Cowboy Trail Forum

Are there any fees or permits needed to use the Cowboy Trail?

No fees or permits to ride the trail. If you plan on camping, you might have fees. Neligh has a $5 fee for the city park but Battle Creek has no fee for their park. You can ask at other places.

Rode from Battle Creek to Tilden yesterday(8-16-11)Trail condition is terrible. sand 3" deep many places,deep holes and overall not a good experience.

Thanks for the comment on the trail. I heard the bridge was out between Norfolk and Battle Creek. My plans were to ride the trail in late September pulling a Burley Bugger. Any suggestions?

Yes, from Battle Creek to Tilden still as of 3/24/12 pretty rough trail with sand and holes. But still fun and a hard workout. :) The bridge is also still out between Norfolk and Battle Creek. I wandered around for quite a while and did find the way back to the trail. I should have asked someone before starting the ride. It is a short ride on the paved road to a place where I could access the trail. Rough trail but a good ride.

The Peppermill is now known as the Peppermill Restaurant and E.K. Valentine Lounge. It has moved to 502 East Highway 20 in Valentine.

402-376-2800

peppermillvalentine.com

Noticed some errors on this website in regards to the attractions in O'Neill:
Yum Yum Chinese doesnt exist in O'Neill (I have lived here almost all my life and never even heard of that restaurant.) & unfortunatly the Lil Irish Billiards closed down. Sun Mart is now called Super Foods...just so ya know.

You're correct about things on the trail. The state of Nebraska needs to have an intern or somebody update this website or another site. While I only went to Neleigh, the Fountain Cafe has been closed for five years. Daddy's Cafe is open but not listed. Tilly's convenience store in Battle Creek has an ATM machine but tha'ts not listed. There's a need to attract more riders and tourists but the updated information is not there. Great people. I think I'll be back next year and ride more.

Rode the Cowboy trail for two days from Battle Creek to Neiligh and back. Camped at the City park in Battle Creek and Neleigh in late September. Great places. If the restrooms aren't open in Battle Creek, a person might go to the Police Department at City Hall and ask them to unlock them. Also, Tilly's convenience store has an ATM when needed. Temps at night were in the 30s but had a good time.

It's not listed but there is a wonderful campground here right on the trail! There is a modern bathroom and electricity. Sign the guest book and leave a donation. I spent a very nice evening there.

I have never done a trail this long and also recently had my bike stolen. So I plan on getting a new bike and all new packs for it. I was wondering what kind of gear I would need for a ride from Norfolk to Valentine and back and also what kind of packs I would need to store it all. I plan on taking no more than 9 days riding. I plan on camping in the city parks. So like food, water, camping stuff, firstaid..etc. If someone could give me a rough list of the easiest/smallest stuff I could use for the trip I would appreciate it.

Cowboy Trail, June 9 – 11, 2011
Started out at the Trailhead in Norfolk, just south of Hwy 275 on Hwy 81 on June 9 at about 10:00 am. I rode a Giant Iguana mountain bike. I have never ridden more than 30 miles in a day, but I have been riding regularly 2-3 times a week since March. My Dad rode a Raleigh touring bike. He is an experienced commuter and road cyclist and had finished BRAN in 2010. Our Logistician (my grandfather) pulled a camper to each of our planned overnight stops, and we ended each day with a few stories and a hot meal.

Temperature at the start was 55-F, winds out of the northwest at about 5-10 mph. Overcast skies with rain showers and thunderstorms scattered in the area.

The trail closure just west of Norfolk was well-marked, and the detour was a paved county road.

Stopped in Battle Creek as the first BRAN riders were heading in. Waited out a thunderstorm at a filling station over coffee and snack cakes. Continued back on the trail as the rain eased and the lightning stopped. Despite the moderate rain, the trail was firm and comfortable.

Stopped for lunch at the Sportsman’s Bar west of Meadow Grove. Go for the lunch buffet. This stop required less than 1 mile on Hwy 275 out of Meadow Grove.

