The News from Niobrara

Nebraska, With a Paddle

To the uninitiated, Nebraska conjures a certain image: a treeless prairie steamrolled pancake-flat, stretching to the horizon. But tucked in a north-central patch of the state is the Niobrara River Valley, filled with a surprising collection of conifers and hardwoods, 200-foot sandstone bluffs and spring-fed waterfalls.

To the south are the Sandhills, grass-stabilized dunes that roll and ripple like a gigantic rumpled bedsheet in a hundred shades of green, blue and gold. And half an hour from Valentine, the town that is the base camp for thousands of float trips on the Niobrara River every year, is Merritt Reservoir, a deep emerald lake rimmed with white-sand beaches — all that’s missing are the palm trees.