2015 – The Year of the Great Plains
As I have brazenly declared, 2015 is The Year of the Great Plains, and I’m dedicating this blog all year to providing information for anyone on where to go to enjoy some Great Plains scenery and recreation. I’ve started the year by mentioning some places that are not far from major Interstate Highways such as Badlands National Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Special Places
Not that I’ve run out of ideas, far from it, but I thought now might be a good time to open it up to anyone out there who wants to mention their favorite spots in the Great Plains. I don’t have too many criteria, just that the places be in the United States, east of the Rockies, and west of the 100th meridian (or close to it). Other than that, they could be federal, state, local, or even privately operated areas.
All you have to do is mention it in the comments section. You can just give the name, or if you’re inclined, tell us more about it, and why it’s special to you!
6 Responses
I’ve got many favorites, but my top 5 are: Little Missouri River Badlands in North Dakota, Monument Rocks in Kansas, Gloss Mts in Oklahoma, Toadstool Geologic Park in Nebraska, and Mushroom Rocks State Park in Kansas.
That’s awesome. I’ve actually only been to two of those, the ND badlands and Toadstool. I might reference your book and add the others to the blog soon . . .
The Great Plains has so many beautiful places, but if I had to narrow it down to just one, it would be the Purgatory Valley near LaJunta, Colorado. It’s a beautiful, secluded valley with a scenic river flowing through it. In addition to its beauty it also has a great trail and incredible fossil dinosaur tracks. It’s one of those undiscovered treasures found only in the Great Plains.
Agreed. That canyon is truly spectacular, and talk about history – there’s 75 million years of history down there!
Mickelson Trail, Black Hills, SD. I have not spent a great amount of time on the Plains so I cannot come up with any special lesser-known spots. I’ve biked west to east across Kansas with 500 of my closest friends (bak.org) and the same across Nebraska (bran-inc.org). All of the people and places that I encountered were wonderful. The Mickelson Trail trip was a solo adventure and so remains a bit more special
It’s tough to beat the Black Hills for scenic beauty, and a ride across Kansas and Nebraska sound like awesome adventures!