Tri-State Marker (Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska) – In A Colorado Minute (Week 259)
To get to the Tri-State Marker,
where the US states Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska meet, you have to
turn off a dirt road unto some dirt tracks across a field and hope that
your four-wheel-drive will get you through the deep dips by the windmill
and that there actually is a marker on this field. There is!
There
are no signs by any of the roads or dirt tracks that will assure you
that you’re headed in the right direction. The only way I found it was
by following the GPS coordinates, which weren’t exactly accurate (N 41°
01 W 104° 03) and eventually just turning onto the field near the
coordinates on a wing, a prayer and the intense winds up there this
week.
Because this was definitely one of those cases of the
journey itself being the destination, I’m showing you some of the roads
leading there and our trusted 4Runner. Because the wind was so intense, I
also kept some shots that are a bit wind-wobbly and one of Whiskey with
her ears blowing in the wind.
Coming from Colorado, I first drove
into Wyoming (Co Rd 161) and then headed back south a bit (Co Rd 164).
The areas in both those states leading up to the tri-point are so
beautiful (Pawnee Grassland
and the Pine Bluffs) that I highly recommend this excursion and I plan
to return for more hiking and filming. Expect to see a video on the
abandoned farms of the Pawnee soon…
An interesting fact: In
1896, the original marker was placed a few hundred feet away from where
the states where actually supposed to meet. Instead of moving the
marker, the powers that be found it easier to redraw the map. So this
marker actually determined where the boundaries are, which makes this
place a little more important than it seems (considering there are no
signs to find it).
By the way, the highest point in Nebraska, Panorama Point, is not far from there. Again, I plan to go back to that area…
The song in this video is called “Mountain Sun” and was written and performed by Jason Shaw, who made this song available via the CC BY 3.0 license. Thank you for all your great (and free) music, Jason!
 |
| Tri-State Marker of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska |