Help us complete the Cowboy Trail Connection!

Let's CONNECT!

The Cowboy Trail Connection is a planned rail-with-trail that will provide a safe and accessible connection from downtown Chadron to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail terminus at mile marker 400. The trail is designed with a minimum grade and surface that allows for walkers, cyclists, and motorized wheelchairs to have a safe alternative to busy roadways. Designed in phases, the completed project will add an additional six miles of trail to Chadron and connect to the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail, which spans 321 miles across Nebraska. The Cowboy Trail Connection will allow pedestrians the ability to get out of town and enjoy an improved outdoor space with recreational amenities safely. 

This project is an investment in not only Chadron’s future, but for the entire northwestern Nebraska region. One of the goals of this project is to positively impact individuals by promoting healthy living environments and outdoor recreational activities. Currently, to reach the unfinished Cowboy Trail, pedestrians must use U.S. Highway 20, which sees large vehicles and tractor-trailers driving at a higher speed. The trail connection will serve as a safe and accessible alternative travel to highway shoulders. 

The Cowboy Trail and Cowboy Trail Connection are also features of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Great American Rail-Trail, linking Washington D.C and Washington state. When completed, the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail and the Cowboy Trail Connection will be the longest continuous rail-trail in the United States and communities along the route should expect increased tourism. In total, this project, which will be completed in four phases, will require a one-time cost between $2.6 million and $3.9 million, depending on which water crossing option will be used to cross Little Bordeaux Creek in the final phase of construction.