Buffalo Camp - Where the Argument Lives

A stop on American Prairie: Rewilding the Plains, a free self-guided tour.

Buffalo Camp is American Prairie's campground on Sun Prairie: tent platforms, RV sites, vault toilets and an amphitheater, with bison sometimes wandering through. Camping is by online reservation only. The water is not drinkable, and there is an emergency phone, Wi-Fi and maps in the mudroom of the Enrico Science and Education Center about a mile south.

This is also a good place to understand the debate. American Prairie, founded in 2001, buys private ranches from willing sellers and holds grazing leases on public land, aiming to link a patchwork of public and private land into one reserve of about 3 million acres. It now manages more than 600,000 acres, most of it leased public land.

Supporters see a rare chance to restore a whole prairie ecosystem and build a recreation economy. Many neighboring ranch families see a threat to a way of life and a ranching community, and worry about disease, public safety, fences and competition for grass. In 2026 the federal government revoked the bison grazing permits, and that September a federal judge paused the removal of bison from the allotments where they graze while the case continues. Check current news for where things stand.

Getting here: Continue south on Regina Road and follow the signs about two miles to Buffalo Camp.

Did you know?: Several of the 16 cows that arrived from Wind Cave on October 20, 2005, were already pregnant, so the herd started growing almost as soon as it landed.

Photo op: On a clear night, step away from the campsite lights: with no towns for miles, the Milky Way is often bright over Sun Prairie from June through October.

More on Wikipedia: American Prairie · Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 · Bureau of Land Management

Buffalo Camp - Where the Argument Lives

Stops on this tour