Nebraska? Way more than just cornfields!

Honestly when planning for our 2025 TX to ND travel trip– Nebraska was not on our top ten of meeting expectations for things to see and do. We had been through Nebraska via the Amtrak California Zephyr in 2022 and saw a lot of nothing-ness, including back streets of worn out tired towns and lot of flat, open fields.

WOW! We were super impressed with our time in NE in late April into May of 2025! From great camping locations, to our continued trek seeking out history and the Oregon Trail (including several NPS sites) to some super nice, quaint downtowns and museums. It really left a sweet spot in our hearts and a state that now we may very well be sure to travel through again!

In this article I will guide you via our route travels identifying our trip as we entered Nebraska’s SE corner, proceeded slightly north and then west along Interstate 80. I include Route #’s, campgrounds, historic sites, tourist attractions and boondock spots. Its a perfect way to help plan your trip to or through Nebraska-the Corn Husker State! If you are a history lover like we are, Nebraska is a must do!

FOR A QUICK REVEAL TO SEE OUR ACTUAL ROUTE AND STOPS CLICK THIS LINK FROM OUR RV TRIP WIZARD PLANNING PROGRAM. (you do not need a Trip Wizard subscription to view)

We started our route heading NORTH out of St. Josephs, MO via I-29 north. Once we hit Rock Port we hung a left onto RT 136 West in NE. Our first campground was in BEATRICE, NE (pronounced BEE-AT-Trice by the locals- yes, we were corrected!).

BEATRICE, NE: AMERICAN LEGION POST 27, at 701 DORSEY STREET. This is a Harvest Host location (that is how I found it!) however, we also suspect you can simply find them online and request an overnight (or 2) stay. They do charge $20 per night (no free nights for HH members either) however this gets you a lovely FHU, cement pad site with lush lawns and plantings. They only have 5 sites which sit at the very rear of their in town location. The sites are far enough from the regular patron and Legion members parking it was not an issue. The location was quiet at night, walkable to a lot of the downtown during the day for shopping, restaurants, etc. The Legion serves a terrific STEAK NITE Dinner on Friday nights at a very reasonable price as well as breakfasts on select dates- again reasonable and yummy. Meals are open to general public so you are welcomed in! In fact, these meals are a major fundraising for the hall to keep it and their Veteran outreach programs functioning for its Veterans. We loved our stay here!

DOWNTOWN HISTORIC BEATRICE– check out this historic happening downtown!

While here in Beatrice, we also did a day trip out to the NPS Homestead Historical Park & Visitor Center. THAT was fabulous and really gave you a sense of what early pioneers and homesteaders went through to carve out their new homesteads. NOTE: on the walkway leading to the entrance, you will see metal silhouettes of states that offered land during the official Homestead Act (1862-1986). Each state has cut out of it the amount of actual acreage that was dedicated and available for homesteaders back in the day. Quite amazing! They even have the camp set up, stories and artifacts from the LAST homesteader granted land under the act in 1986 that lived in Alaska. Not that we agree with the policies to push the indigenous people off their land but history is history and it happened. We have learned that hindsight is 20/20 haven’t we?!

This national historic site is very worth the day trip!

FROM BEATRICE WE CONTINUED WEST ON I-80 TO GRAND ISLAND, NE.

We stayed at the George Clayton Hall County Park campground. Super convenient off the interstate, but quiet and rural feel. This is a first come, first served campground with a camp host. There is a self-pay kiosk onsite to use AFTER you select an open site. See our article on how best to use self-pay kiosk systems safely! This was a fairly small campground but with some terrific paved, back in and pull through sites. The park is meticulously maintained with lush lawn which Nutmeg loved! The few pull throughs they have are huge. There are only shorter stays allowed here which is great. We stayed here for 2 nights. We highly recommend Site 17 which is where we stayed. It is a back-in that was plenty long enough for our trailer and truck. Our cost in 2025 was $30 a night with electric hookups. There is NO water at sites so fill up as you enter the park. There is also a dump station on the way out. Our Site 17 backed along side a well used bike trail along a canal which backed up to the Stuhr Museum (think Old Sturbridge Village style museum). While the museum buildings are visible it is a long trek so we opted to drive our truck to their parking lot about 7 miinutes away. The museum has plenty of parking if you are in an RV- they do charge admission at the gate to get in.

Here are photos of the campground. We would definitely stay here again.

Below is a slide show from our visit to the STUHR MUSEUM just a few minutes from the campground. We enjoyed the variety of historic buildings as well as the main visitor center museum with a lot of artifacts and stories about the founding of various industries, farming, local communities and leading figures of NE history. Just watch out for the Canada Geese who inundate the parking area sidewalks! Watch where you step!

