Heritage Highway
Heritage Highway is a State Scenic Byway in Nebraska. Within Nebraska it covers roughly 240 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Heritage Highway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Nebraska's Heritage Highway follows US Highway 136 for nearly 240 miles across ten counties, from Brownville to the Republican River Valley near Edison. Near the eastern end, the route passes Homestead National Historical Park outside Beatrice, preserving the site of one of the first claims filed under the 1862 Homestead Act, and continues on to Red Cloud, hometown of Nebraska novelist Willa Cather. Rock Creek Station State Historical Park still shows visible wagon ruts worn by Oregon Trail traffic, and it's also where Wild Bill Hickok's gunfighting reputation began with a killing in 1861. Governor Mike Johanns designated the route a state scenic byway in 1999, one of nine such byways across Nebraska. The drive moves from the wooded bluffs above the Missouri River to open south-central prairie, tracing the progression from the state's earliest Native American and pioneer history to its settled farm towns.
- Homestead National Historical Park
- Rock Creek Station
- Brownville
- 240 miles
- Willa Cather's Red Cloud
- 1999 designation
- US Highway 136
Plan a drive on Heritage Highway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Heritage Highway
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Heritage Highway.
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