W. Pearl King Prairie Savanna is a mostly undisturbed remnant of the once expansive Darby Plains Prairies, which before European settlement more than two centuries ago covered more than 380 square miles west of Columbus as an eastward extension of the Great Plains Prairie that Ohio State Professor Edgar Transeau termed the Prairie Peninsula in 1935. This 20-acre vestige preserves part of a once large and varied habitat of native tallgrass prairie and oak groves, including bur oaks, one of Ohio’s largest stands of prairie dropseed grass, and several other native prairie plants. Named for former landowner William Pearl King (1891-1960), the site has been owned and managed by Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks since 2006.