Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska

County Seat: Gering
Founded: 1888
Named For: Scotts Bluff, the iconic landmark along the Oregon Trail
License Plate Prefix: 21
Population: 36,084 (2020 census)
Area: 745 sq mi

History

Scotts Bluff County was created in 1888 and named after the towering Scotts Bluff formation, one of the most important landmarks for emigrants traveling the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. The region developed around agriculture, ranching, and transportation, with Gering founded in 1887 and Scottsbluff established shortly afterward across the North Platte River.

The arrival of irrigation canals in the early 20th century transformed the county into one of Nebraska’s most productive agricultural regions. Sugar beet processing, railroads, and river‑valley farming shaped the county’s economic growth and cultural identity.

Geography

Location: Western Nebraska along the North Platte River
Landscape: Bluffs, river valleys, irrigated farmland, and High Plains grasslands

Adjacent Counties:

• Sioux County (north)
• Banner County (south)
• Morrill County (east)
• Goshen County, Wyoming (west)

Culture & Landmarks

• Scotts Bluff National Monument – One of Nebraska’s most iconic natural landmarks with Oregon Trail history and panoramic views.
• Legacy of the Plains Museum – Exhibits on agriculture, pioneer life, and regional heritage.
• Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area – Rugged canyons, wildlife, and scenic overlooks.

Notable Communities

• Gering – County seat and historic gateway to Scotts Bluff.
• Scottsbluff – Largest city in the county and regional commercial center.
• Mitchell – Community near the Scotts Bluff foothills.
• Terrytown – Small city located between Gering and Scottsbluff.
• Morrill – Village on U.S. Highway 26, named for Lincoln Land Company president Charles Henry Morrill.
• Minatare – City near Lake Minatare, site of the 2017 total solar eclipse path and home of Thoroughbred Hall of Famer John A. Nerud.
• Lyman – Village near the Wyoming border along Horse Creek.
• Henry – Village bordering Wyoming on the county's western edge.
• Melbeta – One of the smallest incorporated villages in the state by area.
• McGrew – Small rural village along the former Union Pacific line.

Events & Attractions

• Oregon Trail Days – Nebraska’s oldest continuous celebration, held annually in Gering.
• Scotts Bluff Monument Trails – Hiking, sightseeing, and historic interpretation.
• North Platte Valley Festivals – Community events celebrating agriculture, heritage, and local culture.

Living in Scotts Bluff County

Scotts Bluff County offers a blend of small‑town living, historic landscapes, and modern amenities. Gering and Scottsbluff provide schools, healthcare, and commercial services, while surrounding communities maintain strong agricultural traditions. Residents value the area’s scenic bluffs, outdoor recreation, and deep ties to Nebraska’s pioneer history.

Outdoors — Camping, RV, Hunting & Fishing

Scotts Bluff County is the outdoor center of the Panhandle. It has the national monument, the biggest lake, the best-equipped municipal RV parks in western Nebraska, and the Wildcat Hills escarpment along its southern rim — bighorn sheep country.

Scotts Bluff National Monument. Three miles west of Gering on Highway 92; (308) 436-9700. 3,005 acres, proclaimed 12 December 1919. There is no entrance fee — not for the visitor center and not to drive the Summit Road. Many travel sites still list $5 a vehicle; that is out of date. Grounds, picnic area and trails are open sunrise to sunset daily; the visitor center and Summit Road keep their own posted hours, so call before a late-afternoon drive.

• Trails: North Overlook 0.5 mi · South Overlook 0.4 mi · Saddle Rock Trail 1.6 mi (paved, about 435 feet of climb, through a pedestrian tunnel) · Oregon Trail Pathway 0.5 mi · bike path 1.2 mi.
• The Summit Road was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and passes through three tunnels — the only highway tunnels in Nebraska.
• Oregon Trail Museum and Visitor Center at the base, with William Henry Jackson artwork.
• No camping at the monument. The bluff sheds rock from time to time and the Summit Road and Saddle Rock Trail close for assessment — check nps.gov/scbl before you drive out.

