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/668245
24 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2016 t's easy to see why this site along U.S. Highway 385 was chosen to be Nebraska's first state park 95 years ago. Nestled in the Pine Ridge along what is now known as the Gold Rush Scenic Byway, the 1,000-acre Chadron State Park boasts of rocky ridges overlooking pines in one of the state's most scenic regions. From the moment highway travelers catch a glimpse of the pond fed by a cold-water stream, they are often lured by its serenity. Once discovering the park's many other attributes they're sure to stay and return often. Not every moment of the park's storied past have been a model of tranquility, however. In 2012, wildfires roared across the Pine Ridge, charged into the park and scorched a majority of its signature ponderosa pines. As those fires worked to incinerate much of the character of the Pine Ridge, many worried about the fate of Nebraska's first state park. Selling the park to visitors after the fires became more challenging. After hearing media reports, a lot of people were under the impression that Chadron State Park was ruined and planned their summer travels to different locales. Most of the visitors to the park shortly after that incident were just arriving out of curiosity. In the spring following the fires, however, the lush green of native green grasses replaced the charred turf and served as a harbinger for better days ahead. While the fire no doubt took its toll on the forest, many healthy towering ponderosa pines remain, and previously unseen vistas have become visible where blackened trees have been removed. Furthermore, the park still offers a wide range of amenities and activities for travelers. Those visitors who came out of curiosity were soon returning for recreation. "A lot of visitors are surprised to see the park doing as well as it is when they come here," said Gregg Galbraith, the park's superintendent since 2014. "It really is thriving. We have just as much or more to do here as we always have and the park still has incredible aesthetic value." While workers have been cleaning up blackened timber from areas of the park, they've also been busy making it attractive to visitors in other ways. Staying Busy Perhaps the most noticeable improvement to the park is to its two-acre pond. The lagoon's dilapidated outlet structure prompted officials to drain it in fall 2013, and it remained empty until April 2015. Many park visitors were upset about the pond remaining dry for that long, but you won't hear many complaints now that the project is complete. As a remedy to decades of sedimentation, the pond was deepened from 4 to 14 feet. Since the water and fish were reintroduced to the pond last spring appreciative anglers of all ages have walked the banks of the pond casting for its ample supply of rainbow trout – not to mention the occasional brown or brookie in nearby Chadron Creek. Families not only have enjoyed fishing pursuits but have pedaled on the park's paddleboats. t' 3 y n 1 o regions A rainbow serves as the backdrop to ponderosa pines in Chadron State Park which survived the 2012 wildfires. The area in the distance burned by wildfires in 2006.