Cheyenne Bottoms

Cheyenne Bottoms and the nearby Quivira National Wildlife Refuge are critical habitat for whooping cranes, which visit for a few weeks in March or April and again in October or November. Whooping cranes are an endangered species with fewer than 700 remaining in the wild. The largest flock, currently about 500 birds, spend the summer breeding in Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park and the winter at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. These large wetland complexes in Kansas are two of the most important places for the cranes to stop and rest, mid-way along the grueling 2,500-mile journey.

Geography and tradition lead migrating birds to this spot. Some fly thousands of miles without rest, fueled by a few tablespoons of body fat. When the fat reserves burn low, the birds stop to feed and rest at the marshy basins that have fed and sheltered their kind for thousands of generations. More bird species are seen here than anywhere else in the state. Of the 482 bird species known to Kansas, 356 species have been observed at Cheyenne Bottoms. Birds here migrate north as far as western Alaska and the tundra at the edge of the arctic, and south to Louisiana, Texas, Central America and the far reaches of South America. Providing abundant food and a place to rest, Cheyenne Bottoms is an essential link in this migration.

How to Get There

Cheyenne Bottoms is located in central Kansas, a short drive north of Great Bend. It is surrounded by Highway 4 to the north, Highway 156 on the east and Highway 281 on the west. 

Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve is best toured by vehicle, beginning at one of two informational kiosks:

• Highway 281 & NE 80th Rd (northeast corner of intersection)
• Highway 4 & NE 20th Ave (southwest corner of intersection)

While you are visiting, we encourage you to visit the Kansas Wetlands Education Center conveniently located along Highway 156 at the southeast corner of Cheyenne Bottoms. KWEC features many state-of-the-art exhibits that tell the story of this unique Kansas wetland. 

You can also learn more about other Kansas wetlands with a trip along the Kansas Wetlands and Wildlife National Scenic Byway. 

Preserve Rules

Please note: Rules for The Nature Conservancy’s Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve differ from the regulations at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area which is managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

• Visitors must stay on public roads but you may pull to the side and exit your car for bird-watching. 
• Off-road hiking is prohibited.
• No dogs or other pets are allowed outside of your vehicle.
• Hunting and fishing is prohibited on The Nature Conservancy's property. (Both are allowed at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area.)

Managing For Shorebirds on Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve

by Robert L. Penner, Avian Conservation Manager

We are in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Many are calling the times we live in a new, unofficial geological epoch, the Anthropocene: an epoch that is characterized by the world being influenced by humans. So much so, that human activity is having a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. These changes have long been seen in bird populations. In 2019, a study was published in Science magazine showing some of the dramatic declines in bird populations in North America since 1970. These researchers estimate that there are 2.9 billion fewer breeding birds today than there were in 1970.

Shorebirds are not immune to these declines; in fact, shorebirds have the highest proportion of native species in decline. An assessment of shorebirds in Canada found that while shorebird species as a group have declined by 40% since 1970, shorebirds that migrate long distances have declined more steeply, by 52% (compared to short-distance migrants which declined 23% over the same time period).

Several species of shorebirds that visit Cheyenne Bottoms migrate long distances between their arctic breeding grounds in the north to their South American non-breeding grounds. The tremendous energy demands associated with these twice-a-year flights of several thousand miles require that birds be able to repeat the cycle of accumulating fat and then using these fat reserves. Because these long-distance migrants cannot make the journey without periodically replenishing fat reserves, stopover sites such as Cheyenne Bottoms become critical to the survival of many of these species. But it takes more than just one location. Shorebirds need a chain of stopover sites from the Arctic to South America.

It is because of the long-term population declines and the wide range of threats to shorebirds—habitat loss ranks at the top—that The Nature Conservancy made managing habitat for shorebirds a priority at Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve. One very important job we can do to ensure the future of shorebirds is to provide ideal stopover habitat for migrating shorebirds.