Osage Hills

The name refers to the broad rolling hills and rolling tallgrass prairie and Cross Timbers encompassing Osage County and surrounding areas, including portions of Mayes, Tulsa, Washington and Kay Counties.

Kansans generally refer to the northern portion of this same prairie system as the Flint Hills.

Historically, most of this area was the last reserve of the Osage Indians and its rugged environs hid outlaws and illicit activity well into the twentieth century.

The Osage Indians had wisely held on to their mineral rights following the dissolution of the reservation system,[1] and the royalties from the oil underneath the hills made them one of the richest tribes in the nation.

Prominent attractions in the Osage Hills include: the Osage Hills State Park; Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum (which has extensive gardens covering 23 acres (93,000 m2), Woolaroc and The Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve which offers long vistas of tallgrass prairies and buffalo herds; and Kaw Lake and the Arkansas River in Kay Country which form the western boundary of the Osage.