Best Great Plains

The Central Shortgrass Prairie is an ecoregion in the US Great Plains, notable for its semi-arid climate and historical role as the primary grazing habitat for massive herds of American bison.

White Butte is the highest natural point in North Dakota, reaching 3,506 feet above sea level in Slope County. It stands within the dissected grasslands and badland terrain of the state's southwest, and its pale sedimentary slopes contrast with the surrounding prairie. The summit is primarily visite...

The Shortgrass Prairie Steppe is a vast ecoregion in the western Great Plains of the United States, defined by its drought-resistant blue grama grass and historical bison herds.

The Canadian Prairies are a vast temperate grassland region spanning the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. As an extension of the Great Plains of North America, the area is characterized by relatively flat terrain and fertile soil. This geographic profile has made the region a center...

The Spinystar cactus (Coryphantha vivipara) is a small, spherical succulent native to the plains and mountainous regions of central and western North America. It is notably widespread, ranging from the Canadian prairies down to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The plant is disting...

Thunder Butte is an isolated, flat-topped landform in Ziebach County, South Dakota, within the region of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. It rises prominently above the surrounding Great Plains and serves as a visible geographic landmark over a wide area. The butte has cultural and spiritual i...

The Central tall grasslands is a temperate grassland ecoregion that extends across the midwestern United States and into south-central Canada. It is dominated by tallgrass prairie species such as big bluestem, little bluestem, and switchgrass, which can reach heights of two to three meters. The ecor...

The Northern tall grasslands is a temperate grassland ecoregion spanning across southern Canada and the northern Midwest of the United States. It is characterized by its exceptionally fertile, dark chernozemic soils, which support a diverse array of tallgrass prairie vegetation such as big bluestem...

The Northern Mixed Grasslands are a temperate grassland ecoregion spanning the Great Plains across the northern United States and southern Canada. Serving as an ecological transition zone between the taller grass prairies to the east and the shorter grass plains to the west, the region receives mode...

William Duncan Strong was an American anthropologist and archaeologist whose research addressed the prehistory and Indigenous cultures of North and South America. He conducted fieldwork in regions including the Great Plains, California, Honduras, and Peru, using archaeological evidence together with...

*Escobaria missouriensis*, commonly known as the Missouri foxtail cactus, is a small, globular cactus native to the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of North America. It is recognized for its exceptional cold hardiness, allowing it to survive in climates far north of most cactus species, rang...

The white-whiskered grasshopper (Ageneotettix deorum) is a slant-faced grasshopper in the family Acrididae, formally described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1876. It occurs widely in the grasslands and rangelands of North America, including the Great Plains, and feeds mainly on grasses. The species i...

The Central and Southern Mixed Grasslands form a transitional prairie ecoregion in the United States, historically defined by a diverse mix of tall and short native grasses.

Aulocara femoratum is the white-crossed grasshopper, a slant-faced species described by Scudder in 1899 and recorded in Central and North America.

Crow Buttes are a cluster of isolated buttes in Harding County, South Dakota, near the Wyoming border in the remote northwestern Great Plains.

The Northern Short Grasslands occupy the rain-shadowed western Great Plains in the United States and Canada, recognized for drought-resistant blue grama and historical bison herds.

The Mixed Grass Prairie is a North American ecoregion located between the tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, notable for its blend of drought-resistant grasses.

Rainy Butte is an isolated butte in Slope County, North Dakota, part of the rugged badlands terrain in the state's remote southwestern corner.

The Western Short Grasslands are a high-plains ecoregion east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States, notable for an arid climate and drought-tolerant buffalo grass.

Heart Butte is an isolated butte in Slope County, North Dakota, rising above the Little Missouri Badlands in the sparsely populated southwestern part of the state.

A widespread prickly pear across the western Great Plains from Canada to Mexico, tolerating extreme cold and noted for its variable flower colors ranging from yellow to magenta.

Butte in Wyoming named for its steamboat-like silhouette, serving as a geographic landmark amid the basin and plains terrain of the surrounding region.

Butte in Montana named for its haystack-shaped profile, an erosional remnant rising above the surrounding terrain whose rounded form gives it its agricultural namesake.

Rattlesnake Butte is a butte in the North Dakota badlands, one of several Great Plains formations bearing the name for the rattlesnakes historically found nearby.

The Platte River is a major tributary of the Missouri River in Nebraska, historically serving as a crucial route for 19th-century pioneers.

Opuntia macrorhiza, the plains prickly pear, is a widespread North American cactus noted for its large tuberous roots and adaptability to harsh grassland environments.

The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River, flowing roughly 1,400 kilometers from Colorado through New Mexico and Texas.

The Kansas River, formed by the confluence of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, flows 275 kilometers east through Kansas to the Missouri River.