Category Archives: Nebraska

Mexican Canyon Trail Loop, inc. Scenic View Trail (Fort Robinson State Park, NE)

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

Fort Robinson, a former U.S. Army base dating to the late 19th century, may be the most popular destination in the state park that bears its name—but the natural highlights lie beyond to the north and west in the sedimentary … Continue reading →

Posted in Moderate Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blackhills Overlook Trail Loop (Chadron State Park, NE)

Posted on December 26, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

Rising suddenly and surprisingly, the scenic Pine Ridge cuts like a furrowed eyebrow across northwest Nebraska, revealing an elevated landscape of thick ponderosa forests and chalk canyons. The 100-mile ridge is a sudden break from the flats of the Great … Continue reading →

Posted in Moderate Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scotts Bluff National Monument, NE

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

A key milestone along the Oregon and California historic trails, the chalky hightops of Scotts Bluff rise skyward above the broad Platte River Valley in western Nebraska. Here pioneers heading west along the North Platte had to detour south to … Continue reading →

Posted in Nebraska, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Daemonelix Trail (Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, NE)

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

Imagine a creature roughly approximating a beaver or large prairie dog but one that digs holes in a spiral nearly 10 feet deep, forming tunnels resembling a corkscrew or drill bit: this is the curious activity of the prehistoric paleocastor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fossil Hills Trail (Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, NE)

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in northwest Nebraska was established a mere quarter century ago—in June 1997—but its famed mammal fossils date to the early Paleocene Epoch, just after the mass extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Dozens of … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fort Falls Trail (Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, NE)

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

A pioneer of environmental conservation, President Theodore Roosevelt created, with the stroke of a pen in January 1912, Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in northern Nebraska, protecting a “preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” The refuge also protects herds … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Smith Falls Trail (Smith Falls State Park, NE)

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

“Honestly, it’s not for everyone” – so goes the official tourism slogan for the state of Nebraska, a Great Plains state notable mostly for its fields of corn and the invention of the Reuben sandwich and Kool-Aid. The tourism campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Calumet Bluff Trail (Gavin’s Point Dam area, NE)

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Andrew Wojtanik

During the first summer of the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition in 1804, the travelling company camped for four nights at the base of a high bluff along the Missouri River, described by the party as “composed of a yellowish … Continue reading →

Posted in Easy Hikes, Nebraska | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment