When you are walking across the decking — high above the Niobrara River — as you cross the old Chicago and Northwestern railroad bridge on the Cowboy Trail near Valentine, Neb., you can’t help but imagine what it must have been like to ride the rails across this bridge.

Rising 148 feet above the river canyon below, this quarter-mile long bridge offers spectacular views of the Niobrara River. It is just one small scenic section of the Cowboy Trail — the longest rails-to-trails project in the country.

REWARDING VIEW: Hikers and bikers along the Cowboy Trail at Valentine, Neb., are rewarded on the bridge with views of the scenic Niobrara River.

The crushed limestone trail runs 321 miles from a trailhead near the Elkhorn River at Norfolk, Neb., west across the northern regions of the state, all the way to Chadron in the Pine Ridge.

What the railroads knew as the “Cowboy Line” served as an agricultural branch through the early 20th century. After a steep decline, through the ebb and flow of freight train traffic, the rail line saw a new significance in the early 1980s, with a new connector line opening for service in 1984.

EASY WALK: The Cowboy Trail from Norfolk to Valentine, including the approach to the Valentine bridge, is made up of crushed limestone, making the walk easy to navigate for hikers of all ages.

But by the late 1980s, C&NW petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue service along the Cowboy Line. The last train to run over the tracks from Norfolk to Chadron was in late 1992.

Under the administration of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Cowboy Trail was converted from railroad into a hiking trail, with the trail fully developed over the 187 miles between Norfolk and Valentine, with the old railroad bridge as part of the trail and additional portions of the trail west of Valentine continuing to develop.

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WOOD DECK: After the last freight train passed over the bridge in 1992, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission took over this rails-to-trails project, spanning 321 miles from Norfolk to Chadron. Adding wooden decking for hikers along the old bridge was part of that project.

While wildlife and scenic views abound as the trail crosses the northern Sandhills, the bridge at Valentine is among the most dramatic and spectacular views for hikers and bikers. Built in 1910, the bridge was converted into a foot path after abandonment, with new decking and a parking lot for hikers just off Highway 20 east of Valentine.

Learn more at outdoornebraska.gov.