The topography is mostly gently rolling plains, but steep bluffs border a number of valleys. The far northern portion of the province has been glaciated. The irregular surface of the Prairie Parkland Province in northeastern Kansas, on the proposed site of Prairie National Park.
Winters are short and relatively mild in southerly areas.
The frost-free season ranges from 120 days along the northern fringe to 235 days in the south. The thin soils atop this area's limestone hills support very few trees. In the eastern part of the province, however, trees often cover the highest hills. The prairies seem to be areas that have not yet become forested, either because of frequent fires or because the last glaciation was too recent for final successional stages to have been reached. Grasses are the dominant prairie vegetation.