didn’t take this option. I kept heading south where I could see the lake in the distance. The trail became pretty sandy and the terrain became hilly. This created somewhat of a challenge especially when I was going uphill.
The trail descends down toward the lake and bends around the peninsula giving you expansive views of the water and park grounds.
Coming back around, the trail goes straight up a hill. By the time I reached the summit, I was out of breath!
I went up and down a few more hills through mostly open prairie before returning to the Red Rock Creek crossing. As I stated in my last blog post, the water was way too deep for me to cross so I continued north.
The trail once again went straight up a hill which put me on the ridgeline of the Red Rock Canyon. Hiking along this section offered great views of the unique red rock formations throughout the canyon.
I returned to the spot where this loop section began, went through the little gate and back to Gate 1B. Going through this gate put me on a straight path to Gate 2, where the Prairie Trail and Alum Creek Trail meet once again.
To the trailhead through difficulty
After going through Gate 2, the trail splits left and right. Left puts you on the Alum Creek Trail (blue trailblazers) which was covered in my last blog post. Right takes you north on the Prairie Trail (orange trailblazers) along a barbed wire fence. Both options lead back to the trailhead.
I stayed with the orange trailblazers on the Prairie Trail.
This section of the trail starts out as a straight shot north and then bends to the west as it follows a wooded creek. If you look to the west, you may see the gravel road that’s part of the Alum Creek Trail.
The trail turns back to the north and runs alongside another stretch of barbed wire fence. On this section, you can look down to the wooded creek lands on your left, and hilly, open prairie to your right.
The trail comes to a fence corner and turns east where it seemed that the terrain in this section was too rough to get a mower into and the grass was once again up to my elbows. This was the only long section of the entire trail that wasn’t mowed and I could barely see where the trail was.
Luckily, the trail in this section is marked very well (every 50 yards or so), otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see where I was supposed to go.
After crossing two shallow creeks, I came out of the tall grass and back on a mowed surface. By some miracle, I had no ticks and didn’t suffer from chigger bites the following week!
The trail passed by an interesting pillar rock formation that randomly stuck out of the side of a hill. I hiked around the east side of a large hill, with a ravine to my right, until finally reaching the north side of the hill where the trail started heading west again.
I came to another gate which put me back in the section where my truck was parked. The trail went all the way to the north part of the park, but I took a cut-off path toward the Alum Creek.
The creek lands were heavily wooded and it was starting to get late, so I wasn’t able to take as many pictures because the light wasn’t good.
I came to a creek crossing and sure enough, the water was shallow enough for me to cross but deep enough to soak through my shoes and socks. To prevent that, I took my shoes and socks off and threw on some flip flops. I changed back into my shoes and socks after crossing the creek.
Not long after, I came out of the woods, across an open field and back to my truck.
It was a long day but it was totally worth it. The Prairie Trail combined with the Alum Creek Trail at Kanopolis Lake has been one of my favorite hiking trails in Kansas. It was the perfect combination of distance, terrain and scenery.
If you’re looking for a place to explore, this is it. I hope you go out and experience this hike!
Safe travels!
Matt McCoy, writer and photographer, Rugged Kansas
Essential Info About the Prairie Trail
Location: The Prairie Trail hiking trail is north of Kanopolis Lake, Kansas.
Fees: Free.
Dogs: Allowed but must be leashed.
Activities: Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.
Trail Construction: Natural surface, grass surface, loop trail, system trail.
Trail Length from Description Above: 6 miles (My total hike including the Alum Creek Trail was 12.6 miles)
Total Length Available: 6 miles (Prairie Trail only)
Seasons: Open Feb. 1 thru Oct. 31. Closed Nov. 1 thru Jan. 31.
Camping: No camping on the hiking trails. RV and tent camping is available in the campgrounds surrounding Kanopolis Lake. There’s also a campground with horse corrals available in the state park.
Features: Wildlife, Open Prairie, Meadows, Woods, Hills, Ravines, Creeks, Rock Formations, Lake Views, Red Rock Canyon, Water Crossings
Hazards: Mosquitos were buzzing around me in the woods. Ticks and chiggers can be a problem on grass-surfaced trails. Bug spray is highly recommended. This is a long trail away from everything, be sure to have plenty of water to prevent heat related injuries. Parts of the trail are awkward to walk on, be sure to tighten your hiking shoes and treat hot spots on your feet when you start to feel them. Blisters are highly possible.
Website: https://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/Locations/Kanopolis/Trails
Facebook:
Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism – Kanopolis State Park @KanopolisStatePark
Unofficial page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kanopolis-State-Park/120011641378081
Other Kansas hiking trails you may like:
Alum Creek Trail at Kanopolis Lake
The Bridle Trail at Lake Scott State Park
The hiking trails at Sand Hills State Park