Chimney Rock~A Sight For Sore Eyes To Early Pioneers

Growing up you hear about many things in life that you'll never experience for yourself. Some people never see any of them and others draw up a wish list to see them all. For me, Chimney Rock was one of those that was briefly taught to me in grade school that I never thought I would see. This was purely a chance encounter that came out of the blue, because of the random nature of how I choose to travel.

Many people tend to plan their trips with an end destination in mind. For me there is never a specific destination. There isn't even a clear path decided upon for the direction in which I will travel. I do however have a general idea for how far away I'll get from home before turning back. I'm a roadtripper who is all about the journey, rather than the destination. I chose a state or series of states to drive through, then my track is fully dependent upon the free campsites I find each night.

Because of the location for the free campsite found the night before, I was able to stop by this historic wonder. Not only to experience it, but through research inspired by this encounter, learn a great deal about it and its history. Let me share some of it with you.

As we approached Chimney Rock, my first impression was that it wasn't as impressive as the mental image of it I had developed in my mind. I mean, the sheer size was quite impressive in itself, but it was essentially just a tall mound that has been windswept into what can be described as a broken column on top. Over the centuries it has been hit by lightning more than once and even canon fire, so it used to be even taller. Its height today tops out at just under 300 feet above the surrounding area and 1289 meters above sea level.

Before the name Chimney Rock was settled upon, it went by many names including a Lakota Native American name that means Elk Penis. The first recorded mention of the landmark was in 1827. Since then there have been numerous mentions of it in the surviving journals from travelers of the Oregon, California and Mormon trails as pioneers traveled West. There was even a town name Chimney Rock at its base in the early 1900's.

For me the most significant thing that I noticed were the cliffs to the south and as a contrast the long flat barren land extending as far as the eyes can see in the other three directions. Chimney Rock was most likely connected to those cliffs in the past and over time eroded away from them. The main composits of the formation are clay, volcanic ash and sandstone. The sandstone is what has allowed the Rock to last as long as it has. I'm interested in seeing how long the chimney lasts and will have to make sure to check on its status throughout the rest of my days.

Back to the chance encounter that brought me here; I was originally going to stay at a free campsite just outside of Cheyenne, Wy. After being on the road a bit longer than planned and our batteries being depleted, we needed to find a place to plug in. So, instead of camping at the Pawnee Buttes in Pawnee National Grasslands, we instead headed to Zeigler Park in Mitchell, NE.