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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

View of western Nebraska from Scott’s Bluff.

natural point: Panorama Point. It has an elevation of 5,426 feet (1,654 m) above sea level. By contrast, the state’s lowest point is in the far southeast of the state, where the Missouri River meets Nebraska’s border with Kansas. There, the elevation is 840 feet (256 m) above sea level. Nebraska’s panhandle is the driest region of the state. It typically receives less than 14 inches (36 cm) of rainfall a year. The eastern part of the state gets almost twice that amount of rain. This explains why eastern Nebraska

ble for days to the pioneers traveling along the Oregon Trail in the mid-19th century. Toadstool Park in the northwest is an area of badlands . Here, wind and water have carved the landscape into steep slopes and interesting shapes— some even resembling toadstools, as the name suggests. Many fossils have been discovered in this area, including fossils from a prehistoric species of pig. In the far southwestern corner of the panhandle is Nebraska’s highest