Dig out your biggest belt buckle and get your boots ready ’cause you’re in cowboy country. Plenty of working guest ranches give you a chance to experience the cowboy life firsthand, and you may even get to drive cattle or mend fence. The two-lane, 150-mile Loup Rivers Scenic Byway is also heavily populated with rodeos that draw nationally known ropers and riders who put on quite a show.

This is also a great chance to explore nature’s splendor. Canoe or tank along the winding and glistening rivers as they cut through the lush and scenic terrain. Hunting and fishing is plentiful, and even those hunting the perfect photo will feel at home with rare wildlife sightings and the annual sandhill crane migration.

For a look at another facet of the area, tour the remnants of a past rich with the pioneering spirit and military tradition at Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park.

THE ROUTE: 150 miles along Nebraska Highways 11 & 91 from the Wood River I-80 exit to the town of Dunning.

THE ADVENTURE: A historic military fort, canoeing and tanking, rodeos, the Danish Capital of Nebraska, and half a million sandhill cranes.

THE VIEW: Rolling farmland, cattle country, winding rivers, and breathtaking sandhills.

CONTACT US: Loup Basin RC&D | 308-728-3393 | www.loupriversscenicbyway.com