Scotts Bluff National Monument

Nebraska

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1919

3,005 acres

Overview

If the names of Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock sound familiar, it is perhaps because you grew up playing The Oregon Trail computer game on a Macintosh in the early 1990s. The massive 800-foot tall sandstone cliffs enclosed within Scotts Bluff National Monument were once the unofficial one-third mark along the historic trail, as well as a landmark along the California Trail, the Mormon Pioneer Trail, and the short-lived Pony Express Trail.

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Highlights

Museum, vistas, historic trail, only road tunnels in Nebraska

Must-Do Activity

While we recommend the hike to the top from the visitor center, you should probably also drive up there, because these are the only three tunnels dug for a road in the entire state of Nebraska.

Best Trail

Saddle Rock Trail leads from the parking lot at the visitor center 1.6-miles up the 800-foot tall bluff through a tunnel carved in the sandstone for great views of distant Chimney Rock National Historic Site (an affiliated NPS unit), another prominent Nebraska landform noted by early emigrants.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Pose with the oxen sculptures pulling a wagon up Mitchell Pass in front of Scotts Bluff.

Peak Season

Summer (watch for prairie rattlesnakes)

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/scbl/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$5 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There is not a campground within the monument, but the adjacent cities of Scottsbluff and Gering have RV parks and dispersed camping is available in Nebraska National Forest.

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Badlands National Park (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Wind Cave