After lunch, we continued past Tilden and Oakdale on the trail. Our water supply was adequate, so we did not look for water at either town.

Stopped for water at the Neligh City Park. The trail west of Neligh was becoming increasingly “soft,” as we were preceded by heavier rains than we saw in Battle Creek. High amounts of gravel and a soft base resulted in enough rutting to put us to work. Don't worry, we didn't hurt the trail any.

The trail closure east of Clearwater was not marked. It was evident by the lack of trail. It became completely washed out…and we could see the bridge out a couple hundred yards ahead. The closest detour was an unimproved county road heading north about 250 yards to Hwy 275. It was

It was 1-3 inches of thick mud, which we tried unsuccessfully to ride. My bike was so full of mud that we were forced to ride Hwy 275 into Clearwater and wash off at a filling station (the hose out back). Miserable but pretty fun at the same time.

The rain increased to a heavy downpour, so we continued on Hwy 275 to Ewing. This was our first overnight stop, and we camped at the City Park (water, electric and dump station, no restrooms). We had planned to make 10 mph on the trail, but arrived over an hour past schedule due to the weather and trail conditions. Our logistician had the camper heated and the grill going which was a welcome sight.

June 10.
Overnight was cloudy and cool, but no rain. At dawn, the temperature was about 50o F with overcast skies, winds still northwest at about 5 mph. We decided to rejoin the trail, heading out at 7:15 am, but quickly found it too soft to ride, and continued west on Hwy 275 about 3 miles west of Ewing.

We passed Inman on the highway without needing water or supplies.

We stopped for coffee and snacks in O’Neill. The cloud ceiling began to scatter out, but the highway shoulders still held water so we stayed off the trail until Atkinson. We passed Emmet without stopping there because it was a bit south of the highway, as was the trail.

In Atkinson, we ate lunch at a restaurant downtown, I don’t remember the name, although “Hunter’s Welcome” was their claim. Pretty decent burgers.

Weather now was partly cloudy and the temperature was approaching 70oF, so we rejoined the trail in hopes that it had firmed up throughout the morning.

From Atkinson to Bassett, the trail was in good condition. Though at times, the gravel was deep enough to cause steering problems (a runner’s delight), it was still very good overall. We stopped at the City Park in Stuart for water, though it was on the north side of town, still not too far a ride.

Stopped for water at Grandma’s Park in Newport:

: A small park which we didn’t even notice until a local resident pointed it out, and features only water and a picnic table. The Spring Valley Park was south of town along Hwy 20, which we were not inclined to visit on account of its distance from the trail.

Stopped for the night at the City Park in Bassett. Now, the “Cowboy Trail Park” in downtown Bassett is nothing more than an empty lot with a water pump and camper electricity behind a warehouse near the creamery. People in town didn’t even know about it. It is close to the trail, but you’d miss it if you didn’t know it was there. The City Park, however, was on the south end of town along the highway, and had water, restrooms and showers available. No dump station for campers.

June 11.
Overcast skies, temperature about 50o F, calm winds. The trail from Bassett to Ainsworth was the best condition for cycling along the entire trail. Long Pine Creek was beautiful. Ainsworth to Johnstown, rough trail (from livestock movement) forced us to ride considerably slower, and we eventually picked up the highway into Johnstown. The City Park had water and a table, which was convenient while I fixed a flat.

To make up time from the flat, and allow us to sit down for lunch at Wood Lake, we continued on Hwy 20 into Wood Lake. Lunch at the Wood Lake Cafe (delicious), fixed another flat. Could have been sand burrs, I don’t know, and I haven’t looked closely yet at the tubes to see. We picked up the trail out of Wood Lake on principle, and continued toward Valentine. We had stiff winds from the southeast at 20 mph, which helped our mood. We knew there would not be water at Arabia, so we carried another 2 quarts at the day’s start in preparation for the Wood Lake to Valentine leg.

