Valentine, Nebraska Fall 2020

We were looking for a nice 3 day trip that would not take us too far from Omaha.
We went to Valentine and stayed at the Econo Lodge. It is a modest motel and priced at about $88 a night. The room was clean and they served a free warm breakfast with eggs, ham or sausage depending on the day and waffles. They also had the basic continental fare as well. The Econo Lodge is located only 3 business away from the Peppermill Restaurant, a place that was recommended to us. Peppermill serves good old fashion, stick to your ribs food. We recommend the steak and mac as well as the burgers.

Just outside of Valentine is a scenic overlook as part of the Niobrara wild life preserve. We saw a single buffalo the day we arrived and on Tuesday evening just before dusk we saw a family of buffalo in the tall grasses. These are wild animals and can attack. There are also wild Elk which we did not happen to see on this trip.

Tuesday we crammed everything we wanted to do starting with Fort Falls located in the Niobrara National Park. It is a great walking trail that takes you past the falls and along the river. Next we went to Smith Falls which has wonderful campgrounds located along the Niobrara River. There were people camping but they were spaced out and the only person was saw was a park worker cleaning bathrooms. We felt like we had the place all to ourselves.

Next we drove to a very small town called Meadville that may or may not be haunted. We were told there was only one small store in town and when we got there it was closed. The drive was amazing and we had a coyote jump in front of our car, look at us and run off.

We drove through the Niobrara National Wild life refuge where we saw antelope and lots of grass and not much of anything else. The drive was pleasant and worth going to see all the colors.

On Wed we decided to take the road that pointed towards Norden Bridge. It was a really nice drive along dirt roads that lead through a very surreal valley that had clearly met with a wild fire some years before. The trees were void of leaves and charred standing where they burned or had fallen over. It looked like the landscape from a science fiction movie with charred trees and green to brown grass. Most of the homes along this route looked to have been spared with the exception of a few unlucky ones as evidenced by the burned out foundations.

We had no idea what type of bridge Norden was but when we arrived at it we saw that it was worth the dusty drive. There was another massive water fall coming down the Niobrara river.

Animals seen: Lots of buffalo, antelope, turkeys, deer (one jumped over the front of our car along the Norden Bridge drive, take it easy around corners) 2 coyotes and lots of hawks.

I hope you enjoy this video and if you are looking for a nice get away from the Omaha metro area that will transport you to a tranquil relaxing place I suggest Valentine Nebraska and the Sand Hills.