Niobrara National Scenic River
Some National Park sites are immersive, day-long explorations. Others are quick stops, places we discover while driving through an area without the luxury of lingering. But even on those shorter visits, I will always stop at the visitor center. I want to understand why this land is protected. What happened here? What story is layered beneath the landscape.
That was true for the Niobrara National Scenic River.
Designated by Congress in 1991 as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. This 76-mile stretch of river in north central Nebraska carves through high bluffs and ridges with more than 200 waterfalls flowing from canyon walls into the river below. Here the eastern hardwood forest meets western conifers.
The river’s name comes from a Native word translated as “spreading water”. The river moves gently and persistently shaping cliffs and supporting wildlife. Congress designated this river to preserve its free-flowing character, its waterfalls and its cultural history.
This may have been a quick stop in Nebraska. But even when we cannot linger, I want to know the story.
Read More From Nancy
Indiana Dunes National Park
On our cross-country family road trip in 1995, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes National Park. The massive sand dunes stretch along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and they are interwoven with wetlands and beaches. The dunes were formed over thousands of years as glaciers retreated in the wind and water shaped the sand into ridges […]
Fort Larned National Historic Site
Along our coasts and across the vast interior of our country, we have built military forts. They rise not in settled times, but in moments of change, when boundaries shift, when commerce pushes outward, when cultures meet in tension. Fort Larned stands as one of those witnesses to transition. In 1859, along the corridor of the […]
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument protects one of the world’s richest windows into life nearly 20 million years ago. Agate Fossil Beds National Monument was established on June 5, 1965, to preserve one of the finest Miocene fossil sites in the world. The monument protects an extraordinary collection of ancient mammals whose remarkably preserved remains […]
