Heading to Nebraska?

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Nebraska map.jpg

We are heading to Nebraska... the Cornhusker State. It was the 37th state to enter the Union in 1867 and has been home to several innovative creations like KoolAid (1927)  and the Reuben sandwich... (c.1930) yum! It can also claim the largest hand-planted national forest in the USA which probably accounts for the fact that Arbor Day was  first celebrated there in 1872. The state offers Carhenge (Stonehenge with an automotive twist) and allegedly the world’s largest stamp ball as well as the world’s largest collection of historical roller skates. BUT that’s not why we’re heading to Nebraska as appealing as those options are. 

If you’ll remember, last year we became interested in bicycling, especially on rail-trails, abandoned railroad beds that have been converted into recreational paths for hikers and bicyclers. In particular, the GART (Great American Rail-Trail) which will eventually connect trails from Washington D.C. to Washington state, caught our interest. Last autumn, we rode several legs of the trail in Wyoming and Idaho. This year we thought we’d take a stab at riding The Cowboy Trail in Nebraska. 

Currently, the trail travels 188.5 miles west from Norfolk to Valentine across northern Nebraska following the old Chicago & Northwestern rail line. It was the railroad that dubbed it ‘the Cowboy Line’. A very informative website, Cowboy Trail Nebraska, provided us with lots of information including leg distances between all the little towns along the way and amenities like campsites, hotels, restaurants and groceries in each town.

The current plan is to drive and camp our way north and east from Las Vegas with stops in the Uinta National Forest in Utah, then on to Rawlins, Wyoming. We’ll then pick up US20 into Nebraska which parallels the Cowboy Trail. We’ll stop in Valentine, the western terminus of the trail, and do some reconnaissance heading east along the entire route into Norfolk. We’re hoping to leave our Kia on one end and bike the length of the trail with a campsite or hotel at each day’s end. Hopefully, we can rent a car at the opposite end to retrieve the car.

Join us as we do a recon of the trail…