April 2025 • Nebraskaland 45
of what is now Scouting America. An Eagle Scout himself,
neither of his sons paddled the river during their path to the
same rank. Access was the issue.
In 2021, when he was appointed to the Game and Parks'
Board of Commissioners, Curry started learning more about
water trails. That led to a meeting between a few Platte
County commissioners and the Columbus mayor and city
administrator. They reached out to Lee Rupp, and a former
state senator and Game and Parks fisheries biologist, a long-
time resident of Monroe with a love for the river, for advice.
Rupp already had notes and a map drawn up when they met
with him. "We all said: 'Let's make it happen'," Curry said.
While an official water trail access couldn't be built on
George D. Syas Wildlife Management Area southeast of
Genoa, an existing fishing access point could be utilized
as the starting point. Eight miles downstream, the county
agreed to build an access point with plenty of parking on
land it owned south of Monroe. At Columbus, 16 miles
downstream, owners of the Quality Inn agreed to allow
paddlers to use their parking lot, a 250-yard walk up the
newly paved Pawnee Park Trail from the riverbank. With
those three points in place, the trail was opened in the spring
of 2023.
Late last year, a fourth point was developed 4½ miles
downstream on the banks of the Platte River, a mile from
the mouth of the Loup. Archer Daniels Midland, owner of an
Ken Curry and his son, Brian, of Columbus paddle the Loup River Water Trail between Monroe and Columbus.
The trail opened in 2023 with new put-in and take-out points.
