Chadron is a city in Dawes County, in the state of Nebraska in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 5,851 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dawes County, and the location of Chadron State College. Chadron also is the United States Forest Service headquarters of the Nebraska and Samuel R. McKelvie National Forests, and the Buffalo Gap, Fort Pierre, and Oglala National Grasslands.