Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock rises from the Great Plains in western Nebraska standing 300 feet above the surrounding North Platte River valley. The peak of Chimney Rock is 4,228 feet above sea level. The native Lakota Sioux and later migrants to the area used this as a landmark, and during the mid-19th century it marked the Oregon Trail, the California Trail and the Mormon Trail. Probably the first non-natives to see Chimney Rock were eastbound from the Pacific Ocean in the Robert Stuart expedition of 1813. The trails ran along the north side of the river and passed by the base of the pillar about 1.5 miles west of present-day Bayard. At that time, the rock was known to Native Americans as "Elk Peak." It was named Chimney Rock by early settlers who thought it resembled an old-fashioned chimney. The rock is composed of clay, volcanic ash and sandstone. There is a visitor center and museum exhibit about the early pioneers.