Great Platte River Road Archway Monument

Great Platte River Road Archway Monument

Great Platte River Road Archway Monument
4.5
Observation Decks & TowersMonuments & StatuesHistory Museums
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
About
Spanning I-80 at Exit 275 in Kearney, NE, the Archway's unique, family-friendly experience tells the story of the adventurers who followed the Great Platte River Road across Nebraska and helped to build America. Spend about an hour or more in our historical exhibit. Our personal-audio guide lets you set the pace. Walk with the pioneers on the Oregon Trail. Hear stories of early auto travel on the Lincoln Highway. Watch traffic pass below you on I-80, and so much more! Stretch your legs on our hike/bike trail. Picnic on the Archway grounds. Discover unique souvenirs at the Archway Gift Shop. Make the Archway part of your family's travel adventure.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Admission tickets
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$15.00
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles847 reviews
Excellent
535
Very good
238
Average
52
Poor
12
Terrible
10

MemoryMaker5
Ohio1,352 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Family
This is a great stop along I-80. You could pay to visit the museum portion, or do as we did, and simply enjoy the space. They were a few minutes from closing when we stopped, so we quickly went through the nice visitor center then walked around outside. There is an area with artistic statues depicting pioneer life in Nebraska, a large bison statue, a large pond, and nice walking paths. There is a biking area, a bridge to walk over the water, and covered pavilions. The parking lot is very large with plenty of space for large vehicles.
Written July 3, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BIB
Mount Hope7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022
This unique museum offers a lot of information about the history of the various people, trails, rail and roads that have followed the Platte River over the years. You can walk through quickly just enjoying the very well done visual displays, or listen at every numbered information point and read the display descriptions which will take close to two hours. We did not visit the outdoor exhibits since it was so cold.
Written February 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello! Thank you for the great review! We are so happy you enjoyed your visit with us! We hope you stop to see us again!
Written February 28, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

weeonesmom
Lincoln, NE61 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
By recommendation of someone else, our family with two boys (13 and 8) stopped here on our mini vacation. Each person having their own listening device allowed us to go at individual speeds. The narrations were a tad long for the 8 year old, but the independence of listening to each station gave him a thrill. The exhibits were top notch, extremely life-like. There was a great representation of all the people groups that crossed the west. We were pleasantly surprised when the exhibits continued upstairs and brought us into the modern age. That's when the 8 year old perked up. :) It was a really great comprehensive look at how travel and communication has advanced, from crossing the prairies by wagon train and walking to the internet. There are also very clean bathrooms and a fun enough gift shop. If you have the time, there are walkways outside to stretch a bit. At the end the 8 yr old assured us that he "would do this again." :)
Written August 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much for your very thoughtful review. We love to hear the approval of discerning your people - usually a pretty tough audience. We hope you have the opportunity visit again, soon!
Written August 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Star N
Greenville, SC309 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
OK spot for a stop. They have parking, restrooms, snack shops, picture spots and a museum that is a fee to see and just happens to go over the interstate. While in the museum you find one tiny window you can look out and see that you are over the middle of the interstate. I could have skipped the museum when all was said and done. I'm more of an outside experience type person. This was history style. How we got here type of a museum.
Written August 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for the positive rating. I'm sorry the Archway's historical exhibit wasn't your cup of tea. Next time you may want to check out the 13-mile hike/bike trail we have near our picnic shelter. Or, if you pack a kayak, take it out for a spin on our pond. We hope you had a good and safe trip.
Written August 23, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Sonia W
Glyndon, MN51 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
visited the Archway when we were visiting Kearney to see the cranes. The interactive display is very interesting. Some spots went a little long, but that's the beauty, each person can do the interpretive walkthrough at their own pace and interest.
Written March 31, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello! Thank you for the great review! We are so happy you were able to stop while seeing the cranes! We hope you come see us again!
Written May 18, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

MNDoodles
Stillwater, MN679 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
What a fun, interactive and educational museum this is. My husband and I first visited in 2006 and remembered it being very well done but it’s even better than we remembered. Exhibits are very creative and well laid out to describe the challenges of traveling and living on the prairie in earlier days. Amazing to realize in 1925 only 10 miles of the Lincoln Highway was paved in Nebraska and now I-80 has you going 80 mph across the state. The gift shop is excellent as are all the staff. The audio guide is fantastic. We give this a very high recommend when traveling through the Kearney area.
Written April 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello! Thank you for the great review! We are so happy you enjoyed your visit again! The staff make the Archway a very special museum! We hope to see you again!
Written May 18, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Poppy Spruce
Omaha, NE58 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Couples
We had no idea that this was a museum and a monument to the role Nebraskans the a Platte Valley played in early American development. The audio tour and exhibits were outstanding and we enjoyed walking the grounds and taking pictures. It’s worth the time to see this piece of Nebraska American history!

We opted to skip the Maze fort in the parking lot after fearing we’d be another causality of the pioneer trails! But we took full advantage of everything else!
Written March 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much for the great review. We are happy that you enjoyed your visit to the Archway and hope you'll come back and visit us again, soon!
Written March 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Cindy H
Iowa City, Iowa70 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2021
A well presented self guided audio tour of the westward migration era through today. It was a pleasant surprise to find this unique museum. Spanning Interstate 80 it has multiple displays of different time periods of the expansion out west with narrative using hand held audio devices. Nicely done! It did seem that adults enjoyed the audio more than I observed children being interested. An unexpected nice stop! Plan at least an hour.
Written March 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much for your very thoughtful review. We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your visit to the Archway and hope you come back to see us again, soon.
Written March 18, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jessica B
Huntsville, AL91 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020 • Family
All of our children found the archway fun and entertaining. They loved the audio tour and the exhibits with the color changing walls. “History but fun”. From a covid perspective, everyone was wearing masks and taking precautions. Well worth the stop😎
Written September 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much for your enthusiastic review. We hope you come back and visit us again, soon!
Written September 22, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Alicia_JA
Chicago374 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
We stopped here to get a close look at the arch but the museum inside was a fantastic surprise. We were greeted at the door by a wonderful staff member who shared a little about the place. The visitor center inside was loaded with great information and here too the staff member was kind and friendly. The museum was a must see. The exhibits are incredible. Guests are guided through with an audio device that explains things very well. The gift shop was loaded with a variety of gifts. It was here I was able to find the sandhill crane sweatshirt I was hoping to purchase while in Nebraska.
Written March 14, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We're happy to hear you enjoyed the tour, and thank you for buying some sandhill crane merch too! Come visit us again sometime.
Written April 27, 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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Great Platte River Road Archway Monument - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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