Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
118 NW 30 Rd, Great Bend, KS
Great Bend, KS
A vast prairie marsh where millions of migrating birds pause each spring and fall, one of the most important stopovers on the entire central flyway of North America.
Cheyenne Bottoms is the largest inland marsh in the interior United States, a vast wetland filling a natural basin on the central Kansas prairie near Great Bend. Each spring and fall it becomes one of the single most important rest stops for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl anywhere in North America, drawing enormous numbers of birds moving between their northern nesting grounds and their southern wintering grounds.
The scale is hard to grasp until you see it. In peak migration, huge portions of some shorebird species pass through here, feeding and resting in the shallow water before pushing on. The marsh has earned international recognition for its importance to birds, and it makes an unforgettable stop for anyone with even a passing interest in wildlife.
What Guests Love
- Watching enormous flocks of shorebirds and waterfowl during spring and fall migration
- Driving the dikes for close looks at the marsh and its birds from the car
- A globally recognized birding site, drawing serious birders from far away
- Big sky, water, and grassland in a part of Kansas people don't expect to be wet
Worth Knowing
- Migration in spring and fall is the peak; water levels and bird numbers change year to year
- The interior roads and dikes are unpaved and can be soft or flooded, so check conditions
- Bring binoculars or a spotting scope, insect repellent, and sun protection
- Water levels depend on rain and river flow, so the marsh can be full one year and low the next
Details
Great Bend, KS
Learn about Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
A basin in the plains
Cheyenne Bottoms lies in a broad, shallow natural basin, a low spot in the plains where water has collected for a very long time. Its exact origins are debated, but the sink appears to have formed through a mix of geologic settling and long erosion, leaving a great catchment with no natural outlet.
Water reaches the marsh from local streams and, in wetter years, from the Arkansas River, and it can rise and fall dramatically depending on rainfall and drought. Today the water is also managed with dikes and pumps to keep habitat available for birds even in dry spells, balancing a naturally boom-and-bust wetland against the needs of migration.
A crossroads of the flyway
The central flyway is one of the great migration corridors of the hemisphere, and Cheyenne Bottoms sits squarely across it. For long-distance migrants, especially shorebirds crossing the continent between the Arctic and South America, a reliable wetland in the middle of the dry plains is a lifeline, a place to refuel for the next leg of an enormous journey.
That is why the marsh matters so far beyond Kansas. A huge share of the continental population of some shorebird species passes through in a matter of weeks each spring, and the loss of a stopover like this could ripple across their whole range. Protecting the Bottoms is protecting a link in a chain that stretches across two continents.
The birds and other wildlife
In migration the marsh fills with sandpipers, plovers, avocets, godwits, and other shorebirds probing the mud, along with ducks, geese, pelicans, herons, egrets, and shorebird-hunting falcons. Rare and hard-to-find species turn up regularly, which is why serious birders travel here from far away.
Beyond the birds, the marsh and its grasslands support fish, frogs, turtles, and mammals, and the whole complex is a rich, living system. The nearby Quivira refuge adds salt marsh and more habitat, so the two together form one of the great wetland stops on the plains.
Season by season
Spring is the headline season, when northbound shorebirds pour through in their breeding colors and the marsh comes alive with movement and sound. Fall brings a second, longer wave of southbound migrants, including big numbers of ducks and geese.
Summer is quieter for migrants but good for nesting marsh birds, and it can be hot and buggy. Winter empties out much of the water and many of the birds, though waterfowl linger when the marsh stays open, and the wide, cold landscape has a stark beauty of its own.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Evergreen Inn Motel & RV Park
Honorable Mention20001 W. US Highway 54, Pratt, KS
53 miles away|Learn More ›
Prairie Lodge Motel
Honorable Mention1219 Old US Highway 56, Council Grove, KS
125 miles away|Learn More ›
Things to Do Near Great Bend
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
A drive to the southwest
A companion wetland complex with salt marsh, more migrating birds, and a scenic auto tour.
Great Bend
About 8 miles southwest
A central-Kansas town on the Arkansas River, the main base for services near the marsh.
Kansas Wetlands Education Center
At the edge of the Bottoms
A visitor and learning center with exhibits on the marsh, its birds, and the flyway.