Because we came to ride the Cowboy Trail, not the highway which is sometimes near the Cowboy Trail, we tolerated very rough trail conditions toward Valentine, especially west of the Arabia Ranch. Very heavy ranch use, including large numbers of horses, cattle, pickups and ATVs, had damaged the trail. Some heavy equipment had rippled the surface at points and displaced the gravel into rows and mounds. The posts which blocked vehicle traffic were removed on portions of the trail east of Valentine, and we paid dearly for the poor conditions, in terms of slow travel and high pain. Our reward was the most beautiful tour of the Sandhills one could hope for, with sights the highway cannot reveal. Wildlife was prevalent with marshy conditions along the trailside, about every kind animal that lives in the Sandhills was close by.

195 miles in 3 days. Maybe next time we’ll take 4 days.

From past to current date, 3/12/2011 seven or more dead livestock (cattle and goats) in various states of decay are next to the trail at this date, near an adjacent livestock operation within the city limits. This is just west of main street before the old rail road bridge on the north side of trail near and around hay bales and pens within 15 or so feet of the trail.

Those creatures were not present on 6/11/2011.

Stayed here one night in June 2011. No laundry room and hot tub was closed. Didn't have a reservation so I got a smelly smoking room. Otherwise an okay hotel. Next to a truck stop.

Stayed here one night in June 2011. Adequate hotel room. Checked in and out at the convenience store next door.

I plan to start Monday from Norfolk.. Did the trail about three years ago and had a great time. Pulling a BOB trailer....just like the pioneers only alittle faster. Camping in city parks. Where's a good place in Norfolk to park my truck for the week?
Cheers,

Currently shacked up/escaping the heat in Norfolk and I'm going to be riding the trail over the next 2 days, stopping at O'Neill in between.

I shall endevour to report back on the trails current condition once I get to Valentine.

I'm doing this as part of my ride across America - feel free to join me if you fancy doing some riding!

Craig

From the amount of trail damage it sounds like you should form a volunteer organization like the Ozark Trail assn.http://www.ozarktrail.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=94b49f2f67d723f6756a77fe528b6de7
and the Highland trail assn.http://ozarkhighlandstrail.com/
to help build and maintain your Nebraska trails.

Hey, where is everyone? I'm thinking of riding the trail later in June. Are there any changes I should know about? Has there been much traffic on it lately, or have people been hiding out from all the storms?

Can anyone tell me if the trail is rideable from norfollk to o'neill?

My sister lives in Norfolk and bikes the trail regularly but there is a bridge that was washed out a few miles out of Norfolk on the way to O'Neill which will probably cause you some problems. Not sure why they don't have anything posted about this on the website...

We are looking for a trail ride to do with a 7 and 10 year old. Love the Katy Trail but looking for something closer to home. (CO). How is the surface looking for this year? Really soft is not appealing. How far from the highway is the trail? Thanks for any help!

Can we park @ Ainsworth and ride to Valentine- leave the car locked up for a couple of days (and return within 3 days)

I'd love to ride my mules along the Cowboy trail. Is the whole trail open to equines? Are some parts of the trail more equine friendly? What about camping or boarding spots?

If we came up to bike the trail and needed a return ride back to Norfolk is there some type of transportation available from the towns along the way? Maybe a bus? We are not sure how far we'll go before we want to go back.

I checked out the rest of the forum. Who is Mary Bott in Stuart and what does she charge for a return trip? Thanks,

My friends and I just finished the ride today, we drove a vehicle to the YMCA in Norfolk Mary met us there and drove us to Valentine, and then we rode back to Norfolk in 4 days. The first 15 miles of the trail from Valentine are the most scenic, after that the trail gets soft. We did most of the ride back to Norfolk on US20 and 275.

Contact Mary Bott in Stuart. She will pick you up and drop you off anywhere on the trail. She picked us up in Norfolk and dropped us off in Valentine. She charges $1 per mile

402-924-3678

I was thinking of riding the Katy Trail in Missouri and then the Cowboy Trail. If I double back a bit to Sedalia, MO, I can catch a train to KC, but how to get from KC to Norfolk?

