Nebraskaland

May 2020 • Nebraskaland 49 outdoor summer recreational activity, and has been for a number of years, be it on a kayak or paddleboard," said Scott Steinbrook, a teacher and coach at Kearney High School who uses the trail at least twice weekly. "It's a little slice of heaven out there on the water in the summer and fall. "Once you are on the water, with the embankments going up, it feels like you're not even in Kearney anymore. You might as well be somewhere in Colorado or Montana or somewhere a little more isolated." At the beginning of the school year, when Steinbrook shares his hobbies with students, he asks how many others have floated the trail. "I'd say over the years you probably see about half of the hands come up in the classroom and say they've at least gotten out there a time or two. It's definitely one of Kearney's most popular outdoor recreation spots." The popularity of the trail pleases Scott Hayden, director of Kearney's Park & Recreation Department. "It's kind of cool to drive around town and see all the kayaks on the roofs of vehicles in the middle of Nebraska," he said. "It's great to utilize that resource and clean it up a little bit and, at the same time, beautify our entrance to town." N MAP ILLUSTRATION BY TIM REIGERT Whitewater in Nebraska? There are a few stretches of whitewater in Nebraska, most notably on the Niobrara River. There could soon be another in the most unlikely place: Turkey Creek in the city of Kearney. Members of the Kearney Whitewater Association, the grass roots group that helped develop the Kearney Water Trail, came up with the idea, even adding whitewater to the group's name when it formed to make sure people knew what their ultimate goal was. It also helped pay for a feasibility study and preliminary design work. The city committed $200,000 to the project, which according to preliminary designs by S2O Design and Engineering, a Lyons, Colorado, company that has helped build whitewater parks around the country, could cost $600,000. The association is committed to raising $550,000 for the remainder of the cost and unforeseen overruns. For the second time in as many years, however, fundraising efforts are on hold, stopped by flooding in 2019 and the Coronavirus outbreak this year. Plans call for two Class II rapids on the trail, one above and one below Second Avenue, as well as locations for those who would rather portage around the rapids, and those who just want to watch from the bank. Located adjacent to a cluster of hotels and other businesses at the south entrance to the city, the project will also include work to beautify and landscape the area between Second and Central avenues. Man-made whitewater parks are a growing trend in the U.S. There are more than 130, including three in Iowa, and several in Denver and other Colorado Front Range cities. For more on the project, visit kearneywhitewater.org. People carry their kayaks to the launch on the Kearney Canal at Yanney Park. A rendering shows proposed whitewater features on Turkey Creek above and below Second Avenue in Kearney. ILLUSTRATION BY S20 DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

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