Agate Fossil Beds National Monument · Nebraska

Daemonelix Trail

0.7 mi of trail, end to end · about 150 ft of climbing · 4,419 ft–4,557 ft · gravel surface

4,485 ft 4,486 ft · 0.4 mi high 4,557 ft

Trailhead Daemonelix Trailhead 4,419 ft Drive there

Daemonelix Trail the Park Service's write-up

30-60 Minutes · dogs allowed · Winter, Spring, Fall · season Cooler seasons are best, but the trail can be enjoyed year round. Prepare for the heat with a hat, sunscreen, and plenty of water for your entire party. If you have pets please take water for them too.

Start Daemonelix Trailhead

Looking down on trail from an overlook.

This one-mile (1.6 km) trail at the west end of the park offers visitors a tour through through time. In addition to a dry land beaver's curious spiral burrows, the Daemonelix or Devil's Corkscrew, visitors see ancient sand dunes and fossil grassland soils called paleosols. From the number and concentration of their now petrified homes, paleontologists know that the paleocastor, the dry land beaver, formed and lived in colonies much like present-day prairie dogs.

From the Daemonelix Trail's highest point, visitors can look out over not only James H. Cook's historic Agate Springs Ranch but also the vast, open tablelands that form the northern terminus of the High Plains east of the Rocky Mountains.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 3 trails in Agate Fossil Beds National MonumentFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.