The Trade Winds motel is fantastic? Very clean, modern and located across the hwy from the trail. I highly recommend it

Where is the Trade Winds motel located? Valentine? Can you recommend any other B&B's or motels along the Cowboy Trail?

Is there an email address and/or phone number I can use to report problems with this website? A phone number is preferred. Thanks.

Am planning on riding the Cowboy Trail this year. Was wondering if riding a tri-cumbent would be possible? The width is 31.5 inches. HELP!

Yes, a trike is fine on the trail, and there is very little traffic. Worst part is the darn posts keeping vehicles off the trail at all intersections. They are fine for regular bikes, but tight even for my Tour Easy recumbent...a trike would really be tight...but then you can go a bit slower and not fall over.

The barriers at the high bridge at Long Pine are the narrowest I have found and I had to lift my 3 wheeler recumbent over them. Worth it for the view from there tho.

Interesting that there are other tricycle riders. I hope to ride the trail from Norfolk to Valentine and back in 2011 on my LoGo recumbent trike. I have a choice of pulling my camping gear in a two-wheel trailer or loaded on the trike's rear rack. Any thoughts on which is the better choice considering the narrow trail spots?

Your web site looks wonderful. I will certainly
try to ride the cowboy trail.
I was wandering about the camp spots and if
there were any to accomandate a small pop up
camper? I've done the Katy trail three times
and each time I had a great time. I'm looking
forward to riding the cowboy trail.

PS I added your web site to favorites.

Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad that you found the website to be helpful!

Honestly I am not sure about all the details on the campgrounds. In general, the city parks will only accommodate tents, while the state parks and commercial campgrounds will handle popup trailers and bigger things. But that's just a generalization - I would suggest calling them in advance to be sure.

Eventually I plan to have more details about the campgrounds and other businesses - if anyone has any details about any trail businesses that you think would be helpful, feel free to go to the page for that business within this website and add your comments at the bottom (or just let me know).

Happy trails!

I have taken my small travel trailer over the entire route and checked every possible camping location along the trail. I am building a tent camper to pull behind my bike for a spring 2011 trip. I will try to add this info to your wonderful website as soon as I can. Thanks for this great resource.

Bob, I'm confused. How does one take a small travel trailer "over the entire route" of a bike/hike/horse trail?

With the recent heavy rains, there's been a lot of flooding issues for many of the communities along the trail.

Here in Norfolk at the very beginning of the trailhead we have flooding problems from the Elkhorn river.

If you're planning a ride/hike in the near future, check ahead for flooding conditions since so much of the trail runs along the river. You'll also want to be aware that the trail condition will be somewhat deteriorated from runoff.

Okay, now I'm sad. The water is receeding but part of the Broken Bridge has collapsed. They say the total damage to the trail is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not sure just how much damage there is further upstate, but I'm sure it's significant.

Can anyone give me some idea what the trail condition is like between Valentine and Oneill? I'm planning on riding that section of trail July 1 weekend. I planned on doing the entire trail but the recent flooding I doubt I'll try from Oneill on to Norfolk.

I would like to know, if the trail has been reconstructed and fixed yet? Because, I am looking at doing a fund raiser, and have individuals or groups get a sponsor to donate a dollar a mile for every mile they ride (or whatever amount they want to donate per mile). I would like to do something next spring or fall.

rode from tilden to clearwater labor day weekend 2010...ok from tilden to oakdale..from oakdale to neligh they have trail closed but bridges and trail are intact and ridable..from neligh to clearwater there is a bridge out couple miles east of clearwater that goes over elkhorn river. can take country road north 1/4 mile to hwy 275 then west over river and then south on country road and get back onto trail and on into clearwater

I want to do this trail later this summer since I grew up in northern Nebraska and I'm familiar with areas. This is probably impossible or a stupid question but wondering if there was anyone that has contacts with someone in Valentine, NE. or Norfolk, NE. if a person started the trail from one end to the other and left your car at the beginning and could get a way to get shuttled back to your car with your bike?