FROM GRAND ISLAND WE CONTINUED ON I-80 WESTWARD HO!

Our next stop was KEARNEY, NE. We did a one night stay at a Cabela’s store right off the interstate. Its claim to fame is it is the first ever Cabela’s! While it is smaller than the ones we have been to the convenience of a super large parking lot and easy access off the highway made it a perfect respite. We parked way to the left of the parking lot away from everything and had a decently quiet night. It was level and not too much noise at all from the highway. This I believe I found using the ALLSTAYS app. I had called them to verify and to request originally a 2 night stay which they said was fine. The Classic Car Collection museum is about another 20 miles along if you prefer that for a Harvest Host overnight boondock. BTW, thats a good alternative to break up the monotony of the interstate drive (which is pretty boring through prairies and pastures)

BUT—-A MUST STOP IS ONLY 10 MILES AWAY ON I-80!! THE ARCHWAY!

Not to be missed is the coolest use of what once was a typical REST STOP Arch that went across the double lane interstate! (We have seen only one like this still in operation with fast food places, restrooms, etc. over the NYS Thruway south of Buffalo.)

This NE “ARCHWAY” is still in the city limits of Kearney, NE. It has been converted into an amazing museum featuring the Oregon Trail and other key historical landmarks and points in history for the state. You take an escalator up to the museum exhibits and near the end of walking through “the arch” you can look out small windows and see you are literally standing right above the multi-lane interstate highway which is beneath you! Wow cars go fast (yes, they have a speed trap machine you can read to see how fast they are going!) There are still bathrooms, a large gift shop and at specific times a small cafe too. The parking areas are huge and had we known we probably would have boondocked here instead of Cabela’s. We did not check with staff to see if overnighting is ok, so please check by calling them first. BUT—this is so well done you really, really need to stop- especially if you are as keen on the Oregon Trail as we are. This is also the stretch of I-80 which is actually laid over the original Trail where the Santa Fe trail veers off the the southwest and the Oregon Trail continues on straight and then bearing northwest. Very cool!!

FROM KEARNEY WE CONTINUED ON I-80 WEST TO RT 71 NORTH NEAR KIMBALL, NE

NOTE: I had originally plotted out an alternate campground stay if we needed it at the Sandy Channel State Recreation Area as a back up so you may see that on our map as an icon. It was It is a FCFS campground, dry camping. We opted for the Cabela boondock instead.

VIA ROUTE 71 NORTH WE DROVE TO SCOTTSBLUFF, NE. Here we stayed at the Riverside Campground (We had booked site 20) which is municipally owned. It was only OK. We never saw the camp host, the sites were rough, all dirt and sandy gravel and TONS OF GOAT HEAD STICKERS (see my sandal sole photo in the slideshow). The sites were water/electric only. Just OK dump station which was tight and in a lousy location. There is also a Day Use part of this park which meant a lot of in and out traffic along the dusty access road. The town did have some decent shopping for groceries, etc. The BEST part was that our view from our site was the back side of Scottsbluff National Monument. When we did the trails up on top we could see our campground and The Pewter Palace. However, all factors considered, we would not stay at this campground again if there are other options. Neither Scottsbluff NP or Chimney Rock NP have onsite NPS campgrounds.

That being said we did stay here 3 nights because very nearby are the two important National Park sites we wanted to visit: Scottsbluff National Monument and Chimney Rock National Historic Site. Both were critical important landmarks as the pioneers headed westward on the Oregon Trail. BOTH were super impressive and we enjoyed spending nearly a full day visiting both. At Scottsbluff there is a road that goes all the way up to the top and then majestic views from several walking trails. A must do! Both also have museums/visitor centers worth the visit. We also visited the Legacy of the Plains Museum nearby in Gering, NE which had some excellent exhibits and a nice gift shop. This is in Bayard near Chimney Rock NHS. At both sites you can still see original wagon trail ruts and walk them like we did. Its very awe-inspiring to think what these brave souls went through.

The first slide show below is Scottsbluff, the second is Chimney Rock and the Legends of the Plains Museum. (sorry, first photo below in 1st slideshow is Chimney Rock, a teaser ha ha !)

Below: Chimney Rock in, Bayard, NE (full day trip from our campground)

THIS CONCLUDES OUR TIME SPENT IN NEBRASKA.

IT WAS WELL WORTH THE 10 DAYS WE SPENT (April 30-May 10, 2025)!

From this point we headed from Scottsbluff due north to cross into South Dakota (our “home” state). There is so much to see and do especially in the southwestern corner of SD that is a story (a.k.a blog post) for another time!

So stay tuned, subscribe and come along for the ride!

Safe Travels till next time!