Nebraska trails · Cowboy Trail
Cowboy Trail
A 320.8-mile point-to-point in Nebraska, with 2,383 ft of climbing. Reaches Musfelt Reservoir. Managed by the state.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 1,131 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Musfelt Reservoir (lake)
Getting there
Cowboy Trail access. 42.82872, -102.94964 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:45 a.m., the sun rises at 6:15 a.m. and sets at 7:28 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:57 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 13 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 320.8-mile route works out to roughly 119 h 59 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- Cowboy Trail Detour (CLOSED) + Cowboy Trail — 2.8 mi loop, 73 ft gain
- Cowboy Trail Detour (CLOSED) + Cowboy Trail — 5.8 mi loop, 92 ft gain
- Cowboy Trail Detour (CLOSED) + Cowboy Trail — 0.9 mi loop, 21 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Spotted Tail — 5.4 mi
- Pine Ridge A — 8.0 mi
- Pine Ridge B — 9.5 mi
- Pine Ridge C — 13.7 mi