I guess you would have to know someone. There's no "official" shuttle service for the CT.

Contact Mary Bott in Stuart. She will pick you up and drop you off anywhere on the trail

402-924-3678

Panda Transporation in Valentine provides shuttle services for the trail: 402-376-1313

The Cowboy trail is closed between O'Neil and Norfolk, due to flooding.
Does anyone know what hwy 275 is like? Hilly? Flat? Shoulder?
Is it feasable to ride this road?

Highway 275 is, for the most part, fairly flat. The flood waters have subsided, but soft shoulder areas are slightly eroded. To be honest, a lot of people ride the highway shoulder - especially from Tilden to Neligh - because the trail is kind of soft. The shoulder is a hard shoulder through this area and safe to ride. Not very scenic though.

Hi there Cowboy Trail fans there are some pictures of the flooding on the Nebraska Trails Council Facebook page. Also if you would like to be in the link of any email blitzes the Nebraska Trails Council sends out send your name and email to mwoerth@gmail.com

We are planning to try the Cowboy Trail this summer. We love the Katy Trail and have gone there several times. Are there some areas along the Cowboy Trail that are more scenic than others? Is the trail chat like the Katy? Is there a guidebook about the trail that we could order?

I have ridden the CT from Norfolk to Atkinson numerous times...kind of. Only about 10% of the trail in this section is away from Hwy 275/20 and scenic. The other 90% runs adjacent to the Hwys so I ride on the Hwy shoulder which is very nice. The trail gets to be somewhat soft west of Tilden, so it's a struggle with my 1 1/8" road tires. No guide book I am aware of. All the towns along the way have places to camp and eat, but nothing real fancy. Norfolk/Neligh/O'Neill are slightly bigger towns. Trail chat???...probably not.

Nebraska Cowboy Trail A users guide
by Keith Terry

We rode last summer from newport to Neligh in two days. We found the trail to be very soft almost the whole way. We easily ride 10-12 mph on the katy, but struggled to go much above 6-8 mph on the Cowboy. With two panniers my mountain bike sunk into the ground about an inch on average. The locals we tlaked to said that most riders they saw wee using the highway shoulder rather than riding the trail itself. It seemed to us that the contractor that the state was using for trail construction had not done any compaction work after laying down the trail bed.

I'd get the trail guide to pick your route, its pretty clear about which sections are next to the highway and which are away from it.

The section jut east of newport was the prettiest we rode thru. We stayed at the Golden Hotel and loved it.

Hi, I am an avid Katy rider and I am looking to try ride the Cowboy this summer. How is the grade of this trail? Lot's of hills or is it more gradual like the Katy?
Also, is water pretty abundant?

It's fairly flat, since it was originally a railroad route. There is a slow staedy climb as you head west. Check out the elevation chart.

Grade is pretty much flat...no coasting ever, at least on the Norfolk to Atkinson stretch. Abundant water? Drinking...in each town. (about every 10 miles), otherwise it crosses the Elkhorn river a few times.

is it better to from Valentine to norfolk? I see it is downhill, and the winds are usually from the west are they not?? will you answer this using MY email address so I can see the answer??

Have only run Norfolk to Atkinson.

Downhill west to east, but it is so gradual, you would not notice it on the CT. Winds can be an issue and can be from several directions...North in the winter, South/Southwest, and even Southeast in the summer. They quite often are 20-30mph and above, so if you're lucky, they will be at your back. Good luck there.

I know the Chicago North Western ran from Omaha (at Least) and was wondering if they were planning on extending it further east from Norfolk? Coming From Missouri I would like to get the easiest and safest route to Ainsworth.

Quick, get out and enjoy the trail!

Absolutely....

When will the trail be expanded past Valentine?

According to the folks at Nebraska Game and Parks, it's a funding issue. The state legislature needs to approve funding for ongoing maintenance of any newly-added sections, before those sections can be built.

So it may be a while before any further expansions happen - don't expect to see anything until the economy improves and the state's budget is flush with cash again.