cheyenne bottoms

This is the place for you! Not just a one season place, variety of birds throughout the year. Also there isThe Kansas Wetlands Center located across the highway that has nice displays as well. photographers dream.....birds,grassland,sunsets, all amazing. Even have Monarch tagging ...

A wonderful place to see a lot of nature. Roads are wide enough to pull over to view particular scenes or to let others pass. Bring camera, binoculars, spotting scope and bird book. Watch out during hunting season for large pick-ups with trailers going very fast to get to their hunting areas. Can be very dusty when dry and windy.

This is not a scenic place, but rather a series of man-made "pools" in a totally flat area. But if birds interest you this is Disney World. I know I have never seen that many Ruddy Ducks in one place before.

I hunted the first and second weekend of the season. Most of the ducks were probably local ducks and were blue winged teal. We had a few redheads and some spoony's. No mallards.

The nature center is very good. Many types of shorebirds and waterfowl. Hunting season in the fall so be aware of hunters.

You cannot come to Great Bend and not do any birdwatching. One of the reasons we were here in was because of that. We didnt get to see much, but we did learn a lot from the education center. The people working there were very knowledgeable, which made the trip all the more enriching. Would like to come again and maybe catch a glimpse of more birds. The few that we saw though, we took many pictures of, as well as of the wetlands.

This is world renown and when husband found out we were traveling in Kansas this was a must. Of course we arrive in the heat of the day but there are so many birds there you cannot miss. There is a nice dirt/gravel road to travel, an observation deck, hardly any traffic . We spent about 3 hours there and only saw 2 other cars but many good birds to add to our list for the trip. We stopped at the Kansas Wetland Center to pick up literature before hand, checklists, maps etc.

I don't consider myself a bird-watcher but there are certain things you have to do and experience when you are traveling. A friend who is an avid nature and animal fanatic dragged me along to the cheyenne bottoms. First of all, I was impressed. No kidding, the wetlands were immense, and quite peaceful. Not a lot of people thankfully, and the few that there were were friendly. Education center people were very knowledgeable.

We saw lots of egrets, herons, swallows, and white pelicans. The only negative was the weather. It was hot with a SW wind of 25 mph. Be sure to stop in at the education center. The displays and information were excellent.

Big deal about being a big wetland? All the wildlife (mostly large birds that wouldn't think would be in KS). How full it is, is the question during the summer, and even though Spring/Fall are better times to see different things, we saw some on one of the two main trails. Large, well equipped Welcome Center with info on everywhere in KS along with the usual T-shirts and souvenirs. Got us going on weekend trips to places like this (an hour from us) and the nearby Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. Which was in some ways better that day.

This is a beautiful "inland marsh" area that is naturally formed. We have lots and lots of birds come through this area. However that also includes millions of black birds that like to poop everywhere. But the large swarms of black birds are also beautiful to watch, they way they as a flock ebb and flow and swoop and never hit each other. Having lived here all my life - I have seen this with almost no water and flooded with water. Unlike a concrete man-made site which only needs a new slap of paint to look fresh - Cheyenne Bottoms relies on God for rain. The last few years we actually have received less moisture than during the dirty 30's when thousands of people moved away because they couldn't feed themselves let alone others. Today our farmers are still raising moderate crops without all the blowing dirt of the 30's. With water conservation, Cheyenne Bottoms is keeping birds and other animals feed and watered. Better times to see this is early morning or late afternoon/early evening. During the hot afternoons, birds are off feeding or hiding. Bring your camera and your binoculars, comfortable clothes, walking shoes, snacks, and lots of water to drink. There are not tons of visitors so you will have time and space to yourself.

I could not believe it but after traveling around Cheyenne Bottoms bird watching we did not run into very many people. This is an incredible place to view water and shore birds as well as many others in the area. I hope to go back in the years to come because you cannot see everything in just a few days.

I've been here a few times over the past couple of years. More often than not it is very dry for a wetlands center. Not a whole lot to see in the way of wildlife. Inside the building is pretty nice though and the land is pretty.

The Kansas Wetland Education Center folks are knowledgeable and friendly. They can relate to adults and to kids of all ages. The facilities and grounds are wonderful and it's fascinating how critical this area is for bird migration and keeping our environment in balance.

This natural basin is a haven for wild birds of all kinds. 8,000 acres of pools are managed to make the best use of sometimes a limited water supply. Excellent for bird watching and bird photographing. Certain areas allow shooting. CHECK FIRST. Walk through and learn more about our birds at Kansas Wetlands Education Center. Spend 2-3 hours at Cheyenne Bottoms then travel south on Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway and spend another 2-3 hours at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.