Chimney Rock, Nebraska

Our major destination in western Nebraska was Chimney Rock, near Scottsbluff. Since it had been too dark to see the rock the previous night, we set out from Scottsbluff in the morning, heading east on highway 92 which parallels U.S. 26. We had to cover about twenty miles to find the rock, located just south of 92 near Bayard.

Soon we saw Chimney Rock in the distance, just as the pioneers had seen it in the 1850s. The Nebraska Historical Society owns the eighty acres surrounding the rock and operates a visitors center.


Stop in at the Visitor's center and watch the fifteen minute film describing the trip west by wagon along the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. All three trails passed by this point along the Platte River. There are a number of exhibits that show images of the rock at earlier times as captured by photographers, artists and diarists.


The bookstore has a large collection of trail diaries. Now that is what I call a specialty bookstore.
The roadside sign tells the story better than I can: