Two national forests and three national grasslands spread across two states: rugged badlands, rolling prairie, and pine forested hills, most of it yours to roam at your own pace.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands is not one place. It is five: two national forests and three national grasslands spread across Nebraska and South Dakota, managed together by the U.S. Forest Service. The country they cover swings from rugged badlands to rolling prairie to pine forested hills, and nearly all of it is wide open, undeveloped, and free to wander.
That variety is the point. In one long weekend out here you can watch birds on grassland that runs to the horizon, hound for rocks in the badlands, ride horseback through pine hills, and stand over a 10,000-year-old bison bonebed with a roof over your head. The same organization also runs three destinations worth planning around: the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery at Halsey, the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center near Crawford, and the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association has been partners with Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands since 2015. This page is the overview: the five units, the destinations the Forest Service runs alongside them, what there is to do, and the contacts you will want before you go.
Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands spans two national forests and three national grasslands across Nebraska and South Dakota, all managed by the U.S. Forest Service from a supervisor’s office in Chadron, Nebraska. The terrain is anything but uniform: rugged badlands in the northwest, rolling prairie through the middle, pine forested hills where you least expect them. It is a great destination for hunting, fishing, birding, rock hounding, horseback riding, and hiking.
Unlike a national park, there is no gate and no entrance booth. These are working public lands, and for the most part you simply drive in. That makes them the unstructured counterpart to the region’s national park sites: fewer signs, fewer crowds, and far more room.
The name is singular, but the place is plural. Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands covers five separate land units, each with its own character:
The Forest Service keeps current conditions, maps, and alerts for every unit at fs.usda.gov.
About 20 miles northwest of Crawford, on the Oglala National Grassland, a climate-controlled shelter covers an active archaeological site: a bonebed holding hundreds of bison skeletons roughly 10,000 years old. The Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center runs guided tours, exhibits, and hands-on junior archaeologist activities right over the top of the dig itself, which makes it one of the rare places where you can watch the science happen.
It is a seasonal stop: open Fridays only, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, at 1811 Meng Dr, Crawford, NE, (308) 665-3900. Families can also play Agents of Discovery at Hudson-Meng, a free educational mobile game built for the site. Our Hudson-Meng guide covers the visit in detail.
The Bessey Ranger District at Halsey holds one of the stranger sights on the Great Plains: the largest hand-planted forest in the western hemisphere, pines set into some of the most intact temperate prairie on Earth. Trees where the map says grass, planted row by row by people.
Next door, the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery still does the work its name suggests. The nursery has a long-standing reputation for producing top-quality planting stock and can produce 4.5 million bare root conifer and hardwood seedlings each year. The district office and nursery share an address at 40637 River Loop Rd, Halsey, NE, (308) 533-2257.
These are come-as-you-are public lands. Hunting, fishing, birding, rock hounding, horseback riding, and hiking are the classic draws, and the Forest Service also maintains campgrounds and off-highway vehicle trails across the units. There is no entrance fee for the land itself, and much of it is undeveloped enough that a good map matters more than a reservation.
If you want a structured way in, our Nebraska public lands road trip strings the northwest corner into one loop: Agate Fossil Beds, Hudson-Meng, Scotts Bluff, and Toadstool Geologic Park. And if your route crosses I-90 in South Dakota, the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall is the free indoor introduction to everything the grasslands are.
Cell service gets thin out here, so note the numbers before you go:
An active dig, hundreds of ancient bison, and a season that runs summer Fridays only.
Fossil beds, bluffs, badlands, and the bonebed, strung into one northwest Nebraska loop.
The one visitor center that tells the story of all twenty national grasslands, in Wall, South Dakota.
Keep going: two of the road trip’s stops are BHPFA partner sites with guides of their own, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and Scotts Bluff National Monument.
Black Hills Parks & Forests Association is the nonprofit partner organization for Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. The park stores, the online shop, and memberships fund interpretation and education across the units, and proceeds support education, conservation, and visitor services at BHPFA partner parks and forests.
You can also donate or volunteer.
Every purchase supports this place
We run the bookstores inside the visitor centers. Field guides, maps, and gear, with proceeds going back into education, interpretation, and visitor services.
Where we work
Explore our partner sites in the Black Hills and western Nebraska. Find visitor information and ideas for your trip.
Explore a cave below the prairie. Watch for bison above ground.
Plan your visit
See the cave formations on a ranger-led tour.
Plan your visit
Explore pine forests, granite peaks, and miles of trails.
Plan your visit
Follow the Oregon Trail story. Find trails and views over the North Platte Valley.
Plan your visit
Explore fossil exhibits and walk the monument’s trails.
Plan your visit
Explore forests and open grasslands in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Plan your visit
Start in Wall, South Dakota. Learn about grassland wildlife and history.
Plan your visit