Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Before there was Highway 71, there was Highway 29 as it was named. Nice ride then. Nice ride now.
In 1919, Highway 29 started at the Colorado Nebraska border. It went to Kimball – and then four miles north, one mile west, one mile north, and one mile west into Banner County. It entered Harrisburg from the southwest after passing Lovers Leap.
The highway signs had to be changed in 1963, when Highway 29 became Highway 71. The change was the result of a year's effort to form a tri-state highway going north and south through Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The Nebraska State Highway Department later changed the route. In 1988, Highway 71 was rerouted straight north from Kimball. The highway now misses Harrisburg by three miles – which is three miles to the west, to be precise.
Highway 71 went to a four lane highway between Kimball and Scottsbluff. This is part of the Heartland Expressway. This roadway was to extend from Mexico to Canada, but in recent years there has not much has been done on this highway and stretches of it remain two lanes.
Four lane highways going north and south, if they are not an interstate, do not get as much attention as interstates. On the Heartland Expressway you get to see what the countryside is like as the road winds through natural grasslands, prairies and wide open spaces.
You should travel some of this highway, both south and north. It is such a beautiful road to travel. You see such towns in Colorado as Brush, Woodrow, Last Chance, Limon, Punkin Center, Ordway and Rocky Ford.
When you travel north in Nebraska, you can see Hemingford, Scottsbluff, Gering and Crawford and then go into South Dakota and Hot Springs.
Exploring both directions is a hard day's drive, but with such wide open spaces you could stop and see the little towns along the way. What a way to spend a weekend!
