Staycations & Vacations
Old West attractions to enjoy in your home state and in the wild West beyond.
By: Meghan Saar 03/01/2009
NORTH PLATTE, NE
Scout’s Rest Ranch: This 18-room Victorian mansion was built in 1886 as the home for Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody, and today it is full of Buffalo Bill playbills, costumes and authentic furniture.
Cody Park Railroad Museum: This is the home to one of two Challenger Line steam locomotives operated by the Union Pacific, as well as a fully restored rail depot from neighboring Hershey.
Buffalo Bill Extra-vaganzas: The Buffalo Bill Birthday Bash is held around the showman’s birthday (February 26) to raise funds for other events honoring the showman: NebraskaLand Days and the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, held in June.
Buffalo Bill Ranch: Take a trail ride through this 233-acre recreation area adjacent to Scout’s Rest Ranch.
Buffalo Bill Avenue: At 2403 N. Buffalo Bill Avenue, you’ll find the Lincoln County Historical Museum, which preserves historic buildings including the 1863 Fort McPherson headquarters, an 1866 log cabin and an 1860 Pony Express stop.
Near North Platte:
The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument is found in Kearney (100 miles east), and it shares dioramas on Lewis & Clark, the Mormon Handcart Expedition and the transcontinental railroad.
More than 20,000 pioneer memorabilia displayed in nearly 30 buildings trace our Western progress since 1830 at the Harold Warp Pioneer Village in Minden (117 miles southeast).
Bayard (157 miles northwest) is home to one of the most famous natural landmarks on the Oregon Trail, a spire called Chimney Rock.
Gering (173 miles northwest) boasts the Oregon Trail landmark, Scotts Bluff, named after a trapper, whose story and those of other trail pioneers is shared at the visitor’s center museum.
Crawford (250 miles northwest) is home to Fort Robinson, which served the Red Cloud Agency and became the site of the 1879 Cheyenne Outbreak and the death of Sioux Chief Crazy Horse, all of which is shared at the local museum.
Beatrice (262 miles southeast) offers the Homestead National Monument of America, with a reconstructed log cabin and one-room schoolhouse honoring Daniel Freeman, one of the first homesteaders here in 1862.
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