Nebraska is an all-season outdoor wonderland for fresh-air enthusiasts who enjoy skiing, camping, prospecting, fishing, rafting, hiking, hunting and horseback riding, to name a few. More docile recreational activities include wildlife viewing and photography.
Outdoor junkies flock to Nebraska's prairie streams and rivers to paddle. Canoeing and Nebraska may bring to mind images of drifting through cornfields past cows and combines. This isn't canoeing down on the farm, however, but a trip through the Nebraska Sandhills on the Niobrara River. The Niobrara, or "Running Water" as it was known to the Sioux, winds its way from eastern Wyoming into northwestern Nebraska, running for 300 miles into the village of Niobrara where it empties into the Missouri River. The Missouri comprises the complete eastern border of Nebraska and provides plenty of water sports for visitors to enjoy.
Paddling in the state's lakes and rivers is not the only water recreation to be enjoyed. Nebraska is blessed with some of the best fishing in the Midwest. Channel catfish can be landed in Harlan County Reservoir. Many other reservoirs in northern Nebraska, as well as the Missouri River, offer good-sized channel cats for sportsmen to fish. Large-mouth bass, walleye and pike fishing is good in Davis Creek and Calamus reservoirs. Great fly fishing for rainbow trout can be found in Long Pine Creek. Fly fishing for large rainbows also can be sought after along many sections of the Niobrara River.
Fishing regulations should be frequently checked for area and species legality. Check the Nebraska Game and Park Commission's Web site for up-to-date regulations.
Nebraska provides enthusiasts with plenty of biking and hiking excursions. From formidable backcountry paths to easy-on-the-legs rail trails, hundreds of miles for bicyclists and hikers are available. Near Chadron and Crawford in the northwest corner of the state (Panhandle Region), mountain bike trails wind through the Pine Ridge country. Trails range from take-in-the-scenery to more advanced challenges. At the opposite end of the state near Shubert, 20 miles of trails draw mountain bikers and hikers to Indian Cave State Park. The 3,000-acre playground sprawls across a forested Missouri River bluff 90 miles south of Omaha.
During winter months, numerous hiking and biking trails double as cross-country ski runs. The state's dry, powdery snow also provides sledding, tubing and snowmobiling opportunities throughout the same hiking and biking areas.
As you go explore, make sure to stop at one or more of Nebraska's eight state parks. These awesome recreational areas provide horseback riding, miniature golf, camping and cave viewing.
Lake McConaughy ranks as the largest and most popular reservoir, extending 26 miles along the North Platte River Valley in southwest Nebraska, nine miles north of Ogallala. Even on busy summer weekends, you'll feel as though you have the lake to yourself. That's because most of "Big Mac's" nearly 100 miles of sand beaches are easily accessed by campers, boaters and swimmers.
The state, known for exceptional pheasant hunting, also offers a variety of hunts for mule deer and whitetail deer, black bear and pronghorn antelope. Limited elk and bighorn sheep hunts can be applied for through a state lottery. In addition to the outstanding pheasant hunting offered, Nebraska provides great goose and duck hunting. Springtime produces numerous turkeys that can be hunted throughout many regions of the state. There also is plenty of public land for large- and small-game hunters to enjoy.
Wildlife viewing and photography are four-season activities throughout all of Nebraska. Indian Cave State Park in the Missouri River Valley provides a safe haven for an abundance of wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, whippoorwills, great horned owls, mink, red foxes, flying squirrels, great blue herons, bobcats, migrating geese and ducks year round. During March and April, many bald eagles, plovers, otters, falcons, prairie chickens, prairie dogs, migrating cranes and regal fritillary butterflies can be seen in the Platte River Valley. The Niobrara River Valley offers year-round sightings of elk, bison, Texas longhorn cattle and many other animals.
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