Chimney Rock National Historic Site – Bayard, NE…

When I was making reservations online for our current traveling route, I happened upon this gem…Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing. It’s a small RV park located at the base of Chimney Rock with full hook-ups and no amenities. It was such an amazing place to spend three nights! I’d take the beautiful landscape over amenities any day.

Chimney Rock is one of the most famous and recognizable landmarks for pioneer travelers on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails.

Our first evening in Bayard, we enjoyed the most beautiful and peaceful walk from our RV to Chimney Rock.

Birds and crickets were chirping. Farm sprinklers were spraying. Otherwise, there was silence. And stillness. No traffic. No busyness. We saw beetle prints, rabbit prints, pig prints and all sorts of animal prints on the dirt road leading up to Chimney Rock. Also, we saw the biggest dandelions we’d ever seen.

Chimney Rock is interesting to see. You can see it from miles away. We enjoyed watching it as we were first driving into town, knowing it was the landmark we’d be staying near.

We spent time just walking and looking around. Beautiful views were in every direction we turned.

Taking a photo in this spot reminded me of the Sound of Music. A large family in the mountains. I probably would have busted out in song to make our kids laugh, but some Chimney Rock visitors had just drove up – and they offered to take our photo.

If you’ve ever had an evening this peaceful and wonderful, you know it can’t end without something crazy happening. Or maybe that’s just us. Ha! We encountered four skunks. FOUR. When does that ever happen?! The mom and two babies were adorable, however, we avoided them like a plague.

We watched the sun go down as we walked back to our RV. And I kid you not, a man in a truck stopped to warn us that there was a skunk just ahead. Another skunk?!

I always sleep with my window shade down at night, but that night I raised it and fell asleep looking at this view out my window. Chimney Rock.