Niobrara National Scenic River
With a little something for everyone, the Niobrara National Scenic River is a destination for crossing adventures off your bucket list. Most popular for river recreation, you can float the Niobrara River on a canoe, tube, or kayak as a beginner and have a blast. Hiking, biking, and wildlife watching keep our visitors busy. Oh! And we haven't even told you about the waterfalls yet.
Alerts
- CautionLife Jackets Required!
By Nebraska State law, all children 13 years old and younger must WEAR a USCG approved life jacket to float the Niobrara NSR. Anyone over 13 years old must HAVE a life jacket. If you are renting equipment, your outfitter will provide them.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
The NPS does not own the land along the river, individual sites and private landowners may charge a fee. The Niobrara National Scenic River can be accessed by the public for free. Check out our "What to Know Before You Go" article series for more guidance on navigating private landings and shuttles that do charge fees.
Hours
| Floating and paddling standard hours | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and December the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Niobrara National Scenic River Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Begin your journey down the Niobrara at the visitor center, where you may discover what makes this river so special through exhibits and a twenty minute park film.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Bike the Cowboy Trail
The Cowboy Trail is a hiking and biking trail created from the historic bed of the railroad track that passed through Valentine, NE, and the Sandhills.
Opens on the Park Service site - Float the Niobrara River1-8 Hours
Experience the beauty of the Niobrara National Scenic River up close and personal by floating the gentle waters through six ecosystems, past waterfalls, and under historic bridges. A gem in the Sandhills of the Great Plains.
Opens on the Park Service site - Shoot Winter Photography at Fort Falls
See the Niobrara River in the light of a winter lens. Photographers can find winter scenery, natural phenomena's, wildlife, canyons, waterfalls, and the perfect angles for those golden hour photos in many places along the Niobrara River, but Fort…
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike to Fort Falls20-60 Minutes
This scenic 1.0 mile hike highlights the 45-foot-tall Fort Falls and the shores of the Niobrara National Scenic River on the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
News
- Niobrara River Fall Clean-Up Day Volunteer Opportunity ↗2026-09-16
Niobrara National Scenic River, in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Outdoor Adventures Program, invites volunteers to celebrate National Public Lands Day by participating in a river clean-up float on…
- Niobrara National Scenic River Welcomes New Superintendent ↗2026-08-26
The National Park Service has selected Chris Mather as the next superintendent of Niobrara National Scenic River. He will assume the role in mid-September 2026.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Nebraska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 224 birds, 48 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Barn Owl · Broad-winged Hawk · Cooper's Hawk · Eastern Screech-Owl · Ferruginous Hawk · Golden Eagle · Great Horned Owl · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Northern Harrier · Osprey · Peregrine Falcon · Prairie Falcon · Red-tailed Hawk · Rough-legged Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Short-eared Owl · Swainson's Hawk · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Bittern · American Coot · American White Pelican · American Wigeon · Black-crowned Night-Heron · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Cattle Egret · Common Goldeneye · Common Merganser · Double-crested Cormorant · Eared Grebe · Great Blue Heron · Greater White-fronted Goose · Green Heron · Green-winged Teal · Hooded Merganser · Least Bittern · Lesser Scaup · Northern Pintail · Pied-billed Grebe · Ring-necked Duck · Ruddy Duck · Sandhill Crane · Snow Goose · Trumpeter Swan · Virginia Rail · Western Grebe · Whooping Crane · Wood Duck
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Avocet · American Woodcock · Baird's Sandpiper · Black Tern · Black-bellied Plover · Common Tern · Forster's Tern · Franklin's Gull · Greater Yellowlegs · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Least Tern · Long-billed Curlew · Long-billed Dowitcher · Pectoral Sandpiper · Piping Plover · Ring-billed Gull · Semipalmated Plover · Semipalmated Sandpiper · Solitary Sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · Stilt Sandpiper · Upland Sandpiper · White-rumped Sandpiper · Wilson's Phalarope · Wilson's Snipe · willet
