If you live in Nebraska - or if you don't but have been reading here for a while - you know by now that our state is definitely not the flat, boring place that people in other parts of the country think it is. But when we're talking about impressive geological formations, the heavy hitters always seem to get all of the attention: Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff, and Toadstool Geologic Park. There are actually plenty of bluffs, buttes, and other formations here, mostly in western Nebraska. Two of the slightly lesser-known (to those outside of western Nebraska, anyway) formations in the panhandle are Courthouse and Jail Rocks.
Like the other formations in the area, Courthouse and Jail rocks are the result of ancient erosion. The rocks are composed of volcanic ash, clay, and sandstone.
The impressive rocks rise about 400 feet above the North Platte Valley in which they sit. That's the rough equivalent of two huge 35-story buildings sitting in the middle of the landscape.
Courthouse and Jail Rocks were among the first western landmarks that settlers saw when passing through on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. Many were so taken with the formations that they would make side trips of five miles off of the trail just to see the rocks up close.
To the migrants, it seemed as though these prairie giants were the remains of an ancient civilization, or at least the work of some massive and powerful artist. They wrote extensively about the formations in their journals.
Many who traveled off of the trails to see the rocks up close climbed up to the top to carve their names and have a look around. The view from that vantage point was magnificent. The rocks are on publicly-accessible land today and some climbers still attempt the ascent, but it's an extremely difficult climb due to the soft nature of the rocks. (In the interest of preserving the formations, we do not recommend attempting to climb the rocks.)
For emigrants who were coming from the prairie states and had never before seen massive rock formations, these anomalies jutting up from the earth must have been mesmerizing. You have to wonder how amazed the pioneers were when they got a little further west and started to encounter mountains.
The rocks have been listed in both the National Register of Historic Places and in the Nebraska Natural Areas Register. You can visit the formations by heading south on Hwy 88 from Bridgeport, then west on Rd 81.
There are plenty of other rock formations in western Nebraska, and all of them are completely majestic. These rocks - and the others mentioned above - are by no means the only impressive geologic sites in the panhandle.
Have you ever visited Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock? Were you as blown away as the pioneers were?
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