Crossing into Nebraska, Rock Creek is the next most popular stop. Going off of google maps, because it’s difficult to find sources that give actual distances, it would have taken a couple days to get here from Hollenberg.
Well and truly on the prairie now, Rock Creek station is currently best known as the place where Wild Bill Hickok shot three men, but that didn’t take place until 1861. But back during the prime trail days, it was, of course, a stop for the Oregon/California trails (and later a Pony Express station as well). It had water, grass, and wood – all the items needed to make a good camping spot. The station itself was built in 1857, though travelers certainly camped there before that. Technically there were two ranches – the initial one was built on the west side of the creek and then, due to insufficient water, another one was built on the opposite side of the creek a few years later.
When I visited in 2021, I was shocked at how large the ruts were from the wagons, but no matter how many angles I used to take pictures, I simply couldn’t capture it. You’ll have to go see for yourself. I also loved going through the building replicas and imagining what it would have been like to stop there.
Fictional family timeline: April 19th
See below for both partial and full map, and note the highlight indicating how far we traveled! You can also zoom in on the full map for more details (if it works the way it is supposed to anyway…).
Resources:
- Fanselow, Julie. Traveling the Oregon Trail. Falcon Guides, 1997.
- Hill, William E. The California Trail: Yesterday and Today, 2017.
- Moeller, Bill. The Oregon Trail: A Photographic Journey, 1987.
- National Trails System, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, William Henry Jackson, and National Park Service. “Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide Nebraska.” National Historic Trails Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado, August 2006. https://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/upload/NE_ATR_IG_web.pdf.
- Nebraska Game Parks. “Rock Creek Station.” Accessed February 17, 2026. https://outdoornebraska.gov/location/rock-creek-station-shp/.
- “Rock Creek Station – Pony Express National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service),” n.d. https://www.nps.gov/poex/planyourvisit/rock-creek-station.htm.
Forest Idylls 