Free Topo Maps of Scotts Bluff National Monument

Download free topo maps of Scotts Bluff National Monument. Use the adjoining 7.5 minute quadrangle legend to locate the Nebraska maps you need.

Adjoining 7.5' Quadrangle Legend

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  1. Northwest Topo Map: Mitchell, NE
  2. North Topo Map: Scottsbluff North, NE
  3. Northeast Topo Map: Lake Alice, NE
  4. West Topo Map: Roubadeau Pass, NE
  5. Topo Map: Scottsbluff South, NE
  6. East Topo Map: Minatare, NE
  7. Southwest Topo Map: Murray Lake NE, NE
  8. South Topo Map: Wildcat Mountain, NE
  9. Southeast Topo Map: Wright Gap, NE
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Scotts Bluff National Monument

Scotts Bluff National Monument is located near the town of Gering, by the North Platte River in Nebraska. Prior to the 1800s Scotts Bluff was part of the region dominated by the Plains Indians that occupied the territory. The bluffs became a landmark along the Oregon Trail, after being noted by fur traders in the early 1800s. By the mid 1800s many people used the landmark to mark their route along their trek to the West, including the Army and settlers. The scores of emigrants that traveled with wagon trains followed the Platte River; however when they reached this point the badlands forced them out of the river valley to the base of the bluffs where two passes, Robidoux and Mitchell Pass provided passage westward. During the 1890s, after the great migration populated the Western Territories, when the age of train travel replaced the Wagon Trains, scientists began to take an interest in the formations covering the Great Plains. A point of great interest was the north face of Scotts Bluff which exposes a geological history spanning back 33 million years, with greater geological information than any other location within the state of Nebraska. Scientists became aware of at least nine other areas of interest in this region, with thoughts of preservation in mind. With its historic and geologic importance, Scotts Bluff became a National Monument to insure its preservation for the future. The highest peak was named after an early fur trader, Hiram Scott. The museum at the Visitor Center at the base of the Monument explores his life, in addition to the geologic and historical mass migration to the West by emigrants traveling the Oregon and Mormon Trails. There are exhibits, drawings, paintings, and photographs, a film and ranger-led activities offered with information regard the trails that can be traversed to the top of Scotts Bluff, the highest of the five formations comprising the Monument. Scotts Bluff stands 830 feet above the plains where an incredible panorama of the flat prairie, river valley, hills and mountains can be viewed. There is also a shuttle to the top, where those who wish can hike down the trail back to the base. The Monument also protects the wildlife that still inhabits the bluffs, primarily smaller creatures than the pioneers encountered. The larger species such as the grizzly bears, bison, elk and others have gone; with agricultural fields surrounding much of the bluff and towns and cities nearby, movement in or out of the area is limited.