Bison Pasture - The Herd Comes Home

A stop on Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Loop, a free self-guided tour.

Here the Wildlife Drive turns north and becomes a one-way road into the bison pasture. From this point on, stay in your vehicle and keep at least 75 feet from any bison. No walking or biking is allowed in this section.

Bison once covered these plains, followed by the Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche and Ute peoples, but by the 1880s they had been hunted nearly to extinction. In March 2007, 16 bison arrived here from the National Bison Range in Montana. The herd has grown so well that the refuge regularly moves animals elsewhere, and since 2021 surplus bison have gone to tribal herds.

Bison are more than scenery. Their grazing, rolling and trampling help native prairie grasses stay healthy, which in turn feeds everything from songbirds to prairie dogs. Watch for calves in late spring, and give the herd plenty of room if it decides to cross the road. A big bull can weigh close to a ton.

Getting here: Continue east on the Wildlife Drive past mile marker 2, then turn north where the signs mark the start of the one-way road.

Did you know?: Bison crossings set their own schedule: the drive takes about an hour, unless a herd decides to stroll across the road in front of you.

Photo op: Pull fully into a safe spot, stay in the car and shoot through the open window with the herd and the open prairie beyond.

More on Wikipedia: American bison · CSKT Bison Range · Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Bison Pasture - The Herd Comes Home

Stops on this tour