Just west of the 100th Meridian, the small town of Valentine (pop. 2,826) is a center of the extensive cattle ranching industry of the Sand Hills region, and the kind of tiny but prideful town that makes road-tripping fun. Seat of enormous Cherry County and situated at the northern edge of the 20,000-square-mile Sand Hills region, Valentine, which takes its name from a U.S. congressman, is a broad, well-maintained place that pays its bills with beef cattle fed to tenderness on the 800 species of grasses coating the region.
Considering the long stretches of road ahead, it’s prudent to check out what the town’s got, and there’s quite a bit. Downtown—where the streetlights are hung with red and white banners emblazoned with the unsurprising town motto “Valentine, Heart of the Sand Hills”—the facade of the First National Bank holds the largest brick mural in Nebraska, with 1,200 square feet of images of longhorn cattle and the building of the transcontinental railroad built out of dark brown bricks. Of Valentine’s museums, the most intriguing is Sawyer’s Sand Hills Museum (daily in summer; $2), on US-20 four blocks west of US-83. The museum offers a broad display, including some legitimately historical stuff, as well as a two-headed calf and a great collection of antique cars that still run. The Cherry County Historical Society Museum, next door to the visitors center at the US-20/US-83 junction, is much more traditional. Four miles southeast of Valentine on US-20/83, an absolutely huge old railroad trestle bridges the broad Niobrara River.
Valentine has the usual motels scattered along US-20 and US-83, including the Trade Winds Motel ($40 and up; 402/376-1600 or 800/341-8000); there’s also a Comfort Inn and a new Holiday Inn Express. The place most people go for a sit-down meal is the Peppermill (402/376-1440), 112 Main Street, featuring steaks, seafood, and alfresco dining in summer.
For details on camping, eating, sightseeing, sleeping, and anything else in and around Valentine, contact the pharmaceutically clean and well-stocked visitors center (402/376-2969 or 800/658-4024), 239 S. Main Street at the US-20/US-83 junction.
Valentine marks the junction of US-83 and the east-west
Oregon Trail along US-20.
