Scotts Bluff National Monument: East Boundary from Old Oregon Trail South to the Base of South Bluff

We drove back home from Laramie today, after a great ski trip and an enjoyable time in town. I opted to get out for a hike and so headed out from home to hike a portion of the monument boundary from Old Oregon Trail Road as far as I could get until I got cliffed out. 

It was a quick walk from home, past Five Rocks Amphitheater and into the monument. Once inside the monument I headed north first, past the big water tanks just outside the boundary.

The area inside the fenceline was pretty weedy with lots of tire tracks from the trucks that had replaced some of the power poles that had snapped in a bad wind/snowstorm last April. I did find a partial pronghorn skull in the weeds!

I made my way to the site of the old emigrant trail, 

crossed over it and headed to Old Oregon Trail Road before turning around to head back south. This time, I opted to follow the faint powerline road up over the ridge that emanates from Dome Rock and back to the point where I had entered the monument. From here I would head west on the south monument boundary.

I found the spot where the old monument boundary cut through Dome Rock. A USGS marker marked the spot of a significant old metal fencepost. 

I traveled past Dome Rock 

and squeezed through a constriction where the boundary passes very close to the base of South Bluff. Here I spotted a small herd of mule deer off in the distance.

From here it was pretty easy walking. Then I turned north and started a steep climb to get as high up South Bluff as I could. There was a really nice view from here.

I rested a bit and then started back down. Just past the constriction I stopped to admire the view of Dome Rock in the late afternoon sun.

Then, started my way back home.

Distance hiked: 4.0 miles

Cumulative distance hiked in 2025: 32.0 miles