Cabela's Original Store and Wildlife Displays

Dick Cabela got the idea after buying a supply of hand-tied fishing flies at a furniture show. His first ad, offering flies by mail, drew a trickle of orders, and he and Mary packaged them at their kitchen table in Sidney while Dick kept his day job. The key move came early, when they began mailing a catalog, which turned occasional buyers into a loyal national customer base.

Over the following decades the company grew from flies into a full line of hunting, fishing, and camping gear, and from a catalog into a chain of destination stores. Through all of it, Sidney remained the heart of the operation, a Panhandle town of a few thousand people that became the headquarters of a company known coast to coast.

What set Cabela's apart was theater. Rather than plain aisles of merchandise, its stores were built around enormous dioramas, mountains of mounted game arranged as if caught in mid-motion, elk bugling on a ridge, sheep on a cliff, predators frozen in a chase. Aquariums, gun libraries, and taxidermy turned a shopping trip into something closer to a natural history museum visit.

In Sidney, this spectacle carries extra weight because so many of the animals on display, or their relatives, once lived on the surrounding plains and in the nearby Rockies. Kids press against the aquarium glass and hunters study the mounts, and the whole thing works as a tribute to the outdoors the company was built to serve.

Sidney's own history runs deeper than the store. It grew up around the Union Pacific Railroad and the frontier-era Fort Sidney, which guarded the rail line and travelers in the 1860s and 1870s. In the gold-rush days it was a rough end-of-track town and a jumping-off point for miners bound for the Black Hills, with the reputation to match.

Today Sidney is a quieter ranching and railroad community on the high plains, with the old fort's officers' quarters and powder house preserved as museums. The Cabela's story is the modern chapter in a town that has long stood where the rails, the plains, and the wider West meet.

The high plains around Sidney are a land of big weather. Summer is warm and bright, with long views under towering thunderheads, a good time to break a cross-country drive here. Fall brings crisp air and hunting season, fitting for a town so tied to the outdoors.

Winter can be cold and windswept out on the open ground, with sudden storms rolling off the Rockies. Spring greens the grassland and brings migrating birds, and any season the indoor dioramas offer a warm, dramatic stop off the interstate.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The Cabela's original store, in Sidney in the western Nebraska Panhandle, is the flagship location of the famous outdoor outfitter, known for its enormous size and its remarkable wildlife displays and dioramas. Cabela's grew from humble beginnings in Nebraska into a giant of the outdoor-gear world, and this landmark store is celebrated for its dramatic mountain and wildlife dioramas featuring mounted animals in lifelike scenes, aquariums, and museum-like exhibits, making it a destination in its own right beyond the shopping. It is a distinctive slice of Nebraska and outdoor-recreation history. A surprising and fun stop for families and travelers, it delights visitors. With its wildlife displays, the store offers an entertaining destination in Nebraska.

You can see dramatic wildlife dioramas featuring mounted animals in lifelike mountain and habitat scenes, aquariums with fish, museum-like displays, and the vast array of outdoor gear that made Cabela's famous. The impressive wildlife dioramas, the aquariums, the mountain displays, and the sheer scale of the store are the draws, making it an entertaining stop even for those not shopping. The lifelike animal scenes are a highlight for families. With its displays, the Cabela's original store offers a fun visit in Sidney, Nebraska.

Yes, the store is a fun stop for families, with its dramatic wildlife dioramas, aquariums, and lifelike animal scenes that fascinate children and adults alike, making it feel part museum and part store. The mounted animals in their habitat displays and the aquariums give kids plenty to marvel at, and it is comfortable in any weather. Its convenient location off the interstate makes it an easy break. Its family appeal makes the Cabela's original store and its wildlife displays a delightful stop in Nebraska.

As an indoor destination right off the interstate, the Cabela's original store is enjoyable year-round in any weather, making it a convenient stop any time on a cross-country drive through the Panhandle. Because hours can vary, checking current information before you go is wise. Because it is indoors and easy to reach, the Cabela's original store makes an entertaining stop any time of year in Sidney, Nebraska.

The Cabela's original store is in Sidney in the western Nebraska Panhandle, along Interstate 80, within reach of Sidney's historic downtown, the North Platte valley to the north, and the routes across the Panhandle. That makes the Cabela's original store a fun stop to combine with the other attractions of the western Nebraska Panhandle on a visit to the state.