Highway 83 from Menard, Texas to Valentine, Nebraska..............

[Vladimir]

I will be done with the eclipse on Tuesday morning.

The plan is to take Highway 83 from Menard, Texas to Valentine, Nebraska.

Any advice??  Places to stay, things to see??

Not sure how much time I will have.....it is fishing season in eastern Washington and I need to be there.

Thanks for the all the suggestions in advance.

 

[Kirk W]

You will travel through the area of the biggest wildfire in TX history(March 2024) when you pass through Canadian, TX. A lot of what you could see will depend on how hard line you are about staying on US83. Liberal KS has the official home of Dorthey from Wizard of Oz. If you enjoy visiting small town America you will pass through some interesting ones. Probably the area with most to offer along that route would be North Platte, NE, which will also be the largest city on the route. I have been in most of the towns along that road and some of them many times but very few of them were ever my destination on a trip. 

[trailertraveler]

Liberal does have a couple of attractions. The campground at Arkalon Park is a decent place to stay just East of town. Liberal has most of the stores that you might need.

[Chalkie]

That route is going to take you through what my Dad called "miles and miles of miles and miles". A couple of places along that route that our wanderings have taken us by are the Immaculate Conception church in Leoville, KS. It is a slight detour off the route when you get to Selden but is an impressively large church in basically the middle of nowhere. And then there was the Buffalo Bill museum in North Platte. Pretty interesting place but we like museums.

[kb0zke]

We stayed in Liberal at the beginning of covid, so couldn't see the museum. A couple of weeks ago we stayed just up the road from Liberal in Dodge City. We didn't have time to see anything there, but there are quite a few things to see and do there. I think you could easily spend a week between Liberal and Dodge City.

North Platte is also a lot of fun. Buffalo Bill's ranch is west of town. His wife didn't like the ranch because it was too far from town. North Platte is home to a huge railroad switching yard. You can go up the Golden Spike (fee involved) to watch the activity. Retired railroad employees are up there to explain what is going on.

Near North Platte is Paxton, NE, home of Ole's. Good food (come hungry). We stayed at the I-80 campground on the east side of NP. Nothing fancy, but good people. Lots of other things to do in NP. Oh yes, you won't have any troubles leveling there. There is something like a 10" difference between the highest and lowest points in North Platte.

[DJohns]

While at Buffalo Bill Museum just down the road is the Lincoln county museum, excellent.  If you are not in a huge camper  right in this area is a state camp ground that has the North plate river  right next to it.

As you go north at Thedford go east 10 miles to see and camp if not too large the Halsey national forest. Largest hand planted forest in the world.  Night sky is something you had never seen.

By now you will see why they call them "the sand hills".

Good luck!

[Vladimir]

14 hours ago, DJohns said:

 

As you go north at Thedford go east 10 miles to see and camp if not too large the Halsey national forest. Largest hand planted forest in the world.  Night sky is something you had never seen.

 

Ok....I retired from the Forest Service and never had heard of the "Halsey National Forest".

Did you mean the Nebraska National Forest???  That is a stop on the trip.

Best night sky I have EVER seen was on the Beaverhead National Forest in 1996.  Close second was the night sky at Lake Mohave in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1977.  That night sky does not exist anymore.

But I really want a repeat of that night on the Beaverhead!!!  That night in August 12th, 1996 was incredible.  My astronomy buddies still do NOT believe me when I described that night.

[DJohns]

I am wrong. It is Nebraska National Forest. You may want to call them to see what is open  as they had a fire several years ago. You can drive all over, lots of hiking trails and yes the sky is unbelievable.  They have a tree nursery that they grow seedlings for all of the state.

If you have time you don't want to miss North Platte golden spike towel.

You are going straight to Valentine, not cutting across to Merritt Dam right?

By the way what are you driving?

Edited April 7 by DJohns
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[Vladimir]

I was going to Valentine, because I don't know any better!!  Would you cut across at Merritt Dam??  That is the location of the Nebraska Star Party in summer, so I thought it might be worthwhile to drive that way.

I have a one-ton diesel truck towing a Casita trailer. 

Anything north of Abiliene???  That is probably my Tuesday night stop in that area.

Vladimir

Edited April 7 by Vladimir

[Vladimir]

Observations along the trip.

Texas.  Always was kinda neutral on Texas.  Crossed into Texas at El Paso.  That was NOT neutral.  What an awful place to travel through town.  It has a million people, but the traffic, etc makes it feel like LA.  Not a good introduction.

Then Texas got real nice with El Paso in the rear view mirror.

Good drivers.  Little traffic particularly on 190 to Waco.  Nice small towns.  Great Courthouses!!!  You can probably write a tour book on the Courthouses of Texas.  There must be a lot of history in those courthouses.

Great radio stations.  Lots of fiddles and steel guitars with Merle, EmmyLou, and a host of others.  Never put in a CD while in Texas.

Only downside was it was tough to find places to stop for the night.  Lots of truck stops, which does not meet my definition of boondocking.

Oklahoma.  That was quick.  I thought the panhandle of Idaho was quick to cross. 

Kansas.  I once read an article that if you made Kansas pancake size it would be flatter than a pancake.  I can handle flat, Florida is flat.  Kansas is flat with crops..  Once I crossed into Kansas the music stopped.  It didn't stop, it just got bad.

Nebraska.  The drive across Kansas was pretty boring.  It got interesting as I crossed into Nebraska.  Liked North Platte and the river.  The next day driving into the Sand Hills was incredible and I was there at the worse time of the year before green up!!

Sand Hills were on my bucket list and they way exceeded my expectations.  The Niobrara Wild and Scenic River was great.  The Sand Hills were pretty.  Even the Nebraska National Forest was scenic.  The icing on the cake was all the wildlife areas and prairie potholes.   Every duck got its own pothole.

I would not mind spending a month in the Sand Hills.  Thanks to DJohns for the tips on Nebraska.

Wyoming.  Been a long time since I was in Wyoming.  The population growth was just amazing.  People everywhere these days, outside the public lands.  Thank god, for those.  After the relative solitude of the Sand Hills, it was jarring to run into people again. 

I really liked the Jackalope on the hillside above Douglas, Wyoming.  Wish I had a kid in the truck to watch their reaction!

Jackson Hole on a Monday morning in April was filled with traffic!!

Eastern Idaho.  Same story.  Where did all these people come from ?? 

Montana.  Did enjoy the drive across I-90, but quickly went onto Highway 12 and into Idaho and home.

Next time I think I will go east of highway 83 and try highway 385 and 27.  That means I would have to double back to revisit the Sand Hills, but it would be worth it.  That country just north in South Dakota looks real good.

 

 

 

[Kirk W]

16 minutes ago, Vladimir said:

  Kansas is flat with crops.. 

Having gown up in Kansas, it is clear that you, like many others didn't see much of Kansas. This was taken not from from where my relatives live in the Kansas Flint Hills.

You should also return to Oklahoma and travel through the areas east of OK city.