The Shortgrass Prairie Trail is a rail-trail project in south-central Kansas which, when completed, will run for about 78 miles between Englewood and Coats, on the former Central Kansas Railway right-of-way. The Short Grass Prairie Trail will provide a recreational experience through a region where the tall prairie grasses give way to the shorter, drier short grass prairie.
The former rail line was railbanked by the Sunflower Rail-Trails Conservancy. The project includes Clark, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pratt counties, and the cities of Englewood, Ashland, Sitka, Protection, Coldwater, Wilmore, Belvidere, and Coats.
In 2016, the Community Foundation of Southwest Kansas awarded the Short Grass Prairie Trail (SGPT) a $3,900 grant to assist in the construction of a one-mile section of the Short Grass Prairie Trail between Coldwater and Lake Coldwater, and the Mariah Fund awarded $5,000. The trail segment will enable trail users to travel safely to the lake. The project will primarily involve installing a crushed limestone surface suitable for bicyclists, walkers and wheelchair users. Sunflower has also received approval of a $17,000 federal National Recreational Trails Program grant allocated by the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism for the Short Grass Prairie Trail, Phase I Project.
