Outdoors and wildfire - Front Range
The Plains Conservation Center protects real shortgrass prairie in east Aurora
On Aurora's eastern edge, the Plains Conservation Center preserves shortgrass prairie where you can see pronghorn, prairie dogs, and raptors, and it is tied to the West Bijou geology site to the east.
Published June 10, 2026 - Last verified June 10, 2026
Drive east in Aurora and the lawns give way to open grassland. The Plains Conservation Center, on the edge of Arapahoe County, protects a large piece of shortgrass prairie, the dry, treeless ecosystem that once covered eastern Colorado and has mostly been plowed or paved elsewhere.
For a visitor, the draw is space and wildlife. Walking the trails, you can see pronghorn, the fast, pale-rumped animals of the plains, along with prairie dog towns, coyotes, and hawks and eagles overhead. The site also keeps a homestead village and tipi camp that teach how people lived here in the 1800s. It is managed by the City of Aurora with the Denver Botanic Gardens, and the visitor center and trails are generally free, while guided programs may have a fee.
Farther east, the center is tied to the West Bijou Site, a National Natural Landmark. Gullies there cut through rock that records the moment dinosaurs disappeared, the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, making it important to scientists worldwide. That site sits on land that is not generally open to the public, so plan to enjoy the prairie at the conservation center itself rather than expecting to walk the boundary rocks.
For hours, trail rules, and any programs, check the City of Aurora’s Plains Conservation Center page, and the National Park Service for the West Bijou landmark.