Nebraska Highway 12 is a highway in northern and northeastern

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. It has a western terminus at U.S. Highway 83 in Valentine and an eastern terminus at U.S. Highway 20 west of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

. The highway largely lies within 10 miles (16 km) of the

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

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 Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of Nebraska and includes 19,131 acres (77.42 km2). The refuge borders the Niobrara National Scenic River on the west and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ...

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 Nebraska Highway 11 (N-11) is a state highway in central and northern Nebraska, United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 80 (I-80) south of Wood River. Its northern terminus is at the South Dakota border north of Butte. The highway go ...

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...

. 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 The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is one of two Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Ponca people. The other is the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. They hold an annual powwow every August. Reservation From the original Ponc ...

and around the edge of Niobrara State Park. It then crosses the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; oma, Ní Ubthátha khe, , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sando ...

and enters the village of

Niobrara, Nebraska Niobrara (; Omaha: ''Ní Ubthátha'' ''Tʰáⁿwaⁿgthaⁿ'' , meaning "water spread-out village")Dorsey, James Owen (1890)''The Cegiha Language: Contributions to North American Ethnology'' 4. Washington: US Department of the Interior: Governme ...

, where it meets

Nebraska Highway 14 Nebraska Highway 14 (N-14) is a highway in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It has a southern terminus at the Kansas border, where it continues south as K-14 (Kansas highway), K-14, southwest of Superior, Nebraska, Superior and a northern terminus east ...

. 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 The Santee Sioux Reservation ( dak, Isáŋyathi) of the Santee Sioux (also known as the Eastern Dakota) was established in 1863 in present-day Nebraska. The tribal seat of government is located in Niobrara, Nebraska, with reservation lands in ...

and continues due east through Crofton, Nebraska. It continues on the same line eastward, intersecting

U.S. Highway 81 U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Stat ...

in the process, then turns southeastward near Wynot. It meets

Nebraska Highway 15 Nebraska Highway 15 (N-15) is a highway in eastern Nebraska, United States. It has a southern terminus at the Kansas border south of Fairbury and a northern terminus northeast of Maskell at the South Dakota border. Route description Nebraska ...

and the two routes are paired together through Obert and Maskell before NE 15 turns north to go toward

Vermillion, South Dakota Vermillion ( lkt, Waséoyuze; "The Place Where Vermilion is Obtained") is a city in and the county seat of Clay County. It is in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, United States, and is the state's 12th-largest city. According to the 2020 ...

. It angles through

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Ponca The Ponca ( Páⁿka iyé: Páⁿka or Ppáⁿkka pronounced ) are a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca ...

. It turns briefly south, then goes southeast to end west of

at an intersection with U.S. Highway 20.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
The Nebraska Highways Page: Highways 1 to 30

012 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassie ...

Transportation in Cherry County, Nebraska Transportation in Keya Paha County, Nebraska Transportation in Boyd County, Nebraska Transportation in Knox County, Nebraska Transportation in Cedar County, Nebraska Transportation in Dixon County, Nebraska Transportation in Dakota County, Nebraska