Plains Conservation Center, Nature preserve and education center in Aurora, United States
The Plains Conservation Center is a nature preserve and education facility on 1,100 acres of shortgrass prairie with walking trails and views of the Rocky Mountains. A recreated homestead with period buildings and fire circles demonstrates how the region was settled and lived in.
The center was established in 1949 to educate the public about prairie ecosystems. The recreated buildings added in 1969 represent how people settled and sustained themselves on this grassland.
The recreated homestead village shows how settlers and Native people lived and worked on the grassland, with sod houses, a schoolhouse, and a blacksmith shop. You can see the daily tools and structures that made life possible on the prairie in earlier times.
The grounds are free to explore on your own at any pace, and walking trails are open for self-guided visits. If you want guided programs with naturalists, those require separate fees but offer deeper learning about the prairie and its residents.
Thousands of prairie dogs dig their burrow networks in large colonies that you can watch from the trails. Pronghorn herds, speedy hoofed animals found only on the North American continent, also graze across the land.
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