Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is a long drive from Scottsbluff, but it earns the detour if western Nebraska's badlands and fossil history interest you. The monument protects some of the world's best full-skeleton Miocene mammal specimens, from ancient rhinoceroses to the strange spiral burrows known as daemonelices.
The visitor centre ties the fossils to the Cook family ranch and its Lakota relationships, so the stop is not only geology. Outside, short prairie trails lead into a wide, quiet landscape where the distances are part of the experience. Bring water, fuel up before you go, and do not expect services to appear around the next bend.