Trails West Region, Nebraska
Tour some of the most spectacular terrain within the state as you relive the days of the pioneers along the Oregon and Mormon Trails. The North Platte River yields life-giving irrigation to keep fields green and fertile. The lush cropland contrasts sharply with the rugged buttes and table land that signal the beginning of mountainous terrain to the west.
Explore Trails West Region
Maginnis Irrigation Aqueduct
The Kimball County Irrigation District Board held its first organizational meeting in November 1909
Kimball, NE Structural LandmarksOregon Trail Marker
This marker of the Oregon Trail is located on the walking path that leads visitors to the crest of Windless Hill in Ash Hollow State Historical Park.
Oshkosh, NE Historical MarkersChrist Episcopal Church
The Christ Episcopal Church was built in 1866 as the original church of Fort Sidney. This unique church blends past and present. Today parishioners worship where Indians and frontiersman came together in a spirit of love and cooperation.
Sidney, NE Historic ChurchesHistory of Ash Hollow
Archaeological excavations in Ash Hollow indicate that early man used the area as much as 6,000 years ago. A small rock shelter in the side of the bluff near the park visitor center was used as a campsite by later Plains Indians for about 3,000
Oshkosh, NENorth Platte Valley Museum
When you think of the days of the old settlers, a picture of horse-drawn carriages, covered wagons, one-room schoolhouses, general stores, sod houses and a simpler way of life enters your mind. That's exactly what you will find at Western Nebraska'
Gering, NE MuseumsPanorama Point and Three-State Marker
In the extreme southwest corner of the county, thirty three miles from Kimball, rises the highest point in Nebraska. This site, 5,424 feet above sea level, looks more like a rise in a pasture than the highest point in the state.
Kimball, NE Natural AttractionsMick Evertson Arboretum
Nebraska is known as the Arbor State and Kimball has it's own arboretum which is unique to the area. The Mick Evertson arboretum has over 125
Kimball, NE AboretumsAsh Hollow Historical Park
Nebraska Game & Parks describes Ash Hollow as the state's "most intriguing and unusual"
Oshkosh, NE Historic ParksPhelps Hotel
The Phelps Hotel is typical of many hotels erected during the late nineteenth century in western Nebraska. The building is Deuel County's oldest hotel, constructed in 1885 by the Edwin A. Phelps family, who were among the first settlers in the Big Springs vicinity.
Chappell, NE Famous HomesGarden County Museum
An early 1900s school house and an old opera house/theater located downtown are filled with historic items, Indian artifacts, fossils, and a bird collection of 300 stuffed specimens. A second museum building at the south end of Main at E Avenue is a larger building for larger exhibits.
Oshkosh, NE Museums