NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1519842
May 2024 • Nebraskaland 25 has since served countless visitors, throughout all seasons, who otherwise might not have been able to see the attraction. A New Chapter Through the years, the park renovated the visitors center and added 70 primitive campsites, a shower house, two picnic shelters, four restrooms and housing for the park superintendent. With the end of the 30-year lease agreement looming in the 2010s, many wondered if the park's future was in peril. They were relieved when the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Krzyzanowskis — Fred Jr. and wife Joann still farm and ranch on land neighboring the park — renewed the lease agreement for 25 more years in 2018. Since then, Game and Parks has been investing in substantial improvements. The wooden walkway to the falls had served the park well but was showing wear from three decades of use and exposure to the elements. In May 2023, after eight months of construction, the Game and Parks Commission opened an improved walkway with composite decking. The project of more than $800,000 was largely funded with a source not available when the fi rst walkway was built. The Capital Maintenance Fund was established by the Nebraska Legislature in 2016 to help preserve Nebraska's public outdoor recreation facilities and parklands. The new 500-foot walkway features both a wheelchair ramp with a gradual grade and a more direct route via steps. With its steel posts and frame, concrete footings and aluminum railing, the new walkway is expected to last much longer than the one it replaced. A deck of similar materials was constructed at the park's visitors center, with new steps leading to the campground. Also included in the walkway project were wheelchair-accessible approaches to the footbridge. Game and Parks is in the process of developing a management plan for the park, and offi cials expect many exciting developments in coming years. A Natural Marvel A goal for Game and Parks since the beginning has been to balance accessibility with preserving the area's natural attributes. There's a lot to consider in what has been designated the Middle Niobrara Biologically Unique Landscape by the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project. Six natural ecological cultures meet in this area, resulting in a fascinating mix of plant and wildlife species. As warming temperatures caused glaciers of the area to retreat about 10,000 years ago, some botanical species survived in the steep, shaded canyon of the Niobrara that don't survive on the warmer lands above. The park is home to the Smith aspen trees, an endemic hybrid of bigtooth (Populus grandidentata) and quaking (Populus tremuloides) aspen. Attractive paper birches also adorn the park. People aren't sure for how long, though, because they aren't reproducing. Among the park's natural attributes are its Smith aspen trees (Populus x smithii), an endemic hybrid of bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata) and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides).