Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
In the early 1900s, paleontologists unearthed the Age of Mammals when they found full skeletons of extinct Miocene mammals in the hills of Nebraska -- species previously only known through fragments. At the same time, an age of friendship began between rancher James Cook and Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota. These two unprecedented events are preserved and protected here... at Agate Fossil Beds.
From US 20: 22 miles south of Harrison, NE on State Hwy 29, then three miles east on River Road (paved) From US 26: 34 miles north of Mitchell, NE on State Hwy 29, then three miles east on River Road (paved). From State Hwy 71: 25 miles west on the unpaved portion of River Road.
- Arts and Culture
- Cultural Demonstrations
- Astronomy
- Stargazing
- Food
- Picnicking
- Guided Tours
- Self-Guided Tours - Walking
- Hiking
- Junior Ranger Program
- Wildlife Watching
- Birdwatching
- Park Film
- Museum Exhibits
- Shopping
- Bookstore and Park Store
- Farming and Agriculture
- Ranches
- Native American Heritage
- Westward Expansion
- Homesteading
- Animals
- Birds
- Tortoises and Turtles
- Fossils and Paleontology
- Geology
- Grasslands
- Prairies
- Night Sky
- River and Riparian
- Rock Landscapes and Features
- Scenic Views
Visitor Center on the Prairie
From the Fossil Hills Trail the Visitor Center is a ship in a sea of prairie grasses.
The Agate Fossil Hills and Tipis
One of the first impressions that visitors have are the tipis and the Fossil Hills.
A July Storm Passes
Summer storms include thunderheads and lightning and can be exciting and dangerous.
Dinohyus in the Visitor Center Fossil Diorama
Visitors stare in wonder at the huge head of the "apex" predator of the plains some 20 million years ago.
The James H. Cook collection
Visitors agree that this shirt decorated with quillwork and worn by Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota is a priceless piece of history.