Gamebirds & dovesBobwhite · Mourning Dove · Ring-necked Pheasant · Rock Pigeon · Sharp-tailed Grouse · Wild Turkey
WoodpeckersDowny Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Red-bellied Woodpecker · Red-headed Woodpecker
Hummingbirds & swiftsChimney Swift · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder Flycatcher · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Redstart · American Robin · American Tree Sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Bank Swallow · Barn Swallow · Bay-breasted Warbler · Bell's Vireo · Belted Kingfisher · Bewick's Wren · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-billed Magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-headed Grosbeak · Black-throated Green Warbler · Blackpoll Warbler · Blue Grosbeak · Blue Jay · Blue-headed Vireo · Blue-winged Warbler · Bobolink · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canvasback · Cedar Waxwing · Chestnut-collared Longspur · Chipping Sparrow · Clay-colored Sparrow · Cliff Swallow · Common Grackle · Common Nighthawk · Common Poorwill · Common Yellowthroat · Dark-eyed Junco · Dickcissel · Eastern Bluebird · Eastern Kingbird · Eastern Meadowlark · Eastern Phoebe · Eastern Towhee · Eastern Wood-pewee · European Starling · Evening Grosbeak · Field Sparrow · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Grasshopper Sparrow · Gray Catbird · Gray Partridge · Great Crested Flycatcher · Great Grey Shrike · Greater Prairie-Chicken · Harris's Sparrow · Hermit Thrush · Horned Lark · House Sparrow · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Lark Bunting · Lark Sparrow · Lazuli Bunting · Least Flycatcher · Lincoln's Sparrow · Loggerhead Shrike · Mallard · Marsh Wren · Mountain Bluebird · Nashville Warbler · Northern Cardinal · Northern Goshawk · Northern Mockingbird · Northern Parula · Northern Rough-winged Swallow · Northern Shoveler · Northern Waterthrush · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Orange-crowned Warbler · Orchard Oriole · Ovenbird · Palm Warbler · Philadelphia Vireo · Pine Siskin · Prairie Warbler · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red Crossbill · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-eyed Vireo · Red-winged Blackbird · Redhead · Rock Wren · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Rusty Blackbird · Savannah Sparrow · Say's Phoebe · Scarlet Tanager · Scissor-tailed Flycatcher · Song Sparrow · Sora · Swamp Sparrow · Tennessee Warbler · Townsend's Solitaire · Tree Swallow · Vesper Sparrow · Violet-green Swallow · Warbling Vireo · Western Kingbird · Western Meadowlark · Western Tanager · Western Wood-pewee · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-throated Sparrow · White-winged Crossbill · White-winged Scoter · Willow Flycatcher · Winter Wren · Wood Thrush · Yellow Warbler · Yellow-billed Cuckoo · Yellow-breasted Chat · Yellow-headed Blackbird · Yellow-rumped Warbler · Yellow-throated Vireo
Small mammalsCinereus Shrew · House Mouse · Ord's kangaroo rat · Southern Bog Lemming · beaver · black-tailed jackrabbit · common porcupine · deer mouse · eastern cottontail · eastern mole · fox squirrel · hipsid pocket mouse · meadow jumping mouse · meadow vole · muskrat · northern grasshopper mouse · northern short-tailed shrew · olive-backed pocket mouse · plains harvest mouse · plains pocket gopher · plains pocket mouse · prairie vole · thirteen-lined ground squirrel · western harvest mouse · white-footed mouse · white-tailed jack rabbit
PredatorsCommon Otter · bobcat · coyote · longtail weasel · mink · raccoon · red fox · striped skunk
Hoofed mammalsAmerican Bison · Eurasian Elk · elk · mule deer · pronghorn · white-tailed deer
BatsNorthern Bat · Small-footed Myotis · big brown bat · hoary bat · red bat
Also on the checklistCatamount · Virginia opossum · bader
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Stargazing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 18 activitiesHide
Questions people ask
Does Niobrara charge an entrance fee?
No. Niobrara is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Niobrara open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Is anything closed at Niobrara right now?
1 active alert as of October 14, 2026: Life Jackets Required!.
Source: Alerts
How busy is Niobrara?
77,476 recreation visits in 2025, number 238 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
When was Niobrara established?
1991.
Source: Wikipedia
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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