Spring is here! With the warmer temps and longer days of sun, many are gearing up for outdoor activities in the months ahead. The Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District operates six recreation areas in the district with a variety of amenities from boating and camping, to archery and hiking.  

Two of these recreation areas feature enhanced campgrounds with RV hookups: Pioneer Trails (Aurora) and Bruce L. Anderson (York) Recreation Areas. Camping season at these locations began Monday, April 8, and will run through late October. 

Camping is on a first-come, first-served basis, and no advance reservations are available for camping spots. RV camping at these locations is $15/night and tent camping is $5/night. New this year, campers can pay for their site via our website at www.upperbigblue.org/billpay.   

Camping is also available at Smith Creek (Utica) and Oxbow Trail (Ulysses) Recreation Areas at no charge; however, these are undeveloped camping areas with no RV hookups. All NRD campgrounds have a 14-day maximum stay in any 30-day period for RVs and tent camping.

There is no cost for day use of any of the recreation areas owned by the Upper Big Blue NRD.

Last year, the Bruce L. Anderson Recreation Area was upgraded with new playground equipment. A similar playground structure will be installed this summer at Smith Creek Recreation Area, as well as a new picnic shelter.  A portion of the recreation area will be closed off from May through July for the installation of the playground and the new picnic shelter, but the rest of the facility will remain open. 

In March, tornado sirens were added to four of the Upper Big Blue NRD’s recreation areas for added safety for campers (photos below). These sirens were funded in large part through a grant from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. As originally identified in the 2019 Hazard Mitigation Plan created by the NRD, sirens have now been installed at Smith Creek, Bruce L. Anderson, Pioneer Trails, and Oxbow Trail Recreation Areas.

A supply well was recently added to Oxbow Trail Recreation Area to supplement the natural spring fed lake. This step was taken to ensure the continued success of the fishery, which is often recognized as being one of the best in the area. 

In March, the NRD conducted a prescribed burn on 7 acres of prairie at Pioneer Trails Recreation Area near Aurora. 

According to the US Forest Service, this practice has many benefits. It reduces hazardous fuels, protecting human communities from extreme fires; minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease; removes unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem; provides forage for game; improves habitat for threatened and endangered species; recycles nutrients back to the soil; and promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants.

NRD Recreation Exploration
Nebraska’s NRDs are challenging outdoor enthusiasts to visit as many of the state’s 80 NRD recreation areas as they can between March 1 and September 16. Visit an NRD recreation area and submit a photo for a chance to win prizes! There are monthly drawings as well as a grand prize drawing. Full details at https://www.nrdnet.org/recreation.

Tornado siren installation at Bruce L. Anderson Recreation Area in March