Cowboy Trail Tour Sept. 25-27, 2015

Hey all,

I am planning a tour taking place on September 25-27, 2015 and will consist of riding on 195 miles of the Cowboy Trail from Norfolk, NE – Valentine, NE. This initial tour will be predominately unsupported and you will need to ride self-contained so bring gear to accommodate the late September weather. We will be stopping at most of the towns along the way to fill up water bottles, grab food, and check out local attractions. The goal of this tour is to assess the current condition of the Cowboy Trail and the feasibility of hosting this as an annual tour. By doing this I hope to raise awareness and increase traffic on the trail which will bring more tourism to the towns along its path. I am looking for a group of experienced cyclists to come out and participate in this tour with me. All are welcome! If anyone is interested in joining, please contact me for further details and join the event on the Facebook page. I have linked the Facebook Page for the event which contains a route map with overnight towns. Thank you for your consideration, I hope to see you out there!

https://www.facebook.com/rideoncowboy

Alex Duryea
Eco Tourism Consultant
Nebraska Tourism Commission

You will want to figure out a "plan B" for east of Clearwater...there is NO bridge and NO signage to let you know the trail dumps into the river!!!! Rode it day before yesterday.

Has been a problem for a long time:

"Note: Due to flooding in 2010 -Other than some temporary closures due to resurfacing the only closed section from Norfolk to O'neil is on the washout between Mile Post 123.5 and 121.5 or 1mile east of Clearwater then east for 2 miles. Trail users simply travel HWY 275 to continue."

And it is an easy bike around as HWY 275 does not have much traffic and has a shoulder.

How did your trip go? I think that an annual tour would be a good ideal. In Missouri, DNR does one for the Katy Trail and there is another one is South Dakota(done by the parks dept.) for the Mickleson Trail. I am familiar with the DNR Katy Trail and that one is 5 days/4 nights on a 220 mile trek of the Katy Trail. They charge around $350/person and that includes breakfast and dinner, camping, and bag shuttle. If you want to stay in a hotel, that is extra. They usually post details of their June trip in March of each year.

It's been a couple years. How did this go? I think this would be a great idea and bring more awareness to the trail..The state of Nebraska has a great treasure that they need to continue to develop and maintain. We just rode Valentine to Norfolk.
Parts were good. Out west more maintenance and work needs to be done. But we were glad to have done the ride.

Hi Everyone,
I have ridden a lot of trails in the mid-west and central US. My two favorites are the Mickelson and the Katy. Nebraska has a diamond in the rough (literally rough). I think we should start a petition drive to get Nebraska to add more money to improving the trail and have a grand opening ride that is well published. I think this would be a good article for some of the cycling magazines when it is planned. I am 67 and retired and I know there are other baby boomers who are like minded and are looking for something like this to do.

Hi All,

Thanks for your comments about the trail! I know it's been a few years since we did the tour. We had a few show up and ride. One of the guys worked at Monkey Wrench in Lincoln and did a short write-up on his experience:

http://monkeywrenchcycles.com/touring-the-cowboy-trail-valentine-to-norfolk-nebraska/

Afterwards I met with some folks at Game and Parks to talk about the trail and told them about some of the rough spots. They invited me to come talk at some public meetings that were held in some of the towns along the trail that winter. The goal of these meetings were to gather input to update the master plan for the Cowboy Trail. While there we talked to locals about he economic and tourism benefits having a trail like this can have and referenced Katy, Mickelson, Great Allegeney Passage, and others showing what they can do for the towns along the trail.

As far as an annual tour I could not find anyone that was willing to continue it. Since then I helped Jim Craig with Angry Cow Adventure put on two Ultra Marathons on the trail called the Cowboy Ultra which garnered some attention from the local media.

We have been trying to promote the trail as much as possible! Getting more people to ride it is probably the best thing for it. I have gone to most of the sites where the cowboy trail is listed and posted current pictures, updated info on the trail and left an honest good review. (This is a great way you all can help too!) A lot of things still need to change to make this trail into what it can be. Many of the rumors out there saying the trail is closed, completely overgrown, impassable, rough, or whatever need to be put to rest. Most of the trail is in pretty good shape but yes you'll run into some rough areas from time to time. I know NGPC has trouble maintaining the entire length of the trail and operates it on an EXTREMELY limited budget. Probably because the usage is just not there. I know they do their best to keep back the weeds and sandburs but if you see areas that need improvement let them know exactly where the problem is, they want to keep the trail in good shape. There is the detour on the highway at Clearwater where the bridge is out but it's quick and easy. The cost to replace that bridge is very expensive and the river now covers the right of way so the detour will have to stay for now.



The trail needs more public support (both local and statewide) if more is going to happen with it. I really think it is a diamond in the rough and can be a great asset to the state. Feel free to call or email me anytime about the trail, my contact info is on visitnebraska.com