Nebraska State Map

Geography of Nebraska

Nebraska rises gently from east to west, from 840 ft on the Missouri River in Richardson County, the state’s lowest point, to 5,424 ft at Panorama Point near the Colorado and Wyoming lines. Most people live in the east; the west is ranch country with small towns far apart.

Eastern Nebraska

• Omaha–Lincoln area: Omaha, Bellevue and Papillion on the Missouri River, and Lincoln to the southwest. Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties hold more than half of the state’s people.
• Northeast: farm country around Norfolk, Columbus and Fremont, and South Sioux City across the Missouri from Sioux City, Iowa.
• Missouri River border: the river forms the entire eastern boundary, with bridges linking Omaha to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and crossings at Plattsmouth, Nebraska City and Brownville farther south.
• Southeast: rolling cropland around Beatrice, home of Homestead National Historical Park.

The Platte River valley

The Platte River crosses the state from west to east and joins the Missouri south of Omaha. It forms where the North Platte and South Platte rivers meet at the city of North Platte. The valley carried the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, then the Union Pacific Railroad, US 30 and I-80, and it links Grand Island, Kearney and North Platte. Each spring, hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes stop on the central Platte between Grand Island and Kearney.

The Sandhills

The Sandhills cover much of north-central Nebraska: grass-covered sand dunes, ranches and small lakes over the Ogallala Aquifer. It is the largest area of grass-stabilized dunes in the Western Hemisphere. The Niobrara River, a national scenic river, runs along its northern edge near Valentine.

The Panhandle

• North Platte valley: Scottsbluff and Gering, with Scotts Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock, landmarks on the Oregon Trail.
• Pine Ridge: forested escarpment around Chadron in the northwest, with Toadstool Geologic Park in the badlands to the north.
• Sioux County: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument on the Niobrara River near Harrison, in the state’s northwest corner.
• Southern Panhandle: Sidney and Kimball along I-80; Panorama Point is in the far southwest corner of Kimball County.

Lake McConaughy, on the North Platte River near Ogallala, is the state’s largest reservoir.

Major highways

• I-80: the main route, from Omaha through Lincoln, York, Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte, Ogallala and Sidney to Wyoming toward Cheyenne, following the Platte valley for much of the way.
• I-76: leaves I-80 near Big Springs and runs southwest into Colorado toward Denver.
• I-680, I-480 and I-180: short connectors in Omaha and into downtown Lincoln.
• US 75 and US 81: north–south routes in the east, through Omaha and through Norfolk, Columbus and York.
• US 20: across the north from South Sioux City through O’Neill, Valentine and Chadron to Wyoming.
• US 26 and US 83: Ogallala to Scottsbluff along the North Platte, and North Platte to Valentine across the Sandhills.