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Cowboy Trail

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Trail description: 109 miles of the eventual 321-mile rail trail are open as of Spring, 2004. The longest continuous completed section is 75 miles from O'Neill to Norfolk. When completed, the Cowboy Trail will be the longest rail trail in the US.
Access fee:
Towns along the trail: O'Neill, Norfolk, NE
Web site: Cowboy Trail
Trail map: Available on the Cowboy Trail website
Trail surface: Crushed limestone
Designated activities: Bicycling, horseback riding, walking
Facilities on the trail: Restaurants are located in some of the towns
Points of interest: Black Hills, restored railroad depot at O'Neill
Lodging: Some towns have hotels and other accommodations
Camping: Campgrounds are situated in many of the towns
Bike shops:
Weather forecast: Norfolk
Tourism info: Northeast Nebraska Travel Council
Getting to the trail: The trail can be accessed in each of the towns it passes through.
Map of local region: Norfolk | O'Neill

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Number of ratings for this region: 1

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Trail name: Cowboy Trail
Times biking the trail: Several
Date of last visit: August, 2005
Sections that I biked: Norfolk to Stuart
My favourite sections of the trail: Norfolk to Tilden
Best time to go: Late Summer/ Fall
Trail marking: Very good
Trail maintenance: Fair
Rating: 1.5 stars
What I liked: Very nice scenery in the section from Norfolk to Tilden. Very nice people in every town along the way.
What I disliked: West of Tilden the trail is very soft under the limestone. So much so that anything other than a mountain bike with wide tires is hazardous.
Comments: There is a terrible washout between Clearwater and Inmann that is invisible for a rider travelling west to east. BE CAREFUL!!
The river washed out the trailbed and it was filled with railroad ballast (large rocks about 12" deep) so it could be crossed. There is a closed section in this same area that doesn't have any detour sings or other help.
I just rode around the signs and luckily I didn't meet any shotgun wielding farmers.
The trail is open west of O'Neill but is pretty much unridable. From O'Neill to Emmett it has just had the railroad ballast scraped off and you ride on the leftover ballast (large sharp rocks) and whatever was leftover (nails, glass, etc.) Between Emmett and Atkinson they are working on putting down a reddish rock (not limestone) so that section is mostly 6" deep loose gravel that hasn't been compacted into a hard surface. The entire trail west of Tilden seems a bit "young" to be a great trail. After riding many "mature" trails (Wabash Trace, MOPAC, Steamboat Trace, Mickleson, Katy) I hope that this little used trail will become compacted and rideable for long distance riders. For the time being riding on Highway 275 and 20 are preferabble to the trail since these highways are paralell to the trail. I stayed in O'Neill and Bassett during my ride and found my fellow Nebraskans to be very freindly and interested in my travels. After seeing the other trails' websites I think the Cowboy Trails' website is inadequate and actually misleading in it statement of the trail being "open" from O'Neill to Stuart. "Open" does not equate to rideable is this particular instance.
Submitted by: csw
from: Lincoln, NE
Date submitted: Aug 27, 2005

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