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Tag Archives: hiking

Outdoors day dates: Try these six nature adventures

By Renae Blum, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Looking for your next date idea? Or maybe a fun afternoon you can enjoy with family, friends, or just yourself? Look no farther than a Nebraska state park. Whether you want to learn something new, stretch your legs or see something beautiful, here are some ideas for outdoor fun that can be completed in just a day. Visit a nature center Spend an afternoon indulging your curiosity and learning about nature. Schramm …

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Backpacking the Pine Ridge Trail

An Adventure Story Through work and play, I have been no stranger to the Pine Ridge Trail. Portions of the route that transects the heart of public lands in the Pine Ridge escarpment between Chadron and Crawford have served me well as a way to access scenic landscapes and wildlife, or just enjoy a short hike or bike ride. Though I had been on many parts of the trail, which measures about 40 miles, I had never connected the dots …

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Nebraska’s Smaller State Recreation Areas are Hidden Gems

There are 76 areas in our park system and they truly offer something for everyone. I know. I have firsthand knowledge of all of them. In my 45 years with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. I have been to EVERY. SINGLE.ONE and even worked in our parks division for a time. So I have a good breadth of knowledge about these areas. Our larger state parks, what many call “destination parks” or “resort parks,” get a lot of attention …

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More than 15 state park areas to hold guided hikes on New Year’s Day

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LINCOLN, Neb. – Each with a unique experience to offer, more than 15 Nebraska state park areas will offer guided hikes to visitors on New Year’s Day. Part of a larger effort of the America’s State Parks alliance, First Day Hikes are a great way to get outside, enjoy nature, exercise and enjoy time with friends and family. The hikes are 1-3 miles with varying degrees of difficulty. Participants are encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather and bring drinking …

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A Life Well Worn

boots

It wasn’t until I finally shot the turkey that I noticed what had happened to my boot. It was twice as large as normal, a clown shoe of sorts, and the first line of my internal dialogue was “I don’t feel injured.” Yet something still wasn’t right. Both of my feet were wet, as they often get when turkeys pitch down from their roost on the wrong side of the creek and I’m forced to quickly head them off. But …

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Take Your Tyke on a Hike

The little one in your family is getting bigger. They’re walking. They’re running. They’re climbing. They’re grabbing things. They’re examining things. And yes, they’re even tasting things. The toddler in your family is bubbling over with personality and propelling themselves with their own two legs! Enter the toddler in our family, my grandson, Jackson. He is a restless little ball of energy and doesn’t want to miss anything! Jackson, at 16 months of age, prefers to get down and explore. He is inherently busy …

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Great Family Getaway on WOWT 6 Outdoors

Looking for a great family outdoor getaway for Memorial Day Weekend or perhaps this summer where you can pitch a tent, hike or bike a nature trail, ride a horse, kick back, relax and have fun with the family? Well, I have just the place for you and I’ll tell you all about it on my Weekly Outdoor Report airing on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News. In fact, this scenic Nebraska state park is only about a 90-minute drive from the …

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Go Outdoors, Take a Hike on WOWT 6 Outdoors!

I’ll be encouraging you and your family to take advantage of this great spring-like weather we’re having and go for a hike  in a state recreation area near Omaha on this week’s edition my Weekly Outdoor Report on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News. The outdoor report airs Thursdays on the station’s 6 p.m. (CST) newscast during the sports segment with Ross Jernstrom. Can you guess where we’re going from the photo below? Here’s another quick hint from the area’s scenic overlook. …

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Footsteps Through McKelvie

A lot of people can tell you about the beauty of the Sandhills from the road, the forever green dunes rolling by at sixty five miles an hour. Or they can wax poetic from the seat of a canoe or tube—the slow meander of sandy bluffs and horizontal cedar trees. To many Nebraskans, the Sandhills are its scenic secret, an entire ecology different from anything else in the world.  But the very thing that makes them so beautiful also makes …

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Take a Hike on WOWT 6 News Outdoors

I’ll be encouraging you and your family  to take a hike in a state park and work off some of that leftover turkey near the Omaha-metro area on the Thanksgiving Edition of The Weekly Outdoor Report on Omaha’s WOWT 6 News LIVE Thursday on the station’s 6 p.m. (CST) newscast during the sports segment with Greg Ortiz. You could hike up to this scenic vista located at what state park land? Any guesses? Here’s another hint for you. Figured it …

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