Population roughly ten thousand. County seat for Box Butte County. Less than two hours from Badlands National Monument to the north in South Dakota, and twenty minutes and a stones pitch from Scott's Bluff National Monument, put in place to celebrate the expansionist spirit of the Oregon Trail. Chimney Rock National Monument acts as a natural fencepost, marking the westernmost limit of the vast grass sea of prairie that covers the central states.
Dune stubble marks the tail end of the Sand Hills area as it infringes on the broad flatland plane reaching north from Scottsbluff up toward Alliance. The Niobara is an easy twenty minute drive north of town.