AT TULSA BOTANIC GARDEN
Cross Timbers Nature Trail
One hundred acres and 4.7 miles of hiking trail through old-growth oak forest, tallgrass prairie and savanna — a living demonstration of ecological restoration, and an invitation into relationship with a wild place.
AN ANCIENT ECOREGION
What is the Cross Timbers?
The Cross Timbers once stretched in a great mosaic of post oak and blackjack oak forest, savanna, and tallgrass prairie from southern Kansas to central Texas. Never suited to the plow and too stunted to log, its gnarled oaks include some of the oldest unlogged forest in the eastern United States — many of them more than a century old, standing much as they did before European settlement.
“…struggling through forests of cast iron.”— Washington Irving, crossing the Cross Timbers, 1832
Our hundred acres in the historic Osage Hills preserve a living remnant of this landscape: old-growth forest, tallgrass prairie and savanna, side by side, minutes from downtown Tulsa. Few places let you walk through all three in a single afternoon. This is one of them.
OUR STEWARDSHIP
Restoring a wild space
We manage the trail system as a wild space, with ecological coherence in mind — restoring the natural processes that shaped this place for millennia. For thousands of years, fire moved through the Cross Timbers. Post oaks and blackjacks survived it; eastern red cedar did not. When the fires stopped, the cedar came, closing the canopy and crowding out the prairie. Prescribed burns and invasive species management are our central tools for bringing the balance back: opening the canopy, feeding the prairie, and making room for the native plant and animal communities that belong here.
301species of butterflies and moths that depend on a single post oak or blackjack oak
30 gallonsof water one eastern red cedar can draw from the ground in a day
How a prescribed burn works
Every burn on the trail is planned and carried out with our partners, the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture and the Pawnee and Osage County Burn Associations. A certified burn boss surveys the area weeks in advance and sets the fire breaks; our crew builds them by hand. The burn boss returns to inspect the breaks and writes a burn prescription — wind direction, wind speed, humidity. If the weather on the day doesn’t match the prescription, we don’t burn. That’s why we can’t announce a burn date until a few days before, and why “controlled” is the most important word in “controlled burn.”
Learn more → The Nature Conservancy, Controlled Burns, Wild Benefits · OSU Extension, Wildfire Effects on Unmanaged and Managed Cross Timbers Forests
FIND YOUR WAY
Explore the Trail System
4.7 miles of trail, dedicated exclusively to walking. Enter through the Visitor Center.
Trail surface is natural — mown grass, packed earth and leaf litter, 3–4 feet wide. Closed-toe shoes recommended.
THE PRAIRIE LOOP
The heart of the system
Fire is doing its work here. The Prairie Loop winds through remnant tallgrass prairie tucked between an ancient Post Oak–Blackjack Oak forest and our Centennial Persimmon Grove — the richest wildflower density anywhere on our hundred acres. Expect big skies, waist-high grasses, and pollinators working the forbs from spring through frost. Look for Oklahoma beardtongue, a wildflower found nowhere on earth but Oklahoma, and — if you’re lucky — spring ladies’ tresses, a native orchid.
TWO PRESCRIBED BURNS · OCTOBER 2024 & NOVEMBER 2025
THE SOUTH LOOP
A savanna in the making
Cut by hand over two days in February 2026 by nine members of our horticulture team, the 2.1-mile South Loop is restoration you can watch happen. Heavily encroached by red cedar and winged elm and in an earlier state of management, it receives its first prescribed burn this fall — the first step back toward the open oak savanna this ground remembers. Walk it now, then come back season after season. This loop will change before your eyes as we continue to cut new trail.
FIRST PRESCRIBED BURN · FALL 2026
LANDSCAPES BREATHE
One place, many seasons
The trail is never the same place twice. Wildflowers follow fire, grasses follow rain, and every prescribed burn opens a new chapter. Visit through the year and watch a living landscape breathe.
SPRING
The prairie wakes in layers: violet wood sorrel and camassia first, then Indian paintbrush and Oklahoma beardtongue, and — for the patient — spring ladies’ tresses, a native orchid. Redbuds light the forest edge. Migrating birds work the oaks.
SUMMER
Big bluestem and Indian grass climb past your shoulders. Purple prairie clover, wild bergamot, coneflower and compass plant carry the color; monarchs and swallowtails work the milkweed. Walk early — on the South Loop, the oak canopy is your shade.
AUTUMN
The grasses turn copper and gold; goldenrod, aromatic aster and ironweed close the season. Persimmons ripen in the Centennial Persimmon Grove. This is burn season — the weeks when a written prescription, a burn boss and our partners bring fire back to the land.
AFTER THE BURN
For a few weeks the ground is black and open. Then the post oaks and blackjacks resprout from the root, the first green pushes through the ash, and the wildflowers follow the fire. Two years after its first burn, the Prairie Loop carries the richest wildflower density on our hundred acres. Watch the South Loop follow.
GOOD TO KNOW
Plan your walk
Is the trail included with admission?
Yes. The Cross Timbers Nature Trail is included with Garden admission and free for members. Enter through the Visitor Center.
When is it open?
Tuesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 5 PM, March through December, weather permitting. The trail closes on prescribed burn days and after heavy rain; check the banner at the top of this page or ask at the Visitor Center.
How long does it take?
The Prairie Loop is an easy hour. The full South Loop is 2.1 miles of natural-surface trail — allow 90 minutes or more.
Can I bring my dog?
Dogs are welcome on the 2nd Saturday of the month. We require non-retractable leashes.
Is it accessible or stroller-friendly?
The trail is a natural surface with uneven ground and no paved sections.
What should I bring?
Closed-toe shoes, water, sun protection, and a tick check afterward. Stay on the trail — it protects the prairie and you. Cell service is limited on the South Loop.
Bikes? Horses? Trail running?
The trail is dedicated exclusively to pedestrian use. Trail running is welcome.
Field guides to the plants of the trail — “A Walk in the Woods: Woody Plants” and “Grasses & Forbs” — are available at the Visitor Center.