Part of Salt Creek Levee Trail will close April 18 | Local
The section of the Salt Creek Levee Trail connecting the Bison Trail to the Jamaica North Trail will close Monday so the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District can remove a storm sewer pipe.
The trail is expected to reopen by April 29. Users can bypass the closed section by taking Speedway Circle.
New buffered bike lanes in Lincoln will claim either traffic or street parking
Wabash at end of MoPac East trail to get parking and restrooms
Lincoln’s busy Billy Wolff Trail will see a series of closures
Photos: Nebraska National Monuments
Don Parmenter, left, of Gering and Casey Debus of Morrill wait momentarily at Scotts Bluff National Monument while the mochila transfers horses. In 2008, the two riders participated in a revival of the Pony Express that started in Sacramento, California and ended in St. Joseph, Missouri.
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The Willow Island Pony Express station is in a city park in Cozad, Neb. First used as a trading post, the station also served as a coach stop for the Central Overland California and the Pikes Peak Express Company. The cabin was originally built on a bank of the Platte River, south of present-day Darr, Neb., and moved here in 1938.
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Markers south of exit 231 on Interstate 80 between Lexington and Cozad point to sites near the Willow Island Pony Express station, left, and the Oregon Trail.
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Trail runners descend the Oregon Trail at Ash Hollow State Historic Park during the Convergence on Sacred Ground event in 2017. In its entirety, the Oregon Trail spanned more than 2 000 miles and traversed six states, in which landmarks, settlements, wagon ruts and other traces can still be seen today.
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The Oregon Trail Wagon Train passes over a bed of white “plains bee balm” on the first day of a four-day hike. Once a popular tourist attraction, attendees were able to experience a bit of what the pioneer journey on the prairie near Chimney Rock was like.
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For Native American tribes and pioneers traveling west, Chimney Rock, now a National Historic Site near Bayard, was the first of two important markers along the Oregon, Mormon and California Trails in Nebraska Panhandle. The unique geological formation, as well as the landmark Scotts Bluff National Monument, less than thirty miles away, appear mentioned in the writings of many early settlers.
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Evening light and storm clouds create a scenic backdrop for the prairie landscape at Scotts Bluff National Monument. The monument celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
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Max Cawiezel operates an antique John Deere sugar beet digger with the help of Belgian horses Bob and Ben at the Farm and Ranch Museum near Gering, Neb. The historical equipment and farming techniques were part of the museum’s eighth annual harvest festival in 2004.
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The Homestead Act of 1862 offered an incentive, in the form of 160 acres of free land, to pioneers moving west. The Homestead National Monument commemorates this historic event, housing an extensive collection of farm artifacts and offering interactive exhibits documenting the lives of early settlers. Here you will find a 1945 Allis Chalmers Model C tractor, used in Alaska on the last farm in the country.
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In August 2017, a rare total solar eclipse passed through a wide swath of Nebraska, bringing with it record amounts of tourism to small towns and state parks along the way. Bruce Cardwell, center, of Omaha, Nebraska, waits for the eclipse to reappear behind the clouds. Homestead National Monument hosted an eclipse viewing party, featuring NASA scientists and featuring programs led by celebrity guest Bill Nye.
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The sky above the Homestead Heritage Center at Homestead National Monument is illuminated by a lunar eclipse on January 31, 2018, seen through the center window. The open prairie and clear skies have made the site popular for stargazing and storytelling, as well as daytime astronomy programs.
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The Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail traces the path of early Mormon settlers from Illinois, through Iowa and Nebraska, to Wyoming and Utah. Two notable camping areas — Winter quarters in North Omaha and Kanesville at Council Bluffs — served as vital stops along the way.
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Amber Lutke, left, and Russ Leger lead a wagon train down Pioneer Trail toward the Iowa School for the Deaf’s Grand Encampment in Council Bluffs. The event marked the 170th anniversary since Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois to camp in what is now Council Bluffs and North Omaha.
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Council Bluffs Trail Leader and Wagonmaster Dave McKeag prepares to lead the Gold Rush Days 150th Anniversary Wagon Ride to California. The ride started from the Western Historic Trail Center in Council Bluffs and included an overnight stop in Omaha.
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The Missouri River, as seen from the Chief Standing Bear Bridge connecting Nebraska and South Dakota, near Niobrara on the Lewis & Clark Trail. Two segments of the river, totaling just over one hundred miles, make up Missouri’s National Recreational River.
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The Lewis and Clark keelboat replica from The Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, Missouri sails up the Missouri River opposite downtown Omaha. As part of the 200th anniversary celebration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, re-enactors followed the expedition’s original route up the river, stopping at several towns along the way.
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Rapids draw visitors to the Rocky Ford area of the Niobrara River. Only a fraction of river segments in the United States can be designated as part of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System – the 76-mile stretch near Valentine qualifies as a free-flowing segment with an accessible undeveloped shoreline and clean or managed water. Rocky Ford, a popular take-out site for canoes and float tours, is privately owned, but past negotiations have considered turning it over to the federal government to ensure continued public access.
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Members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Animal Club take canoes and kayaks down the Niobrara River.
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The Niobrara National Scenic River is also home to nationally and regionally significant geology, fossil sites and wildlife. Various species of plants and animals, including elk, can be found at Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.
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This block of fossils was collected from the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and is in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It contains bones from several different groups of animals, including chalicotheres, giant pigs, oreodonts, cats, and dogs. Most of the bones, however, are from Menoceras, a pony-sized rhinoceros.
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Sunset shadows at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
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