Soapstone Prairie Natural Area is a 28-square-mile protected prairie in northeastern Larimer County, Colorado, owned by the City of Fort Collins. Established through land purchased in 2004 and opened to the public in 2009, it preserves a large remnant of eastern Colorado shortgrass prairie, a habitat heavily altered by agriculture and fragmentation. Its importance lies in both land protection and ecological restoration, including the reintroduction of endangered black-footed ferrets and genetically valuable bison to restore prairie processes. The area also contains the Lindenmeier site, one of the region’s most important archaeological places, an extensive Folsom campsite and National Historic Landmark linking deep human history with modern conservation.