Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff

After a breakfast stop at Ken and Dales Restaurant in Alliance, Nebraska we continued on to the Riverside Campground in Scottsbluff, Nebraska for two nights. This break in our trip was to explore two prominent National Monuments that played an important role in the historic westward expansion of settlers and are located in this somewhat remote part of Nebraska.

Visible for miles, Chimney Rock was more than a wonder of nature. It was also a significant landmark in measuring the emigrants' progress west. This natural feature was a "grand and splendid object" to emigrants who had never seen the geology of the American West. As they traveled alongside the North Platte River, they peered eagerly ahead for their first view of the rock. It was mentioned in more emigrant diaries than any other landmark on the Oregon Trail! Designated in 1956, the site is jointly administered by the city of Bayard, the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the National Park Service.

Scotts Bluff National Monument is located west of the City of Gering in western Nebraska, United States. This National Park Service site protects over 3,000 acres of historic overland trail remnants, mixed-grass prairie, rugged badlands, towering bluffs and riparian area along the North Platte River. The park boasts over 100,000 annual visitors.

This feature of Scott's Bluff is referred to as the "Gibraltar of Nebraska".

The monument's north bluff is named after Hiram Scott, who was a clerk for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and died near the bluff in 1828. The bluff served as an important landmark on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express Trail, and was visible at a distance from the Mormon Trail. Over 250,000 westward emigrants passed by Scotts Bluff between 1843 and 1869. It was the second-most referred to landmark on the Emigrant Trails in pioneer journals and diaries.

Ruts in the trail from the thousands of wagons that traveled this route still exist to this day.

The Park Service built a road to the top of Scott's Bluff that provides an impressive and expansive 360º view.

Fur traders, missionaries, and military expeditions began regular trips past Scotts Bluff during the 1830s. Beginning in 1841, multitudes of settlers passed by Scotts Bluff on their way west along the Great Platte River Road to Oregon, and later California and Utah. All these groups used the bluff as a major landmark for navigation.

Although a natural gap existed between South Bluff and Scotts Bluff, the area was not easily traversed. So initially the Oregon Trail passed to the south of the Scotts Bluff area at Robidoux Pass and the Mormon Trail passed to the north of the bluff, on the other side of the North Platte River.

In the early 1850s a road was constructed in the gap, which later became known as Mitchell Pass. Beginning in 1851, this new passage became the preferred route of the Oregon and California Trails; although the Mormon Trail continued to pass the bluff only at a distance. Who built the road through Mitchell Pass about 1850 is unknown, although one possibility includes soldiers from Fort Laramie. Many emigrants preferred this route rather than trying to traverse the badlands on the north side of the bluffs or detouring south to the older trail at Robidoux Pass. Use of the Emigrant Trail tapered off in 1869 after the trail was superseded by the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

From the town of Scottsbluff, Nebraska we drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then south to the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, Colorado. The campground operates on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted so we didn't know what to expect. As it turned out, the campground had plenty of sites available with both water and 5oA electrical connections. Restroom and shower facilities are open to all paid campers. At $35 a night we decided this would be our base for the next two days.