Good morning! I am so excited! We just got back from an extended part Oregon Trail- South Dakota camping trip! I am also sad though- it has been so long since I have shared here. Last year we camped and campfire cooked, but we also had many, many house projects, got a new pet and the husband retired! I love it! Retirement was an adjustment, but it is how we were able to spend 25 days exploring some Oregon Trail landmarks and the Black Hill/Badlands of South Dakota this spring!
Originally, we were planning to try dispersed camping at the Black Hills National Forest and the South Dakota Bandlands. But our plans changed to another Follow-the-Leader vacation when our friend told us about how they visited the Oregan trail ruts near Gurnsey, Wyoming.
Follow-the-Leader vacations are so fun! Thankfully, our friend shares about the many fun vacations they have and we get exciting, new details about places to visit. I need to tell her to visit Hawaii or Alaska!
For our vacation, we were able to loop around Nebraska and Wyoming to see some Oregon Trail landmarks first, and then head to South Dakota.
We camped for 25 days-17 of the days were non-hook up days!
What an exciting first for us!
Since campgrounds are fuller now, than when we started camping over 30 years ago, we dry camp for 3-4 days at time often. It is much easier to get a primitive, non-electric site at our local state park. It is also a fun challenge to use our small solar panels- but 17 days was a lot longer, and lots of fun!
We stayed at a few city parks in Nebraska on our way to Robidoux RV Park in Gering, Nebraska, which was our base camp for the Oregon Trail landmarks.
Plainview,NE, had 4-5 spots with electricity and water spigots at a very pretty city park. I loved the rock flower bed. Ainsworth,NE, was also a nice city park with electric and water spigots. It was easy to drive to, right off the highway, behind the city ball diamonds.
I thought Carhenge was an interesting roadside attraction for the last driving day to Robidoux RV Park. Our Follow-the-Leader friend also said we had to stop. She likes roadside oddities, too. The husband wasn’t so sure, but we did stop to stretch our legs.
Our new pet, Emmy; Ainsworth city campground; Carhenge; Jail and Courthouse Rock and Dune primrose; Chimney Rock
Nebraska Base Camp
Robidoux RV Park was a great base camp for visiting Jail and Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, Fort Laramie, Register Cliff and the Oregon Trail ruts in Guernsey, Wyoming. We even had an amazing view of Scotts Bluff from the camper.
Robidoux RV Park is a Gering city park. It is very clean, well kept and easy to drive to. They have full hook-ups, but since they also have a dump station, we chose an electric-water site for the great Scotts Bluff view.
We reserved our May dates in February, which I thought was waaaay too early- but I was wrong. Later, we checked availability and it was full.
Some local people even said ‘it stays very full in summer months, good thing you booked early.’ I’m glad the husband books the sites and booked early, but does he have to be right?
Sightseeing Days
Our sightseeing days were mostly relaxed half days. We tried to be back to the camper for lunch, but sometimes we took a picnic lunch.
Jail and Courthouse Rock was a 49 mile drive from Gering. We went south, then east on Highway 88, so we would see Jail and Courthouse Rock first, then Chimney Rock, just like the pioneers. When we were there in mid-May, there was only 1 other car there. It was great hiking up to the landmark, imagining all the covered wagons traveling west. The Dune primrose flowers were such a pretty surprise among the rocks.
Chimney Rock was visible from Jail and Courthouse Rock, 21 miles away. Since the wagons traveled 10-20 miles a day, it is amazing to think the pioneer saw it for a few days before they actually got to Chimney Rock.
We got there in almost 20 minutes.
Chimney Rock had a nice visitor center with a museum. There were also trails from the visitor center to near Chimney Rock. We didn’t hike or visit the museum, but enjoyed seeing Chimney Rock.
Scotts Bluff National Monument was very interesting. We were there early, before the road to the top opened at 9:00, so there were not many people. When we were leaving around 11:00, it was getting full.
The exhibits in the museum and the audio tour for the .8 mile walking trail were very good and informative. They had examples of different kinds of covered wagons and oxen statutes along the walking trail. I played Oregon Trail many, many times in upper elementary school, but it is hard to believe we could actually walk on the Oregon Trail In Mitchell Pass at Scotts Bluff.
The view at Scotts Bluff was also amazing. We drove through the tunnels to the top and could see Chimney Rock in the distance. We could also see the rough terrain for the pioneers trying to get to Fort Laramie.
Fort Laramie really surprised me. I didn’t realize how involved it was, even with the South Dakota goldrush. If you have time, the short video at the visitor center was really informative and tastefully done. I’m so glad the clerk recommended it. We were too early in the season for reenactments, but it was nice viewing the many buildings without crowds.
Scotts Bluff National Monument; tunnel road and views from top of Scotts Bluff; Fort Laramie; Register Cliff; Guernsey wagon ruts
We visited Register Cliff and the Guernsy wagon ruts the same day as Fort Laramie.It was such a long day, I am glad we had supper in the crockpot! We enjoyed a picnic lunch near Register Cliff and then hunted for old names and dates and Iowa names and dates. That was fun until we found a snake sunning in the path! I’m sure it wasn’t a rattle snake, but there are many warning signs about rattlers at all the historic sights, so I didn’t explore further on that path. In fact, we left shortly to find the Oregon Trail wagon wheel ruts.
Walking in the wagon wheel ruts at Guernsey was amazing.
They have a nice parking spot, picnic tables and plaques but I was surprised it was not developed like Scotts Bluff. That was fine though, I enjoyed being there with only 2 other couples and a small school group. It just surprised me, because standing in the ruts was amazing.
I had a hard time imagining all the wagons, going over the rocks, trying to hold the brakes and not letting the oxen and wagons ‘run down the hill.’ But of course, just like now- i wouldn’t have been driving anyways.
After 5 days of exploring some historic Oregon Trail landmarks, we left Gering, NE, for Hot Springs, SD. We enjoyed the Follow-the-Leader part of our vacation, soon I will share about our new adventures in South Dakota’s Black Hills, Custer and Badlands areas.
Happy Camping (and hope to see you on the trail–Oregon Trail!)
Frugal Campasaurus