Various grassland management regimes have been and are being utilized in northeastern Kansas, all of which could impact soil properties. Differences in one such property, soil bulk density, could indicate differences in soil quality. Five regimes of privately managed grasslands (cool-season: hay or grazed, warm season: hay, grazed or Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)) in Douglas, Jefferson and Leavenworth counties, Kansas, were sampled for soil bulk density in 2001 and 2002. Cool-season fields have been cultivated historically (late 1800s) and recently (1950s to present) seeded into Bromus inermis, while warm-season fields are either native prairie remnants or CRP. CRP fields have had warm-season native grasses seeded into them after extensive cultivation and soil erosion. Bulk density (dry soil weight/soil volume) cores were taken to a depth of 15 cm (volume = 76 cm³) and dried to constant weight (90°C). CRP had the highest bulk density (0.90 and 0.74 Mg/m³, 2001 and 2002, respectively, p < 0.001), cool-season fields had high to intermediate bulk density (0.80 and 0.72 Mg/m³, 2001 and 2002, respectively) and warm-season native fields had the lowest bulk density (0.70 and 0.67 Mg/m³, 2001 and 2002, respectively). Hay fields were not different from grazed in 2001, but were significantly lower than grazed in 2002. From soil surveys and field observations, CRP and cool-season fields corresponded to areas of higher erosion, in addition to being areas of historical cultivation. Thus, results reflect current management (hay vs. grazing) and the effects of a previous plowing history.