Admire the Great Plains, Toadstool Park’s crazy formations, and enjoy swimming, horseback riding, hiking, the Museum of the Fur Trade, and Ogallala National Grassland.
U.S. 20 from Gordon to Crawford puts you through Nebraska’s Pine Ridge Country. The 67-mile trip takes about 1-1/2 hours non-stop. The scenery of the Great Plains on a Nebraska drive is some of the best anywhere in the entire United States.
Begin driving in the town of Gordon. Head west on Route 20 toward the towns of Hay Springs and Rushville. Both have oasis-like parks and historical museums. A side trip north from Crawford will bring you at Toadstool Park where you’ll discover some of the wildest formations anywhere across the Great Plains. To the southwest, Read more . . .
It seems everything in Nebraska is along straight lines, and you only have very few curves in this tour. It is scenic, though, as you follow The Oregon Trail and the North Platte River much of the way. Begin your drive in Ogallala and head northwest on U.S. 26 for 129 miles to Scottsbluff. Ogallala used to be the terminus for the famous Texas cattle drives, so its history is full of rowdiness. There is a scenic Boot Hill Cemetery on 10th Street. Ash Hollow State Park, 3 miles before Lewellen, has some fascinating rock formations and is the sight of the first battle of the Indian Wars in 1854 (Bluewater Battlefield). Chimney Rock National Historic Site marked the end of the grasslands for the Oregonians on their trek west. It is now brightly illuminated at night (What progress!).