Scotts Bluff (usually with no apostrophe) in Western Nebraska was one of the primary waypoints on the Oregon and Mormon trails. Rising steeply 800 feet over the Platte River, it was an important guide and point of reference as the pioneers needed to be over the Rocky Mountains before winter, this aided them by knowing arrival here beyond a certain date they likely would not make it that year. The road up makes this sweeping curve and then through a tunnel. At the base you can walk beside ruts from the thousands of wagons that made this journey west.
