The ground is rough grass so rolling to the picnic tables in the park area may be difficult.
The ground is rough grass so rolling to the picnic tables in the park area may be difficult.
The site has a small museum with exhibits on the Bowrings, homesteading, ranching, and native wildlife. Guided tours of the family home and a replicated sod house are usually available but the house is undergoing restoration so tours have been discontinued until the work is completed.
The parking lot is large enough for any RV. The dirt access road is in good condition but is very dusty. Park 42.95698, -101.67732
There's plenty of room for any size RV to park and turn around. WMA 42.80712, -102.8989
The parking lot is large enough for most RVs. Museum 42.82392, -102.92819
As the flat plains to the east of the Sandhills were settled by early homesteaders, newcomers traveled west to claim 640 acres in the hills as allowed by the 1904 Kinkaid Act. This was 480 more acres than allowed by the original Homestead Act of 1862. Most of the homesteaders raised cattle which the land was well suited for but a few tried farming. Mari Sandoz's father, Jules Sandoz, was one of them; an early settler who grew a large orchard and garden. He was a strong advocate of experimental farming and was responsible for helping many new homesteaders get a start. Eventually, the homesteaders found the environment too difficult for farming and most moved onto ranching. This means that over 80% of the Sandhills has never been plowed and is an intact natural habitat.
Mari Sandoz, along with her five brothers and sisters, grew up in the Sandhills. Her father was brusque, demanding, and free with his money but only on what he deemed was necessary; her mother was quiet, hardworking, and frugal. Mari left home at 18 when she married but the marriage didn't last long and she moved to Lincoln Nebraska to pursue a writing career. After many years of rejections her first book, Old Jules, which she first submitted in 1929, was published in 1935. Old Jules is the story of her father and the family's life in the Sandhills. I read it after we visited the Sandhills but it should be read first to get a good picture of the lives of the settlers and their conflicts with the large ranching operations. It's a bit of a slog to get through the book but it's worth reading.The museum is small with exhibits on Mari Sandoz's life and career. There's also an art gallery and an exhibit on the history of cattle ranching. The main museum is kind of hidden. Go to the left after viewing the exhibits in the entry hall. Don't miss the cardboard and burlap buffalo.
The accessible entrance is at the rear of the museum, on the west side. The museum is accessible.Parking is on the street. We parked on East 11th Street which has spaces marked for visitors. Center 42.81982, -103.0022
The buildings at Fort Robinson are in excellent condition and the grounds are well tended but most of the buildings can be rented for the night by individuals or groups so they do not have exhibits and are not opened to tour. We walked/rolled along the roads and found a few interpretive signs and a display in the 1887 adobe brick officer's quarters which isn't accessible. We also found a small exhibit on native wildlife in the activities building.
Two museums are located in the park. The Robinson History Center is very small and has displays on Native Americans and the soldiers stationed at the fort. The Trailside Museum of Natural History has exhibits with fossils of mammals found in Nebraska including two mammoths that became tangled during a fight and died stuck together. Nebraska State Parks have a high entrance fee for people who are not residents of the state. Museums inside the parks have an additional fee. It's easy to miss the booth for the entrance fee which is on the side of the entrance road. Do not pass it by because you must have a park pass to be inside the park. In our opinion the park and the History Center are not worth the fees charged. The Trailside Museum is interesting but maybe not worth the park admission fee plus the museum fee.Parking is along the sides of the roads and there's plenty of room for any size RV. Park 42.66845, -103.46665
The ground is hard packed so rolling is fairly easy.
The road from US 20 is paved. The campground road is gravel and in good condition. Any size RV will fit in the campground.