Pine Ridge Region

The Pine Ridge Region covers the rugged northwestern corner of Nebraska, the country where the Pine Ridge Escarpment cuts across the High Plains and the panhandle pine forests rise above the surrounding prairie. The terrain is dramatically more vertical than the rest of Nebraska — sandstone buttes, pine-covered hills, deep canyons, and the headwaters of the Niobrara and White rivers cutting through. Three counties cover the region. Dawes holds Chadron (the largest city, with Chadron State College) and Crawford (the gateway to Fort Robinson); Sheridan holds Gordon and Rushville; Sioux holds Harrison and the Warbonnet Battlefield site. Fort Robinson State Park (the largest state park in Nebraska, with the buildings of the 1874–1948 fort still standing) and Chadron State Park concentrate the public-land scenery; the Nebraska National Forest’s Pine Ridge District covers most of the surrounding pine country; the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron carries the deeper history. Most trips here run history-and-outdoor focused. Fort Robinson handles the largest single visitor stream — the cavalry-fort buildings, the buffalo herd, the Crazy Horse death site; Chadron State Park draws hikers and horseback riders; the Toadstool Geologic Park and Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed sit just north of Crawford.