Most people drive across Nebraska on I-80 without a second glance. North of that corridor, though, sits one of the strangest and least-visited landscapes in America: the Sandhills, more than 19,000 square miles of ancient grass-covered dunes, a million acres of wetlands and 11 million acres of prairie. It's prime habitat along the Central Flyway, the great bird migration route from Canada to Mexico, and it was a favourite of the late Jane Goodall. The best way in is the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway, a 272-mile run along Highway 2 from Grand Island to Alliance.
Start in Grand Island, the largest town on the route, where you can stock up, browse the Railside District's shops and sculpture walk, and visit the Crane Trust's Nature & Visitor Center just south of town. In March, guided viewing from blinds there puts you above the world's largest Sandhill crane roost — an extraordinary spectacle if you can handle the cold. Also nearby is the Stuhr Museum, a 200-acre living-history site designed by Edward Durell Stone (the architect behind Washington's Kennedy Center), with more than 100 pioneer-era buildings and a recreated 1890s Railroad Town open May through September. Adult entry runs $14-18 depending on season.
About 80 miles west, the Byway Barn visitor centre near Broken Bow — a restored 1920s barn set in picnic-friendly grounds — is the place to grab maps. Broken Bow itself offers the Custer County Museum, home to Solomon D. Butcher's remarkable photographs of Great Plains homesteaders, plus solid diner food and even a "Bed and Beer" bungalow beside Kinkaider Brewing.
A standout stop is the Bessey Ranger District of Nebraska National Forest between Halsey and Thedford — the largest hand-planted forest in the US, with a nursery dating to 1902. The Bessey campground (open early May to late September) charges $15-20 a night, and a six-mile round-trip trail leads to Scott Lookout, though the tower itself is closed after 2022 fire damage.
Farther west, Mullen is the base for a uniquely Nebraskan pastime: "tanking" — floating the calm Middle Loup River in a shallow metal tank big enough for eight people and a cooler. Glidden Canoe Rental runs year-round. The final stretch to Alliance is gloriously empty; services are thin, so plan fuel and food. Stop at Morgan's Cowpoke Haven in Ellsworth, a vintage store with its original 1898 pressed-tin ceiling, and the ghost town of Antioch, which boomed and busted between 1916 and 1921 when wartime demand for potash fertiliser collapsed.
Why bother? Because the Sandhills are over 90% privately owned ranchland — this byway is one of the few ways to actually see the region without trespassing. It suits road-trippers who like slow drives, birds, small towns and big skies, and it pairs easily with a spring crane-migration trip or a summer paddling weekend. Give it two to three days, and don't attempt the western third without a full tank.
