38 Nebraskaland • June 2025
here is a lot of screaming in
downtown Norfolk these days,
especially on a hot summer day.
Some are screams of fear, but
most are joy from children and a fair
share of adults. You hear them nearly
every time someone goes over one of
the seven drop structures on the North
Fork Whitewater Park on an innertube
or kayak.
You might also occasionally hear
someone say: "Surf's up, dude."
The water park, which opened last
June, grew from an effort to revitalize
the North Fork of the Elkhorn River
and the riverfront around it, including
the historic Johnson Park. The end
result includes the whitewater park
and its unique surf wave, a 2.6-mile-
long water trail that stretches across
the city.
The number of people who floated
the river and braved the new rapids
during the park's first summer of
operation, even before the finishing
touches were done, was more than
most could have imagined.
A River Reimagined
One of the first endeavors of the
settlers who arrived in what is now
Norfolk in 1866 was to build the Sugar
City Cereal Mills. A dam was built
on the North Fork north of what is
now 1st Street and Norfolk Avenue
to power the grist and sawmill. The
pool below the mill dam became a
swimming hole where people cooled
off in the summer. In 1937, during the
Great Depression, a Works Progress
Administration crew built Johnson
Park below the dam. The park and
its ornate gardens, however, were no
match for the power of the river and
the 17 floods that occurred between
its construction and 1962.
That year, following a spring flood
that sent water spilling over 90 city
Surf's Up
in Norfolk
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
T
Jess Callahan of Enfi eld, Connecticut, paddles a whitewater kayak on one of the
rapids with other participants during a University of Nebraska – Lincoln Outdoor
Adventures trip.
