22 Nebraskaland • July 2021
the Natives used the area as a seasonal
camp, retreating behind the high bluff s
near the Elkhorn River in winter and
traveling down during the summer
to camp near the oxbow lake. During
one winter encampment, a fi re got out
of hand. It swept through the region,
burning and killing much timber.
Despite the story behind Dead
Timber's name, the SRA has been
historically more wet than dry. Some of
the SRA sits upon a bluff overlooking
the oxbow lakes, but a signifi cant
amount of the area is located within
the Elkhorn River fl oodplain; in 21 of
the past 80 years, the Elkhorn River
has exceeded fl ood stage.
Flooding
Those who know and use Dead
Timber love it, but addressing
infrastructure issues has been an
ongoing frustration for both locals and
Game and Parks staff . Constant bouts
of high water trap the land in a state
of constant fl ux, adding to the piling
costs of repairing recurring damages.
For example, changes in the
landscape could be seen by examining
Google Earth images, showing how
fl ooding was aff ecting the suspension
bridge since the early 2000s, and how it
got progressively worse. Built around
1939-1940, the bridge is a special place
where countless visitors and their
families have made memories. Sadly,
the bridge is currently impassable.
Other amenities once located within
the park's low-lying areas, including
a campground and the through-road
between the river and oxbow lake,
were removed in the late 1990s and
early 2000s due to fl ood damage.
The catastrophic fl ood event of 2019
Shelly and Dave Dahl, of Scribner, prepare a fi re while RV camping at Dead Timber.
