The United States Congress designated the Soldier Creek Wilderness Area in 1986 and it now has a total of 7,794 acres. For a complete listing of public laws and further information on district offices, click here. From the 1870s to after World War II, Fort Robinson soldiers pastured their horses, gathered wood, and relaxed along Soldier Creek, now a playground for white-tailed deer, mule deer, turkeys, coyotes, bobcats, eagles, and hawks. Here the ponderosa pine-covered ridges of northwest Nebraska give way to grassy upland parks. And while the Wilderness is recovering from a wildfire that destroyed about 90 percent of the pine trees in July 1989, the devastation wrought by those raging flames will be evident for a long time to come.
Old windmills spaced around Soldier Creek likewise continue to draw up water.
Horsepackers can saddle up at the Soldier Creek Trailhead corral.