The following article was written by Lower Loup NRD Information & Education Coordinator Alan Bartels as part of the Loup Lines series.
Loup Lines, Volume 46, No. 6 (June 2025)

ORD, Nebraska -- No matter what the calendar says, the 2025 summer recreation season is upon us. Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts know a thing or two about recreation.

The “Development and Management of Recreational and Park Facilities” are among the responsibilities assigned to Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) by the Nebraska Legislature. Statewide, NRDs operate more than 80 recreation areas, trails, wildlife viewing sites, lakes and reservoirs, wildlife management areas, nature centers, boat docks, preserves, arboretums, and other public use areas.

The Lower Loup NRD currently operates three public use areas: Davis Creek Recreation Area, Pibel Lake Recreation Area, and the Lower Loup NRD Arboretum.

Davis Creek Recreation Area is located 5.5 miles south of North Loup on the west side of Davis Creek Reservoir. Amenities here include 67 RV electric camping pads. Half of the sites are available on a first-come first-served basis, the others must be reserved through ReserveAmerica.com. There is no fee for using tent camping sites. Davis Creek Recreation Area has one of the few impaired mobility-accessible tent camping sites in the region. Visitors will also find an RV dump station, grills, a fish cleaning station, playground equipment, vault toilets, Wi-Fi, potable water, boat ramps, and a coin-operated shower house.

That is a short list of what is available. Find the new Davis Creek Recreation Area brochure under the Recreation tab at LLNRD.org.

Also, Davis Creek Recreation Area is part of the 2025 Your Parks Adventure: Trail Trek through Oct. 31, 2025. Find the sign on the trail, take a selfie with it, and enter to win at outdoornebraska.gov.

Pibel Lake Recreation Area is located in southern Wheeler County, not quite 10 miles southeast of Bartlett. The Lower Loup NRD completed a major renovation of the recreation area in 2016.  The improvements include a new picnic shelter on the south end of the lake, a pedestrian bridge across the north end of the lake, two ADA compliant fishing piers, improvements to the outlet structure, and a sedimentation basin to improve water quality at the lake. Pibel Lake is also the home of the National Champion Eastern Cottonwood Tree. The massive cottonwood measuring 85 feet tall, 37.2 feet around, and with a canopy spread of 120 feet, is rooted on the east side of the lake. The best way to get to it is to take the pedestrian bridge from the northwest corner of the lake and follow the mowed trail to the east/southeast.

The rolling terrain on the west side of the lake includes a campground. RVs are welcome, but there are no concrete pads, electrical hookups, or dump station. Largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, and yellow perch live in 24-acre Pibel Lake. That reminds me: another responsibility that Lower Loup NRD is charged with is the “Development and Management of Fish and Wildlife Habitat.” Pibel Lake Recreation Area checks both boxes!

Pibel Lake Recreation Area includes picnic areas, a boat ramp, one of the nicest playgrounds in the area, and vault toilets. Pibel Bible Camp, which is not part of the recreation area, has been located at the northwest corner of the lake since 1939.

In Valley County, the Lower Loup NRD Arboretum showcases 60 species of trees and shrubs on an 11-acre property on the northwest edge of Ord. A small wetland echoes with calling frogs in the spring, and fitness stations and benches are located around the trail perimeter. The concrete trail loop through the arboretum connects with the Ord Hike-Bike Trail. Altogether, considering the .36-mile loop at the arboretum, the .33-mile loop around Auble’s Pond, and the .55 miles of trail in between, one complete walk of that route will take you about 1.2 miles. Visitors and residents walk, bike, and jog through here daily.

All three of the LLNRD’s recreation areas are part of the 2025 NRD Recreation Exploration program. Participants submit photos from one or more of the recreation areas for a chance of winning gift cards. The top prize in 2025 is worth $1,500. Learn more and enter at nrdnet.org/recreation.

Discover more about Lower Loup NRD recreation areas, including an interactive map of tree species in the LLNRD Arboretum, at LLNRD.org.