The rolling prairie, which dominated Nebraska, seemed like oceans to the pioneers who sailed across the territory in their schooners. The Prairie Schooners sailed along the Oregon and Mormon Trails. The settlers learned that the tall waving grass covered rich soil. Today, the rich prairie, which was once grasslands and beautiful wildflowers, boasts large productions of corn, dried beans, wheat, cattle, and chickens.

Omaha and Lincoln are the largest urban cities that are like islands in the grasslands yet have cultural institutions like the Joslyn Art Museum showcasing the works of Thomas Hart Benton and Claude Monet and the Nebraska State Museum with its fossil and dinosaur exhibits. The prairie life was difficult and remnants can be seen in the hearty pioneer stock of the Nebraskans whose ancestors dug their homes of sod and toiled the land.

History buffs can traverse the pioneer pathways through Nebraska by following the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as well as the Pony Express, Mormon and Oregon Trails. These trails can be followed by car, bicycle, or on horseback. Abraham Lincoln opened Nebraska to settlement with The Homestead Act, which brought thousands of pioneers to the State in search of free land and in 1863 there was the groundbreaking for the transcontinental railway. Much of this history is available to the traveler at the History Arch on I-80 just outside of Kearney and the historic Fort Kearney that provided provisions to the settlers. To this day, there are wagon wheel ruts in the ground throughout the State providing the historical context for the tales of the many travelers going through Nebraska to find the promise land. Now visitors to Kearney watch birds because it is located on a migratory bird flyway. Visitors to Kearney enjoy playing golf in between their birding excursions.

Nebraska's great plains rise as they move to the west and the Rocky Mountains, as a result, rapid streams perfect for canoeing spread across the landscape. There are put-in points for canoers along the Niobrara, North Loup, Platte, and Republican. Watersport enthusiasts should visit Lewis and Clark Lake near Crofton, McConaughty Lake near Ogallala, Johnson Lake near Lexington, Oliver Reservoir, and Harlan County Lake for boating, swimming, and water skiing. Tubing can be done on the Middle Loup River. Lake McCounaughty also draws scuba divers, wind surfers, sailors, boaters, and fishermen. Some fishing spots in Nebraska are year-round.

Biking, horseback riding, and hiking trails weave through many areas in Nebraska. One of the nation's largest rails-to-trails conversions is the 321-mile Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail that begins in Norfolk and travels northwest. There is also the Steamboat Trace Trail for hikers and cyclists. For horseback riders there are the Indian Cave State Park, Rock Creek Station State Historical Park, and the Fort Robinson area. Mountain bikers find the rugged hills in the Pine Ridge challenging.

In the winter, there is lots of opportunity to go trekking through the snow. There is cross-country skiing and snow shoeing at the state parks like Indian Cave. Adventurers also can do ice skating, sledding, and tobogganing. Snowmobilers like to rev up at Harry Strunk Lake.

Chadron in the northwest is the gateway to the Nebraska National Forest and Ogallala National Grasslands. Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and Chimney Rock National Monument are near Scottsbluff. Homestead National Monument has self-guiding tours to help depict the challenges that the settlers faced in early Nebraska.

The Lincoln Highway that passes through Iowa also traverses Nebraska. At Kearney, the highway is halfway between New York and San Fransciso.

Although there are only 118 people living in Merriman, it is located near the Cottonwood State Recreation Area and the Arthur Bowring Sandhills Ranch Historical Park. It is a 7200 acre working cattle ranch and living history museum. There is a film available that describes ranching in the Nebraska Sandhills. The Spirit of Brownville offers a change of pace for visitors by taking them on a sightseeing cruise.

Agri-tourists flock to Nebraska, the Corn Huskers State, to learn about the diverse farming and ranching capabilities in an arid climate.

Other places to visit in Nebraska include:

• Alliance on the eastern edge of the Nebraska National Forest and the humorous re-creation of England's ancient stonehenge with trucks and cars buried trunk down…also has areas for picnicking.
  
  
• Brownville on the banks of the Missouri River celebrates the history of the Missouri River.
  
  
• Fort Calhoun was built where Lewis and Clark recommended, as it was where they met Indians. Fifteen years later Fort Atkinson assumed the overwhelming task of regulating Western fur trade and maintaining peaceful relations between the indigenous people and fur traders.
  
  
• Lincoln, the State Capitol, has a park, art gallery, museum, children's zoo, and botanical gardens as well as the home of William Jennings Bryan.
  
  
• Valentine has the largest tract of grass-stabilized sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere and a wildlife refuge.