Getting the flavor of … Paddling through Nebraska, and more
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Nebraska often seems an endless prairie, said Helen Olsson in The
New York Times. But the Niobrara River Valley in the north-central part of the state offers “an inspiring collection of conifers and hardwoods, 200-foot sandstone bluffs, and spring-fed
waterfalls.” The Niobrara (pronounced nigh-oh-BRAH-rah) starts in Wyoming and flows for 400 miles across Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River. About 76 of those miles, beginning
just east of Valentine, have been designated a national scenic river. Here canoeing or kayaking is not so much an athletic challenge as an opportunity for socializing. “The rapids are mostly
riffles,” and the water knee-deep. In autumn, “leaf peepers” drive to this area “in search of solitude in one of the country’s most diverse environments.” The birch, aspen, and cottonwood
trees along the banks turn shades of gold, with sumac supplying occasional flashes of red. The river courses through ponderosa pines, deciduous forests, and tall-grass prairie. Smith Falls,
the state’s tallest, plunges 63 feet onto a bell-shaped rock.
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