Parkhill Prairie Preserves a Relic of Collin County's Blackland Grassland

In the far northeast corner of the county, Parkhill Prairie protects a piece of the land that came before the suburbs. The 436-acre preserve wraps around a 52-acre relic of Blackland tall-grass prairie at its heart, the deep-rooted native grassland that once stretched unbroken across this whole region.

Around that core there are wide countryside views, covered pavilions with cook pits, and restrooms, so a trip can be a short walk into the grass or a longer afternoon with the family.

Parkhill explains something the highway hides: Collin County was tall-grass prairie long before it was rooftops and ring roads. The 52-acre relic is the reason to come, since native prairie like this is most of what's left of a landscape almost entirely plowed under, and it reads best in late spring and early summer when the grasses and wildflowers are up.