Niobrara River this weekend

[kerry]

I know it's hard to imagine a National Wild and Scenic River in Nebraska but the Niobrara is a special place. I first paddled it in the early 80's in Western Nebraska. We'll be paddling it east of Valentine where most people float it this weekend. I prefer the more isolated section but any section will do. We'll be camping at Smith Falls park and day tripping in and out of there.

 

[argonaut]

Sounds like a great time. Hope to get up there myself. Enjoy!

 

[fowldarr]

It's on my list for this summer (just moved to Nebraska last year) post up some pics of your trip.

 

[rodtermaat]

Great river

Anytime you get to paddle this section is a good day. Just keep in mind that over 500 people make the trek on most the weekends. Try and make you trip during the week when possible. I would not be surprised if the numbers top 2500 people on the river this weekend.

My son and I ran this route last July on a Thursday and where counted in the plus 300 so far that day around 2 PM - per the ranger.

 

[fisher205]

The bad thing about the number of people is that over 1/2 of them are drunk. We canoed it 4 years ago. I recommend starting early to avoid the crowds. It's a beautiful float.

 

[dustboy]

I'm proud to say my Dad was involved with Save the Niobrara some 40 years ago.

This July my wife and I plan to drive out to visit his family in Ainsworth, and the first activity my aunt suggested was a trip on the Niobrara.

See you all there!

 

[kerry]

I'll post more details later, but I've never found Memorial Day weekend to be very crowded. Smith Falls State Park was not full, and on the two days we paddled we probably saw 4 other groups on the water total each day.

 

[kerry]

I'm proud to say my Dad was involved with Save the Niobrara some 40 years ago.

This July my wife and I plan to drive out to visit his family in Ainsworth, and the first activity my aunt suggested was a trip on the Niobrara.

See you all there!

Give your dad my heartfelt thanks. I've paddled that river probably 8 or 10 times all told. It is a treasure.

 

[Black Dog]

The bad thing about the number of people is that over 1/2 of them are drunk. We canoed it 4 years ago. I recommend starting early to avoid the crowds. It's a beautiful float.

I use to live in North Platte which is incredibly embarrassing to admit, and I've paddled the Niobrara more times than I can count and alcohol was a pretty bad problem for a while. One weekend we went some drunks at a campground were using a water balloon sling shot to shoot full beer cans at people floating by which is really dangerous and really stupid. But in the last few years they have really cracked down on alcohol, most of the camp grounds and outfitters have a zero alcohol policy and law enforcement to hang out and bust people for public intoxication. So it isn't as bad as it use to be. The biggest problem is with the huge groups of people that lash up a dozen or more intertubes and hog the whole river.

If you are up to it, I'd also recommend the Middle Loup River. Its nice like the Niobrara but a bit more challenging. Once you are comfortable with that, give the Dismal River a shot. Its got a lot of blind turns and strainers so it will keep you on your toes the whole time.

Here is a picture of a trip I did on the Dismal once. The paddle in the foreground was my dads, he dumped it in a strainer and his paddle got wedged in the wood and with the force of the water it bent the paddle. When we finally got it out we tried bending back straight but it broke, so we had to do a field expedient repair and it held up well. Now that paddle adorns the wall in my dads office.

 

[kerry]

The Dismal has been on my list to paddle for quite a while and we were talking about the Middle Loup around the campfire. Lots of sections of the river now prohibit alcohol and there is no alcohol allowed at Smith Falls State Park which keeps it relatively civil.
However, we woke up this morning to find a guy wearing only a pair of swimming trunks and sneakers huddled under a sheet of plastic on the grass. It was cold last night. He said a friend of his had abandoned him at Smith Falls and he had spent the night surviving under the piece of plastic he found. I'd be very surprised if alcohol was not involved in that misadventure.