Optional Tours

Both optional tours can add much to your 15th annual Lincoln Highway Association conference experience. Don’t miss these opportunities — and there is no charge for them.

Pre-conference auto tour

The pre-conference auto tour on Sunday, June 17 will rendezvous at the highest point on the trans-continental Lincoln Highway at the Summit rest area, Interstate 80, exit 342, which is 16 miles west of Cheyenne. Randy Wagner will meet you there at 8:30 AM. Please note the earlier time than stated in the colored brochure. The tour will cover the several routes the Lincoln Highway followed over the Sherman Mountains between Laramie and Cheyenne to Pine Bluffs.

Because the Colorado Loop encloses much of the landscape featured in James Michener’s epic novel Centennial, the tour will also visit many of the sites featured in that work. In Michener’s terms, the tour will travel through the heart of the Venneford Ranch along the Skimmerhorn Cattle Trail. It will cross Beaver Creek and pass the Twin Pillars on the way to Hans “Potato” Brumbaugh’s farm and the town of Centennial. Also included in the tour will be sites in Cheyenne and scattered throughout the Pawnee National Grasslands between Pine Bluffs and Fort Morgan. The tour will also visit other interesting places, including the highest point in Nebraska.

Randy worked as a historic trails consultant for Michener on the Centennial project so you have a unique opportunity to share his experiences with him. Expect to arrive in Fort Morgan early Sunday evening.

Post-conference auto tour

The post-conference auto tour will depart Fort Morgan following a quick lunch after the Association’s annual meeting concludes on Friday. Colorado Loop Lincoln Highway travelers got their first glimpse of the 14,000 foot Colorado Rockies upon reaching Fort Morgan. As they proceeded across the desolate (then and now) flat land headed toward Denver, the snow capped peaks loomed larger and larger. This was an experience denied those who took the direct route across the Nebraska panhandle on their way to Cheyenne. The thrill of seeing the soaring Colorado Rockies on the horizon for the first time, as experienced by the early day Lincoln Highway travelers, can be relived on this auto tour.

Lee Whiteley will have specific rendezvous information for you at the conference. He plans to lead this interesting drive across Loop roads, many as they were in 1913, through the town sites of Hoyt and Comanche before delivering you to Bennett. You can expect to reach Bennett late Friday afternoon. Bennett is located on Interstate 70 at exit 304, just a few miles east of metropolitan Denver.