See the Visitor Center and other Scotts Bluff National Monument, NE Things to Do Tips

Located at the entrance, the Visitor Center provides an overview of the park and the experiences of the immigrants who came this way.

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Phone: (308) 436-4340
Address: Old Oregon Trail (State Highway 92 West)
Directions: From Gering, take SH 92 west. Town ends and the park begins.
P.O. Box 27
Gering, Nebraska 69341
Website: http://www.nps.gov/scbl/index.htm

The drive up the bluff is rather simple, but the three tunnels and the turns offer a chance to see the surrounding rocks and countryside. For more images, see my Summit Road Travelogue. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) as a depression era project, the road allows us to visit an area of the bluffs that the pioneers seldom if ever saw. The tunnels were hand cut with picks and shovels. Along the way, you'll see wide spots on the road. Were these pull offs for visitors before traffic increased? Were they resting areas for cars that had smaller engines and poorer cooling systems, that might need to stop and cool off? The CCC also built the foot trails on the summit and leading down to the visitor center.

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Directions: Follow the road between the visitor center and the offices towards the bluff
Website: www.nps.gov/scbl

The North Platte River valley is six miles wide at this location. Before reservoirs were built the flow of the river was much more variable and its channel was much wider than it is now. The stark, barren and deep ravines of the badlands was the reason why the wagon trains went through Mitchell Pass and did not follow between the bluff and river. The badlands were formed from rapid erosion of a sedimentary layer known as the Brule formation. The Brule layer is quite soft and erodes easily, but, retains enough lime so that once the water leaves the surrounding sediment, it compacts and hardens leaving the moonscape.

Length: 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) if all the loops are made.
Surface: Asphalt
Difficulty: Moderate

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/northoverlook.htm

Take this one easy. The trail is right up along the bluff. It's wide enough, but with tri-focals, watch you're walking. It's a short walk off trail to a long drop. Great view.

From the South Overlook you can see the route the pioneers took through Mitchell Pass. You can also clearly see four of the five rock formations of Scotts Bluff. Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, and Saddle Rock can all be seen from the South Overlook.

Length: 0.4 miles
Surface: Asphalt
Difficulty: Easy

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/southoverlook.htm

We planned on hiking the trail late in the day, when the temperature had dropped below 100 F (38c). What we found was that the summit road & shuttle stop a half hour before the park closes.

The Saddle Rock Trail runs from the Visitor Center to the summit of Scotts Bluff and includes a foot tunnel.
Length: 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers), one way
Surface: Asphalt
Difficulty: Strenuous, with an elevation change of 435 feet (133 meters).
Access: Trailhead is located to the east of the Visitor Center. The trail may be hiked one way by using the Summit Shuttle.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/sadrock.htm

Leaves from the Visitor Center passed a covered wagon. You can walk along the historic route where 350,000 others walked their way to California and Oregon.

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Website: http://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/otpath.htm