Repairs completed on two boat ramps in northeast Nebraska parks

LINCOLN, Neb. – Boating prospects in northeast Nebraska are looking up with the completion of two state park area projects in 2020.

The completion of a second boat ramp at Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area’s Weigand Marina will alleviate long lines of boats waiting to put in or take out. The marina at the state’s second-largest lake has had two boat ramps, but this past season, one ramp has been out of service. The $390,000 project is funded by Capital Maintenance Fund dollars.

The replacement of the Ponca State Park boat ramp, which was washed out by the 2019 flood, was completed in 2020. Funding for this $250,000 project was from the Capital Maintenance Fund with an expected 50% Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement.

Another 2020 project at Ponca made several improvements, including the addition of cement parking lots to the new Aquatic Center and the recently completed 14 new two-bedroom cottages. Road breakups and erosion issues also were addressed in this $1.2 million project funded by the State Recreation Road Fund.

Campers at Summit Lake State Recreation Area, a popular fishing site in Burt County, will notice improvements. In 2020, 13 50-amp campsites with gravel pads were added to Muskrat Campground along with one Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant campsite. Funding for the $115,000 project came from the Capital Maintenance Fund and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.

Work continues on several projects in 2021. The ongoing Ponca park entrance project is a large landscape project initiated in 2019 to renovate and beautify the park’s entrance following the construction of the new Aquatic Center. At Fort Atkinson State Historical Park, a project to repair and replace logs on some of the fort walls is in the construction phase, and at Willow Creek State Recreation Area, work will start on repairing 2019 flood damage to the lake’s west causeway, rock jetties and hike/bike trail. Flood repairs to roadways, fishing accesses, and levees also will continue at Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area.

A park entry permit is required of each vehicle visiting a state park area. Buy one at OutdoorNebraska.org.