Nebraska Highway 12

Nebraska Highway 12
Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway
Route information
Maintained by NDOR
Length:	231.26 mi (372.18 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 83 in Valentine
	US 183 in Springview N-137 west of Naper US 281 in Spencer N-14 in Niobrara US 81 east of Crofton N-15 west of Obert
East end:	US 20 west of Jackson
Location
Counties:	Cherry, Keya Paha, Boyd, Knox, Cedar, Dixon, Dakota
Highway system
Nebraska Highways Link Spur Recreation ← N-11 N-13 →

Nebraska Highway 12 is a highway in northern and northeastern Nebraska. It has a western terminus at U.S. Highway 83 in Valentine and an eastern terminus at U.S. Highway 20 west of Jackson. The highway largely lies within ten miles (16 km) of the South Dakota border its entire length. The highway has been designated the Outlaw Trail Scenic Byway.

Route description

Nebraska Highway 12 begins at an intersection with US 83 in Valentine, Nebraska. It goes northeast out of Valentine through the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge before turning east. It also provides the easiest link to Smith Falls State Park. It passes through Sparks, then turns southeasterly towards Springview, where it meets U.S. Highway 183. After a brief concurrency with US 183 north, it turns east and briefly overlaps Nebraska Highway 137 before continuing eastward to another concurrency with Nebraska Highway 11 in Butte. It goes south out of Butte, then turns east and meets U.S. Highway 281 in Spencer, which it also overlaps. It continues eastward through the tribal lands of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and around the edge of Niobrara State Park. It then crosses the Niobrara River and enters the village of Niobrara, Nebraska, where it meets Nebraska Highway 14.

NE 12 and NE 14 continue eastward together from Niobrara until NE 14 turns north to go across into South Dakota. NE 12 continues east through the Santee Indian Reservation and continues due east through Crofton, Nebraska. It continues on the same line eastward, intersecting U.S. Highway 81 in the process, then turns southeastward near Wynot. It meets Nebraska Highway 15 and the two routes are paired together through Obert and Maskell before NE 15 turns north to go toward Vermillion, South Dakota. It angles through Newcastle and Ponca. It turns briefly south, then goes southeast to end west of Jackson at an intersection with U.S. Highway 20.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Cherry	Valentine	0.00	0.00	US 83 (West 4th Street/North Main Street)
	Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge	4.13	6.65	S-16A east
Keya Paha	Springview	48.31	77.75	US 183 south (11th Street)	West end of US 183 overlap
	​	53.31	85.79	US 183 north	East end of US 183 overlap
	​	75.41	121.36	N-137 south	West end of NE 137 overlap
	​	79.90	128.59	N-137 north	East end of NE 137 overlap
Boyd	Naper	89.47	143.99	S-8A north (County Road V)
	Butte	102.55	165.04	N-11 south	West end of NE 11 overlap
		103.55	166.65	N-11 north	East end of NE 11 overlap
	Spencer	112.62	181.24	US 281 north	West end of US 281 overlap
	​	116.21	187.02	US 281 south	East end of US 281 overlap
Knox	Niobrara	150.28	241.85	N-14 south (Cedar Street)	West end of NE 14 overlap
		153.14	246.45	N-14 north	East end of NE 14 overlap
	Santee	156.17	251.33	S-54D north
	Crofton	178.45	287.19	N-121 north (West 8th Street)
Cedar	​	183.43	295.20	US 81
	Fordyce	185.47	298.49	S-14A south (558th Avenue)
	​	190.47	306.53	N-57 south
	St. Helena	191.47	308.14	S-14H north (564 Avenue)
	Wynot	195.69	314.93	S-14B north
	​	200.15	322.11	N-15 south (572 Avenue)	West end of NE 15 overlap
Dixon	​	207.86	334.52	N-15 north (579 Avenue)	East end of NE 15 overlap
	Ponca	223.50	359.69	S-26E north (Nebraska Street)
		224.48	361.27	N-9 south
Dakota	​	231.26	372.18	US 20
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

External links

• The Nebraska Highways Page: Highways 1 to 30
• Nebraska Roads: NE 11-20

• Nebraska Highway Reference Log Book