About the Cowboy Trail
The Cowboy Trail currently runs 195 miles across northern Nebraska, following the old Chicago & Northwestern rail route from Norfolk in the east to Valentine in the west.
The railroad called this the "Cowboy Line."
Ninety miles west of Valentine, a separate section of the Cowboy Trail is open between Gordon and Rushville.
This 15 mile section is not connected to the rest of the trail, but it is technically part of the trail - just a separate piece, out west.
And in 2026, that section of trail is expanding another 25 miles west to Chadron, making the western section around 40 miles long.
Eventually these two sections of trail could connect, from Valentine through Kilgore and on to the Gordon-Chadron section -- making it the world's longest rail-trail.
However, development of that connecting part of the trail is not yet underway.