Reply to Trail closures and detour information

Looking at doing the trail from Norfolk to Valentine and back in Sept. and hopefully will be getting some feedback so I can make plans.
The map shows the trail closed going through Long Pine, but I called the Bunkhouse and was told that there is a mile detour onto a gravel road to get around this. That's good news. There's an awesome bridge just outside of Long Pine and the Bunkhouse is decent lodging at a good price.
The issue is day one from Norfolk to O'Neill. Unless there are roads not shown on the map, it looks like there are about 40 miles of detours to 275 or 20 on an 80 mile day:
9 miles from Battle Creek to Meadow Grove on 275
13 miles on 275 from Tilden to Neligh
10 miles on 275 from Neligh to Clearwater
8 miles from Inman to O'Neill on 20.

Do I have this right? Has anyone found that these detours to pavement can be shortened on gravel? Thanks for any help!

Any trail updates from ANYONE this summer? What's the thorn situation out west? After lots of detours from Norfolk to O'Neill it's wide open to Valentine? Two of us going all the way west in Sept and then turning around and coming back(6 day trip). Any new information would be appreciated. Thanks!

The map was updated a few weeks ago to show current closures. In the open sections there will be a few rough spots but it is passable currently.

https://maps.outdoornebraska.gov/Trails/

Hey, thanks Alex!! I didn't realize that the map had been updated since I posted 7/30 and a lot of progress has been made! Looks like the 40 miles of detours from Norfolk to O'Neill that I'd expected are down to 20 or less. Good deal!

I just met a lady riding across USA and rode the Cowboy Trail all the way from Valentine to Norfolk on Aug 31,2019 and she said very few miles were unrideable, but had easy access adjacent highway and no flat tires the whole way.

Excellent update!! Thanks!!

My group of 6 bikepackers did the trail from Valentine to Norfolk in early August. Very minimal trail closures, well marked, easy transfer to highway, and no goathead thorns. Everyone super friendly in every town. In a few spots the trail is a bit soft with loose gravel, that will have you searching for the hardpack. (Firm surface for your bike tires to ride on.) Hope you enjoy your adventure.

Last week was rough on the Cowboy Trail. Two of us took off from Norfolk on the 9th to ride to Valentine, then turned around and biked back to Norfolk, arriving on the 14th. We knew that we'd have to detour to the highway from Oakdale to Neligh, and from Neligh to Clearwater due to the spring floods. Evening of the 10th we spent the night in Long Pine and it rained all night. We were told Ainsworth got 5". We rode through water on the trail more times than I can count that day. Even 6" plus over the highway at one point. Some places the trail is higher than the highway but not always. Trail isn't as well maintained from O'Neill on, and you're riding on weeds/grass a lot, which makes it rougher than a cob. 4 flats from goathead thorns that day even with tire liners. 5 miles east of Valentine the trail was washed out and we walked bikes through the 2' or so washout completely dividing the trail. Well....it rained 6" or more in Valentine that night. The washout from the previous day was way deeper but we got through it with our loaded bikes(not a one-person task). Then rode through water more times than I can count to get to Long Pine. At one point we were riding through 8" water which got deeper and turned into a 3' deep hole that I rode into and went down. Adios cell phone....the current sucked it out of my jersey pocket. We made it into O'Neill the next night and figured that the excitement was over. Next day we again rode through a lot of water, came up on one bridge that had the approach almost entirely washed out(again, two of us working together got the bikes through). We marked that bridge as well as we could so no one came from the opposite direction and disappeared forever. Two more goathead thorn flats that afternoon. We were looking for adventure and we got it, but I would strongly suggest that everyone get a status update on the trail because all of that water out west was flowing east and doing a job on the trail. Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the tough trip. Last week was rough all along the trail due to these heavy rains we keep getting causing additional flooding and damage. Please exercise caution if using the trail as hazards are appearing rapidly. We do our best to mark them. If you see hazards please take a picture, note gps location if possible or bridge #, and send me a an email at alexander.duryea@nebraska.gov.

Sorry to hear about the tough trip. Last week was rough all along the trail due to these heavy rains we keep getting causing additional flooding and damage. Please exercise caution if using the trail as hazards are appearing rapidly. We do our best to mark them. If you see hazards please take a picture, note gps location if possible or bridge #, and send me a an email at alexander.duryea@nebraska.gov.

I wonder if Alex could explain how he handles these issues on the trail. Are they inspected by the state employees and how fast the address the issue.

There is a section of trail completely missing at the eight mile make east of Valentine. There is running water through the cut. The cut is approximately three feet wide and two to three feet deep.
Section coming into Ainsworth from the West is unrideable. It's a hike a bike.
Many other rain washout hike a bikes toward Long Pine.
Thanks!