Paralleling the Rocky Mountains, this vast stretch of grasslands extends from a tiny pocket of northern Mexico, through Texas and all the way north to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Air-travel is fastest and probably the most practical way of entering the Great Plains region. Many smaller cities in this region are serviced by the airport hubs of Denver, Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston and Chicago. From those large airports, smaller commuter flights are available into many small city airports such as Fargo or Grand Forks, North Dakota; Rapid City or Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, McCook, Scottsbluff and Alliance, Nebraska; Salina, Wichita or Topeka, Kansas; Tulsa or Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Amarillo, Wichita Falls or Dallas, Texas.
Generally by automobile, Greyhound bus has several routes through here as well and there is very limited passenger rail service. Many larger cities have regular air-commuter service to larger hub airports. Smaller towns may have smaller commuter flights with more limited service.
- Great numbers of wildlife can be observed here including Whitetail deer, otters, badgers, pronghorn, prairie dogs, coyotes as well as Elk and Buffalo in wildlife refuges as well as other managed areas
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Western North Dakota
- Badlands National Park in Western South Dakota
- Black Hills National Forest in Western South Dakota
- Sandhills in North Central Nebraska
- Many National Grasslands dot this region
- Visit County/State Fairs generally occurring during the fall months, admission is usually charged
- Horseback Riding
- Wildlife Viewing
- Storm Chasing
- Fishing (licenses required, purchased at sports shops and larger stores such as Wal-Marts or grocery stores in the region)
- Hunting (licenses required, hunters safety requirements vary by state)
- Free Ice Water at Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota
The Great Plains are the location of "Tornado Alley", a multi-state region where tornadoes are more frequent on average during the spring and summer months. See Tornado safety for more information. While it is somewhat rare for tourists to experience tornadoes, severe thunderstorms containing frequent lightning, strong winds, hail and heavy rains are common during the spring and summer months as well. When weather conditions deteriorate listen to local radio stations for information ("Weather Radio Information" roadsigns are fairly common on interstates) The northern areas of this region are susceptible to blizzards and bitter cold temperatures during the winter; while southern regions sometimes face severe ice events. When driving cross-country in the winter, be prepared as Interstates often close during severe winter weather events.
This page was last edited at 21:04, on 1 February 2009 by Wikitravel user LtPowers. Based on work by Ryan Holliday, Tom Holland, Nick Roux, Logan Lamphere, Seth Freudenburg, Ben Tighe, Gobbler, Bill Johnson and Todd VerBeek, Wikitravel user(s) WineCountryInn, Episteme, Ypsilon, DorganBot, Jonboy and Alexwcovington, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.