Lake Minatare State Recreation Area. 290415 The Point Road, Minatare; (308) 783-2911. 2,158 acres.

Know this before you plan a trip: the lake is CLOSED to all public access 15 October through 15 January for migratory waterfowl. Lake Minatare is part of the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge, established by Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and the seasonal closure survived the 1996 removal of part of the area from refuge status. Most travel sites omit this entirely.

• Lake View — 52 Electric Plus sites (dedicated water or 50-amp), showers, about half reservable 180 days out.
• Butte View — 49 Electric Plus sites, showers, about three quarters reservable.
• West Wind — 20 basic non-electric sites, first come first served, showers nearby.
• Dump station: yes. Flush toilets, drinking water, showers, fish-cleaning stations at all three campgrounds.
• Three boat ramps with courtesy docks — but drought has left the Rock Ramp as the only usable one. Call (308) 783-2911 before towing a boat.

Fishing at Minatare: walleye, northern pike, channel and blue catfish, white bass, smallmouth and largemouth bass, crappie, and yellow perch through the ice. Spearfishing is allowed, which is unusual. Hunting is prohibited inside the SRA.

The Lighthouse at Lake Minatare is a 55-foot stone tower built 1937–39 by the Veterans Conservation Corps — the only lighthouse in Nebraska and one of very few anywhere inland.

Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area and Nature Center. 210615 Highway 71, Gering; (308) 436-3777. About eight miles south of Gering on NE-71, 1,094 acres. 12 primitive campsites along interior trail roads, half reservable — picnic tables, fire grates, three restrooms and drinking water, but no electric, no dump station and no showers. Primitive camping is $10 a night in 2026 plus a park entry permit. The summit access road is not suitable for large RVs or boat trailers.

Over three miles of trail with four trailheads climbing to about 4,600 feet, three Depression-era stone shelters, and a nature center with observation decks over the North Platte valley. The Wildcat Hills Shooting Sports Complex runs archery, small bore, pellet, shotgun and rifle ranges May through November with equipment rental. Wildlife includes Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, mule deer, wild turkey, bobcat and the occasional moose — and prairie rattlesnakes, so watch your footing. Birders come for evening grosbeaks and red crossbills. The adjoining Wildcat Hills WMA (230 acres) is open to hunting.

Riverside Campground, City of Scottsbluff — 1514 S Beltline Hwy W, (308) 631-1464. 63 sites: 43 pull-through RV and 20 tent, in full-hookup, water-and-electric and primitive flavours. Dump station: yes. Bathhouse with showers, free Wi-Fi, fire ring and table per site. Check-in 2 p.m., checkout noon; maximum stay 7 days for tents, 14 for RVs. Reservations through Campspot, card only. The city has posted a campfire ban for high fire danger — call before planning a fire. Next door: playground, disc golf, dog park, fishing ponds and the Monument Valley Pathway trailhead.

Robidoux RV Park, City of Gering — 585 Five Rocks Road, (308) 436-2046. 42 concrete RV pads with paved drives and patios; full hookup, electric-and-water, and dry camping. Dump station: yes — $10 for non-guests, and closed 1 November to 1 May. Restrooms, showers, laundry, a multipurpose building with a kitchen, outdoor grills, basketball court, playground and free Wi-Fi. Rates from about $46 full hookup down to $15 dry tent; monthly rates 1 November to 31 March only. Reservations through Campspot.

Riverside Discovery Center — the zoo, at 1600 S Beltline Hwy W, (308) 630-6236. Summer 9:30 to 4:30 daily, winter 9:30 to 4:00. $14 adults, $10 seniors and children 5–12, $6 for ages 2–4. Splash pad on site; petting zoo by phone booking.

Public fishing water in the county: Lake Minatare (2,100 acres, all boats); Lake Winters Creek (235 acres, electric and non-powered boats only, sunrise to sunset, part of the refuge) for bluegill, channel cat, crappie, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye and yellow perch; the Zoo Pond in Riverside Park (10 acres) and Terry’s Pit at Terrytown (7 acres, no boating and no ice fishing) for catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, walleye and perch. Lake Alice is closed to public entry — do not plan to fish it.

