Nebraska's Pine Ridge Escarpment

In northwestern Nebraska is the Pine Ridge Escarpment, which marks the northern edge of High Plains and the beginning of the Northwestern Great Plains near the South Dakota border. Here the land descends downward as one travels northward, over dramatic bluffs and through ponderosa pine forests. It was a "teaser" to the type of scenery we would we see that evening in the Black Hills. of South Dakota.

When I traveled here with my children in June 2022, we were impressed by the sudden change of scenery. The pines were not visible from a far distance, but appeared suddenly as we descended the escarpment. By the time we reached the town of Chadron, the pines had ended and we were in a totally different type of grassland, covered with pristine blue-green native grasses, and it was noticeably cooler.