Toadstool Geologic Park

Toadstool Geologic Park, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, is noted for its unusual geological formations and fossil deposits. Toadstool Park is north of Crawford, Nebraska. To get to the park, take Nebraska Highway 2/71 out of Crawford for about 5 miles, then turn left onto Toadstool Road. Continue on Toadstool Road for 12 miles then turn left on a road that immediately crosses the railroad tracks. Contiue for a little over a mile to the Toadstool campground and parking lot. There is a fee that can be paid at a kiosk near the parking lot.
There are 3 hikes out of the campground. A one-mile interpretive loop trail winds through the weird rock fomations that give the park its name. The Bison Trail leaves the interpretive loop at the half way point and continues on to Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed. The Bison trail is 6 miles out and back. The third trail is a five mile loop. It splits off from the gravel part of the interpretive trail and heads north through the grasslands along part of the Great Plains Trail. It returns to the campground via the Bison Trail. I only did the interpretive trail on my visit there in June 2025.