Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, United States Aug 31, 2025

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, United States

Long before GPS, natural landmarks like Scotts Bluff in Nebraska, United States, rose high above the prairie, signalling to travellers that they were on the right path heading west. Before Gering became a town in 1887 and decades before Nebraska achieved statehood in 1867, these sandstone and siltstone formations were already guiding thousands along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. Scotts Bluff National Monument is named after Hiram Scott, a fur trader with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company who died under mysterious circumstances nearby in the 1820s.

© Hawk Buckman/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Aug 31, 2023Saguaro cacti, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona
The lord of all beginnings
Aug 31, 2024Rocks and sand in the Sahara, Algeria

More Desktop Wallpapers:

A natural spotlight
See-through cephalopod
Take a hike!
May 14, 2025Porto Flavia, Sulcis-Iglesiente, Sardinia, Italy
Oct 18, 2024Autumn in Central Park, New York, United States
Mar 17, 2024Rameshwaram harbour
Mar 23, 2025World Meteorological Day
Holiday hues
Desert daggers?
Dec 18, 2023Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Red rock country
May 9, 2025International Chameleon Day
Nov 12, 2023Diwali
Is it green with envy?
Nov 22, 2023Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Piecing together a better tomorrow
Dec 18, 2024English National Ballet performing The Nutcracker
Dec 13, 2025Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Feb 11, 2026Death Valley National Park, California, United States
Mar 1, 2025Sandstone hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, United States
The other continent down under
Apr 30, 2026Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Netherlands
Jun 20, 2026Arched iceberg, western Antarctic Peninsula, Southern Ocean
A plant for all occasions
Dec 22, 2023Red Fort, Delhi
Feb 4, 2026Red kite in snow
Aug 23, 2025St. Barbaras Cathedral, Kutná Hora, Czechia
Time to make an impression
Jun 3, 2025World Bicycle Day
Love is in the snow