Pawnee NG/Buttes - first visit?

I'm thinking about heading out to Pawnee mid/late next week for my first visit. I have a few questions for those of you who have been there before:

- Is this a good time of year to visit? Should I expect to see anything blooming yet (I'm guessing it is too early).

- Where to stay? I'd prefer camping but will hotel it. Can you camp at the trailhead?

Thanks for the advice!

If memory serves me correctly, I think there's some closure issues out there this time of year for bird nesting sites, most notably at the place where you can get a good shot of the two buttes from up on the rim. But you can hike down into the butte areas. Check with the land managers up there to be sure. I also saw people car camping along some of the roads right near the monument. It looked like kind of a car camper's paradise, if you ask me. I'd have done that last year if I didn't have my sister's dog to take care of back at her place.

Todd's right about the camping, though I don't think you can camp down off the short Buttes trail. There's an especially pleasant public campground near Briggsdale with picnic tables and cottonwoods. While the Buttes themselves are probably the place most people want to photograph, the Grasslands are a large area and it's fun to explore and maybe do some bird watching, mountain biking, photography, or sightseeing. There is a nice map availible from the USFS that shows road detail. If it's a wet year, the wildflowers can be amazing. from late May through early or mid June. It's probably a little early right now for much greenery, but will be getting better soon.

Things don't really green up and bloom nicely out there till late May. The others have given some good advice on camping. The biggest problem with the Pawnee Buttes area is that there are now so many wind power turbine/generator thingys out there that it is getting really difficult to get a shot of the Buttes without them showing up as well.

Make sure you take a swing through Keota - which is labeled as a ghost town - but is coming back to life. There are some old buildings there that can be photogenic under the right conditions. I always ask permission to shoot around the town and it has always been granted.

Some trails near the Buttes are closed in Spring in an effort to minimize disruption to raptor nesting activity. I think you can find out more re: what dates they close/open at the website:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/

(The site appears to be down at the moment.)

Also, beware of mud! The roads can be a quagmire when they are wet.

This is the view to the west from the bluff:

http://www.speaksimages.com/gallery/1850042#229769734_uZuWt

The turbines wrap around the bluff to the north. You can also walk in from the south without going through the nesting area.

This time of year is a bit early for the full spring green. The area around Briggsdale is world-renowned for birding and you'll have a good chance of seeing threatened mountain plovers around there. In addition to Keota, you'll find numerous photogenic 30's homesteads. Although the bluff west of the buttes is closed, you can hike the 1.5 mile trail around Lipp's Butte to the base of the P' Buttes. There's tons to see and scout for May green/flower season. The Chalk Bluffs are also awesome and underphotographed, IMHO. Oh, and be ready for pronghorn opps.

Thanks for the help, everyone! It sounds like late May/early June is the time to go. I'll probably still head out there this week as a scouting trip for a return visit. The ghost towns/old barns, windmills, etc. also sound like good subjects. I'm not much of a wild life shooter, but won't pass up the opportunity if it comes along.