Nebraska Sandhills on Highway 2

Route description

Begin in Grand Island; in March the nearby Platte River hosts hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes, one of the great wildlife events in North America. NE-2 heads north-west through Broken Bow, the last sizable town for a while.

Beyond Broken Bow the farmland gives way to the Sandhills, the largest area of sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere, held in place by prairie grass. The road follows a busy railroad line, so expect to race long coal trains through the empty hills.

At Halsey, the Bessey District of the Nebraska National Forest is the largest hand-planted forest in the country; drive up to the Scott Lookout Tower and camp under the pines. West of here, Mullen and Hyannis are small ranching towns with little more than fuel and a café.

Fill up whenever you can: gaps between gas stations are long. At Alliance, finish at Carhenge, a replica of Stonehenge made of gray-painted cars. Late spring and early fall are best; winter storms can close the road.