Best Nebraska
The Nebraska Sandhills is a region of stabilized sand dunes covering approximately 19,600 square miles (50,800 km²) across north-central Nebraska. The dunes, formed primarily during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, are now largely vegetated by mixed-grass prairie and support one of the most prod...
"My Antonia" is a 1918 novel by American author Willa Cather, presented as the fictional memoir of a man named Jim Burden. The story details his childhood in Nebraska and his lifelong friendship with Antonia Shimerda, a Bohemian immigrant adapting to the harsh realities of pioneer life. The narrativ...
The Nebraska Sand Hills Mixed Grasslands is a Level III ecoregion located in the central United States, encompassing approximately 20,000 square miles in Nebraska. The region is defined by a vast expanse of stabilized sand dunes, representing the largest such formation in the Western Hemisphere. The...
The Nebraska Sandhills Prairie is a unique region characterized by extensive mixed-grass prairies formed on stabilized sand dunes. Covering nearly twenty thousand square miles across central Nebraska, it represents a significant example of dune-prairie ecosystems. This area is notable for its biodiv...
Sand Hills Golf Club is a historic private course located in Nebraska’s Sandhills region. It's notable for its uncompromising design by Coore & Crenshaw, emphasizing natural terrain and requiring strategic shot-making. The club offers a unique experience for serious golfers seeking a challenging tes...
The Nature Conservancy's Platte River Prairies is a protected grassland preserve located in central Nebraska, United States. The area serves as a living laboratory for large-scale prairie restoration and ecological management, utilizing techniques like prescribed fire and rotational grazing. It prot...
The Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area in Cherry County, Nebraska, established in 1912. Covering over 19,000 acres, it preserves a diverse mix of sandhill prairie, mixed-grass prairie, and riparian woodland along the Niobrara River. The refuge manages a herd of American bison...
Valentine National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area in the Nebraska Sandhills, established by executive order in 1935 and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge encompasses numerous shallow lakes, marshes, and wetlands interspersed among the sand dunes that define this grasslan...
The Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area situated in the Sandhills region of western Nebraska, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Established in 1931, the refuge encompasses a vast expanse of rolling sand dunes, mixed-grass prairies, and numerous shallow la...
My Antonia is a Western novel by Willa Cather chronicling the life of Antonia Shimerda, a Czech immigrant woman in Nebraska during the early 20th century. The story details her struggles and triumphs on the prairie alongside her family and neighbors. It offers a poignant look at pioneer life and the...
Bright Eyes’ “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning” is a 2005 indie-rock album notable for its folk-rock sound and politically charged lyrics. The Nebraska-based band incorporates country influences and features guest vocals from Emmylou Harris. This record appeals to listeners interested in introspective so...
The Niobrara Valley Preserve protects nearly sixty thousand acres of Nebraska’s prairie landscape within the Sandhills region. This area is significant for its role as a biological crossroads supporting distinct bison populations, reintroduced since 1985. The preserve provides habitat for native mix...
Chimney Rock is a narrow geological spire in western Nebraska that rises prominently above the North Platte River valley. Formed from layers of sedimentary rock shaped by erosion, it served as a conspicuous navigation landmark for 19th-century emigrants traveling the Oregon, California, and Mormon t...
Courthouse Rock is a prominent erosional landform in Morrill County, western Nebraska, rising roughly 400 feet above the North Platte River valley. Composed principally of sedimentary rock, it served as a visible landmark for emigrants traveling west on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails duri...
The Rowe Sanctuary Prairie is a restored wet-meadow prairie located in Nebraska. It’s notable as a vital crane habitat, supporting significant populations of migrating sandhill cranes and providing crucial roosting areas. Managed by the National Audubon Society, the sanctuary benefits bird enthusias...
Scotts Bluff is a prominent escarpment rising about 800 feet above the North Platte River valley in western Nebraska. It served as a major landmark for emigrants traveling the Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer trails during the nineteenth century. The surrounding area was designated Scotts Bluf...
The Crane Trust is a non-profit conservation organization headquartered along the Platte River in central Nebraska. It manages a protected prairie and wetland habitat dedicated to preserving the vital spring staging grounds for hundreds of thousands of migratory Sandhill cranes, as well as endangere...
O Pioneers! is a 1913 novel by American writer Willa Cather and the first volume of her Great Plains trilogy. Set in rural Nebraska, it follows Alexandra Bergson, the daughter of Swedish immigrants, as she assumes control of the family farm and turns difficult prairie land into a productive enterpri...
Oglala National Grassland is a federally managed grassland in northwestern Nebraska administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Its mixed-grass prairie and badlands include Toadstool Geologic Park, where erosion has exposed distinctive formations and fossil-bearing strata. The grassland also contains t...
Bright Eyes, formed in Omaha, Nebraska, is known for Conor Oberst’s intensely personal and often melancholic songwriting delivered with dynamic instrumentation featuring layered vocals and prominent string arrangements within their indie rock sound.
The Lincoln Marathon is an annual Nebraska road race first held in 1978, notable for finishing inside Memorial Stadium at the University of Nebraska.
Jail Rock is an erosional butte in Morrill County, Nebraska, located near Courthouse Rock in the North Platte River valley. The two formations served as prominent landmarks for nineteenth-century emigrants traveling west on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. Jail Rock is composed largely of...
Gravel Worlds is a gravel cycling event in Lincoln, Nebraska, officially launched in 2010 after the Good Life Gravel Adventure rides.
Signal Butte is a stratified archaeological site in Scotts Bluff County, western Nebraska, situated on a prominent landform overlooking the surrounding plains. Excavations identified multiple cultural layers representing separate periods of prehistoric occupation over several thousand years, making...
Sioux County is a eucrite meteorite that fell in Nebraska in 1933. Eucrites are basaltic achondrites formed from cooled magma on a differentiated parent body and belong to the howardite-eucrite-diogenite, or HED, meteorite association. Sioux County has been used as comparative material in laboratory...
A Lantern in Her Hand is a novel by Bess Streeter Aldrich first published in 1928. It follows Abbie Deal, a pioneer woman who settles with her family in the Nebraska Territory, tracing her life from the 1850s through the early twentieth century as she sacrifices personal artistic ambitions for the d...
The Pine Ridge Escarpment in northwestern Nebraska, USA, is a distinct topographic break defining the southern edge of the forested Pine Ridge region.
The Rainwater Basin is a distinct wetland region located in central Nebraska, United States, globally notable as a critical spring staging area for millions of migratory waterfowl.
Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground is the fourth studio album by the American indie rock band Bright Eyes, released in 2002 on Saddle Creek Records. Frontman Conor Oberst recorded the album in Lincoln, Nebraska, utilizing a large ensemble of local musicians to create a h...
Badland area in northwestern Nebraska featuring Oligocene-age toadstool-shaped rock formations eroded from volcanic ash and ancient river sediments.
