Scotts Bluff National Monument
National Monument · Gering, Nebraska
Scotts Bluff National Monument protects a sandstone and siltstone bluff that rises roughly 800 feet above the North Platte River on the edge of Gering, in Nebraska's western Panhandle, and the gap beside it, Mitchell Pass, through which the Oregon, California and Mormon trails squeezed from the early 1850s. For emigrants the bluff was a landmark days in sight and a sign that the plains were ending; a short trail at its foot still follows wagon swales worn into the ground. The monument has three things to do and does all of them well: drive or ride the Summit Road, a narrow paved road with three tunnels built in the 1930s, to overlooks on top; climb the Saddle Rock Trail on foot instead; and see the visitor centre, which holds a large collection of paintings and photographs by William Henry Jackson, who crossed here in 1866. It is a half-day stop, not a park to spend a week in. The area runs on Mountain time, the summit is windy and exposed, and the road to the top closes in snow.
190276 Old Oregon Trail, Gering, Nebraska, 69341, United States
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the visitor centre opens daily from about morning until late afternoon, with longer hours in summer and shorter in winter, and closes on some federal holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Summit Road usually closes before the visitor centre and closes entirely in snow, ice or for maintenance; the summer shuttle runs only in the peak season and in good weather. Times are Mountain time. Check current hours with the National Park Service before a long drive.
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