About
Elevation gain173 ft up
Typical time1 hr 23 min
TrailheadFossil Hills Trailhead
ParkingThis 2.7-mile (4.3-km) wheelchair-accessible paved trail begins at the visitor center.
SurfacePaved
Best seasonPrepare for summer heat with a hat, sunscreen, and plenty of water for your entire party.
DogsLeashed / limited stretches
What you'll see 🌊 River or creek🏛️ Historic site

This 2.7-mile (4.3-km) wheelchair-accessible paved trail begins at the visitor center. From the visitor center, the trail crosses the Niobrara River and its wetlands, passes through ecologically intact short- and mixed-grass prairie, and then loops around University and Carnegie Hills. It was on these hills that future local rancher James Cook discovered fossilized bones in the mid 1880s. Excavations didn't commence until nearly twenty years later, following a 1904 visit by Olaf A. Peterson, a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Signs along the trail point out and discuss a variety of historic and geologic features; others identify the names of plants, including flowers and grasses. About midway between the visitor center and Fossil Hills is an unpaved one-mile side trail that leads west to Harold J. Cook's homestead cabin. Restored to what it looked like in 1910, while Harold and his wife Eleanor still lived there, the "Bone" cabin was used after 1914 as the temporary residence for scientists who worked the fossil quarries. The American Museum of Natural History's lead excavator, Albert "Bill" Thomson, lived there whenever conducting field work in the bonebed in the late 1910s and early 1920s.

Tips
Pets are allowed as long as you follow the BARK Ranger principles: Bag your pets waste Always wear a leash Respect Wildlife Know where you can go. Please stay on the trail. Be sure to take plenty of water for you and your pet.
Location

Showing Agate Fossil Beds National Monument — we don't have this trail's own trailhead coordinates yet.

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Trail data: USGS National Map / PAD-US, the National Park Service, state agencies, and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Access and conditions change — check with the managing agency before you go.