Prairie Dog State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located 4 miles west of

Norton, Kansas Norton is a city in, and the county seat of, Norton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,747. History Norton was founded in 1872. Like the county, it was named for Capt. Orloff Norton. The f ...

, United States on Highway 261. Located in western Kansas, the Prairie Dog State Park is named after the creek that feeds into the Keith Sebelius reservoir, and had no

prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...

populations living there when it was established in 1967. Prairie dogs were introduced in the 1980s and the state park now holds a thriving colony of about 300. Prairie Dog State Park is a park that is located on the north shore of

Keith Sebelius Lake Keith Sebelius Lake, formerly known as Norton Reservoir, is a man-made reservoir on Prairie Dog Creek in northwest Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, recreation, and local water ...

in Norton County. The dam was completed for Keith Sebelius Reservoir in 1965 and quickly filled up the following year. One of the last remaining adobe house is located at the Prairie Dog State Park. The renovated house was built sometime in the 1890s. Also located in Prairire Dog State Park is the 1886 Hillmon one room school house. Prairie Dog State Park has many recreation opportunities for campers to enjoy including a 1.4 mile nature trail, viewable prairie dog town, sand volleyball pit, disc golf course, regulation size basketball court, archery range, horse shoe pits, playground, swimbeach, fishing dock, 1886 one room school house, adobe home, and a 30'x70' Lake View shelter.

References

External links

* State parks of Kansas Protected areas of Norton County, Kansas {{Kansas-protected-area-stub