Pawnee National Grassland
Co Rd 111, Grover, CO
Grover, CO
A great open expanse of shortgrass prairie under an enormous sky, where the horizon runs unbroken and the plains reveal their quiet abundance.
The Pawnee National Grassland protects a vast sweep of shortgrass prairie in the northeastern corner of Colorado, a landscape often overlooked but quietly extraordinary. Where mountains and forests draw the crowds, this is a place of open grass, endless horizon, and huge skies, a chance to experience the plains that once rolled across much of the West before the plow and the fence changed them.
The grassland is best known for its birdlife, its dark skies, and the Pawnee Buttes that rise like landmarks from the flats, but its deeper appeal is the quiet immensity of the prairie itself. It rewards travelers who slow down, look closely, and let the subtle richness of the grassland reveal itself under that big, unbroken sky.
What Guests Love
- A vast, uncrowded expanse of open prairie and sky
- Some of the best grassland birding in the American West
- The landmark Pawnee Buttes rising from the plains
- Dark night skies far from any city glow
Worth Knowing
- It is remote with few services, so bring water, fuel, and supplies
- Public and private land are mixed here, so respect boundaries and stay on roads and trails
- Roads are mostly dirt and can turn to slick mud when wet
- Storms and lightning are a hazard on the open plains, so watch the sky
Details
Grover, CO
Learn about Pawnee National Grassland
The shortgrass prairie
The Pawnee is a piece of the shortgrass prairie, the drier, western edge of the Great Plains where hardy grasses like blue grama and buffalo grass form a low, tough carpet adapted to wind, drought, and grazing. It is a subtle landscape, easy to dismiss at a glance, but it supports a remarkable web of life, from pronghorn and prairie dogs to a wealth of grassland birds.
This is the ancestral land of Plains peoples including the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Pawnee, whose homelands and travel routes crossed this grass for generations, and the grassland carries that long human history. Managed today by the Forest Service, it is a patchwork of public and private land where cattle graze much as bison once did, keeping the prairie in the cropped, open state its wildlife depends on.
A history written on the plains
For centuries the Plains tribes lived with and followed the great bison herds across this grassland, and their history is inseparable from it. In the 1800s the land drew ranchers and then homesteaders lured by promises of farmland, who plowed the prairie in an attempt to make it grow crops.
When drought and the Dust Bowl struck in the 1930s, much of that plowed ground blew away, and many homesteaders were ruined. The federal government bought up the failed farms and set about restoring the grass, and those recovered lands became the national grassland. The scattered foundations and windmills you still find out here are quiet reminders of that hard chapter and the prairie's slow recovery.
The Pawnee Buttes and getting out on the land
The signature landmark of the grassland is the Pawnee Buttes, two sandstone towers that rise from the prairie in the eastern part of the preserve, reached by a fine trail across the grass. They are the natural centerpiece of a visit, offering a destination and a payoff amid the great open expanse.
Beyond the buttes, the grassland is laced with back roads perfect for slow driving, wildlife watching, and a celebrated self-guided birding tour, along with campgrounds and picnic spots like the cottonwood oasis at Crow Valley. It is a landscape you experience gradually, mile by unhurried mile, letting the scale and the quiet sink in.
Wildlife, dark skies, and the seasons
The grassland teems with life for those who look: pronghorn grazing the flats, prairie dog towns alive with sentries, coyotes and jackrabbits, and a great diversity of birds that makes the Pawnee one of the premier birding destinations in the region, from meadowlarks and longspurs to hawks and eagles overhead. Far from city lights, its night skies are magnificently dark and star-filled.
Spring and fall are the finest seasons, mild and full of bird activity, with spring greening the grass and studding it with wildflowers. Summer is hot and exposed, with afternoon thunderstorms a genuine hazard on the open plains, so early outings are best. Winter is cold, windswept, and stark, but it brings eagles and northern raptors and a stripped-down, austere beauty all 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.
Things to Do Near Grover
Pawnee Buttes
Eastern grassland
Two sandstone buttes rising from the prairie, the grassland's signature landmark, reached by a scenic trail.
Crow Valley Recreation Area
Near Briggsdale
A cottonwood-shaded campground and picnic area, a green oasis and prime spot for migrant birds.
Grover
Near the grassland
A tiny plains town with a historic railroad depot museum, the nearest community to the buttes.
Greeley
About 30 miles southwest
An agricultural city with a university, museums, and services, the main hub for the region.