Hunting. Buffalo Creek WMA — about 4,300 acres shared with Banner County, five miles south and two and a half west of Melbeta, foot access only: deer, elk, turkey, rabbit, squirrel and mourning dove, and open to hiking, biking, horseback and birding too. Cedar Canyon WMA — about 2,225 acres of pine and juniper escarpment southwest of Gering, where 22 bighorn sheep from Colorado were released in 2001 and the herd now runs about 40 animals. Wildcat Hills WMA (230 acres) and Kiowa WMA (540 acres, of which 326 close during goose season as a refuge). Bead Mountain Public Access Area is 3,000 acres southeast of Gering open to public foot access — but it is owned by Platte River Basin Environments, a nonprofit, not the state; mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep and 120-plus bird species, with views to Chimney Rock.

The North Platte National Wildlife Refuge spreads over 2,700-plus acres in four units and sees fall migrations of roughly 250,000 mallards and 11,000 Canada geese. Nebraska’s bighorn hunt is one auction and one lottery permit a year statewide — treat the sheep as something to photograph, not to hunt.

Trails and trail history. The Monument Valley Pathway runs 6.3 paved miles from Riverside Park in Scottsbluff through Terrytown to U Street in Gering, past Terry’s Lake and along the monument fence line. Robidoux Pass, nine miles west of Gering at 4,554 feet, is the National Historic Landmark crossing the emigrants used 1841 to 1850 before Mitchell Pass took over — white posts mark the route and two emigrant graves are marked, but it is private property open to respectful visitation, so behave accordingly. The Legacy of the Plains Museum at 2930 Old Oregon Trail covers the sugar-beet and dry-bean story next door to the monument.

Scotts Bluff County at a Glance

Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska — created 6 November 1888 when voters split the northern part of Cheyenne County, the same election that created Banner, Kimball and Deuel. Named for the landmark, which is named for Hiram Scott, a Rocky Mountain Fur Company trapper who died at its base around 1828; the Lakota name recorded for it is Me-a-pa-te, “the hill that is hard to go around.” County seat Gering, platted 7 March 1887 and named for the merchant Martin Gering. The real story is the inversion: Scottsbluff was not founded until 1899, by the Burlington’s Lincoln Land Company on the north bank, had rail service by 1900 and grew past the county seat — while the Union Pacific did not reach Gering until 1910. Sugar beets and federal irrigation built the valley from there. Ninth-most-populous county in Nebraska, with a population peak of 38,344 in 1980. 383 listings across 10 towns.

Getting there: US-26 follows the river east and west, NE-92 traces the Oregon Trail landmark route, and NE-71 runs south from Gering through the Wildcat Hills toward Kimball. The Western Trails Scenic and Historic Byway — 144 miles of US-26 and NE-92 from Ogallala to the Wyoming line — runs the length of the county. BNSF main line through Scottsbluff and Mitchell. Mountain Time, like the whole Panhandle.

For visitors: the North Platte valley running through the middle with bluffs and terraces either side, and the Wildcat Hills escarpment forming the south rim. Scotts Bluff National Monument — free admission, 3,005 acres, and the only highway tunnels in Nebraska on its CCC-built Summit Road — drew 182,392 visitors in 2025. Lake Minatare has the state’s only lighthouse and 121 campsites, though it closes to all access 15 October to 15 January for waterfowl. Wildcat Hills has bighorn sheep and a shooting sports complex. 21 National Register listings, including two National Historic Landmarks — the most in the Panhandle. Oregon Trail Days in Gering, founded 1921, bills itself as the longest continuously running celebration in Nebraska. Randy Meisner, founding bassist of the Eagles, and Nebraska quarterback Brook Berringer were both born in Scottsbluff.

Scotts Bluff County · Panhandle · Highway 92 Corridor · Explore Nebraska