Reedy Press is pleased to announce the release of our newest guidebook, Secret Nebraska Sandhills: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, by Alan Bartels.
Where in Nebraska can people explore a Stonehenge-inspired sculpture made from old cars, watch the night sky from one of the darkest places on Earth, float downstream in a livestock water tank through a more-than-century-old cattle ranch, and dive into a bottomless spring that some say is impossible to sink into?
The Sandhills is an approximately 20,000-square-mile region of grass-stabilized sand dunes that cover one-quarter of the state of Nebraska. This is a grassland described both as a prairie sea and an ocean of grass, where cowboys still ride horses and ranch families know that if they are good to the land, the land will be good to them.
The rich history here blends with folklore tales of haunted hotels, unsolved murders, and ghost railroads—and cryptozoological oddities such as the Walgren Lake Monster and the Sandhills Monkey. Voices quiet when conversations turn to UFOs and extraterrestrials, and perhaps no Sandhiller has ever appeared more otherworldly than mythical Broken Bow resident Horace Easterwood who was pictured on the cover of a tabloid sporting a 40-inch horn growing from his head!
In Secret Nebraska Sandhills: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, longtime Nebraskan storyteller and photographer Alan J. Bartels provides a one-of-a-kind look into the region’s lesser-known history and culture, discovered sometimes by accident but also through dogged research, and folklore, memories, and mythology shared by generous Sandhills residents.
Secret Nebraska Sandhills: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure is available wherever books are sold.
About the Author
When not writing, lifelong Nebraskan and US Army veteran Alan J. Bartels works a day job devoted to natural resources conservation. He’s been published in National Geographic, USA Today, and Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine. In 2025 Alan received the Friend of the Byway award from the Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway and the Friend of Tourism award from the Nebraska Tourism Commission. A past governor bestowed Alan with the honorary title of Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska—quite a feat considering Nebraska’s triple landlocked location.
Upcoming Book Signings
Book Signing
Friday, April 10th, from 5pm – 7pm
Plains Trading Co. Booksellers
269 N Main St, Valentine, NE 69201
Free and open to the public
Book Signing
Saturday, April 25th, from 11am – 2pm
Francie & Finch Bookstore
130 S 13th St, Lincoln, NE 68508
Free and open to the public
Book Signing
Saturday, May 2nd, from 2pm – 3pm
Herbie’s Speakeasy
238 Main St, Stapleton, NE 69163
Free and open to the public
Presentation & Book Signing
Saturday, May 9th, form 12pm – 1pm
The Most Unlikely Place
205 Main Street, Lewellen, NE 69147
Free and open to the public
Presentation & Book Signing
Saturday, May 16th, from 2pm – 4pm
Custer County Museum
445 S 9th Ave, Broken Bow, NE 68822
Free and open to the public
Presentation & Book Signing
Saturday, June 27th, from 4pm – 6pm
Mullen Arts Center
109 NW 1st St., Mullen, NE 69152
Free and open to the public
