Two natural formations that served as landmarks for pioneers on the Oregon Trail, Chimney Rock near Bayard and Scotts Bluff National Monument at Gering. Ranging from the rugged Pine Ridge, through the hand-planted Nebraska National Forest, to the serene Missouri River bluffs, three great hikes highlight the best of Nebraska`s scenic outdoors. Trout grow fast in the cold, nutrient-rich water flowing from Lake Ogallala into the Sutherland Supply Canal, and anglers fishing from the canal`s banks regularly catch fish. Hundreds of mallards pack the wintering area, a grassy slough winding through prairie until it meets the wooded north channel of the Platt River in a place called the Narrows. Here, strong springs assure open water and a place for courtship -- the beginning of a new life cycle.

Buffalo, a symbol of the American West once hunted to near extinction, are making a comeback on the Great Plains. Conservation organizations are using buffalo as a tool to manage native grasslands. On reservations, Native Americans are building herds to restore their spiritual, cultural and economic ties to the animal. The flurry of recreational development in the lower Platte River valley -- two major state parks, four state recreation areas and several private developments -- are the most recent steps in a pattern that began more than 100 years ago with the purchase of the state of Nebraska`s first plot of recreational land on the Platte River near Gretna. Canoeing the Republican River: This quiet, gentle river running through a lush valley is endearing and often overlooked.

The Republican valley is rich with wildlife, offers some of the best quail hunting and fishing in the state, and carries some of the magic that makes canoeists long to return and lazily float downriver on a hot mid-summer`s day. Bighorns: Reintroduced at Fort Robinson State Park in the Pine Ridge in 1981, a herd of nearly 70 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep now lives in the rugged Red Cloud and Cheyenne buttes. People who come to Nebraska are often amazed by what they find. They arrive with expectations as varied and as vast as the weather, and they leave having learned that Nebraska itself is just as unpredictable. Whatever your interests and wherever your travels may take you in this great state, you`ll discover that the possibilities truly are endless. The vast plains of Nebraska, extend from the prairies in the east, and rise up to meet the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.