OUTDOORS THE ATTRACTION IS ONLY NATURAL Beauty. The kind that makes your blood pressure drop, your jaw hang open and your photos be proudly mounted on your living room wall. That’s Nebraska’s natural beauty, waiting to be explored. Find six of our favorites here. Toadstool Geologic Park Down a long gravel road, this park is remote and often overlooked. But the truly unusual badlands landscape includes large rocks supported by only a thin column of dirt, eroded by wind and water. It gives the feeling of a “moonscape,” with natural features unlike any place you’ve ever been. Scotts Bluff National Monument Pioneers crossed this landscape neary 200 years ago on the Oregon Trail. This area provided an unmistakable landmark with Scotts Bluff, rising 800 feet above the plains. The marker was a welcome sign the venturing party was on the right track toward the new frontier. Native Americans called the bluff Me-a-pa-te, “the hill that is hard to go around.” Left: Scotts Bluff National Monument, Gering. Above: Chimney Rock National Historic Site, Bayard. POFFERNBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY Chimney Rock National Historic Site On the far west side of Nebraska stands a natural tower rising nearly 300 feet above its surroundings. The tower is made of hard sandstone, and all around it the rock has erroded to leave what has been described as a natural monument “towering to the heavens.” The unusual rock formation acted as a clear landmark for the Oregon Trail. VisitNebraska.com 33
Nebraska Official State Travel Guide 2018 Nebraska Official State Travel Guide: Page 33
