Monday, June 20, 2011

Indian Cave

Indian Cave Nebraska State Park Address:
65296 720 Rd (NE Spur 64E)
Shubert Nebraska
Park Size: 3,052 acres


According to Mapquest, Indian Cave is a little over 92 miles from Omaha. Its quite a ways, but worth at least one trip just to see what this huge Nebraska State Park is like.

The cave itself is not quite as big as we hoped, but it is neat. Take your time examining this cave, and see how many of the ancient Indian pictures you can locate on the walls and rocky hillside.

Access to the cave itself is a fairly easy walk in on the board walkway. You can no longer get right up to the cave and touch the walls. Plan on spending quite a bit of time at this highlight of the park.

Other features of Indian Cave State Park include the old St. Derion Cemetery, Old Town St. Derion, Missouri River access, and an overlook with quite an impressive view. The official state website classifies the 29 miles of trails as mostly strenuous.

If this is your first trip to Indian Cave, and aren’t sure what to bring, you may want to bring a camera, a pair of binoculars (especially at the overlook), and a picnic lunch, or at least something to drink and a snack of some sort. There are quite a few nice places to park and have a snack, and we observed quite a few hawks through our binoculars while having our picnic.

Located in Indian Cave State Park, an old Nebraska schoolhouse is part of Old Town St. Derion, which was established as a trading post in the 1840s. This school building was used until 1944, and restored in 1978.



Located in Indian Cave State Park, this old Nebraska schoolhouse is part of Old Town St. Derion, which was established as a trading post in the 1840s. This school building was used until 1944, and restored in 1978.

Be sure to pick up a park map at the office, otherwise you may miss the narrow one way road into St. Derion. Don’t get discouraged driving in, the road does really go to the old town, but it’s quite a ways in.

Keep your eyes open for deer while on this road, we saw several here, as well as along the road to the boat launch.

Beyond this old Nebraska town, the road will take you to the overlook, where you must get out, take a few pictures, and put those binoculars to use. There are nice benches there if you want to sit and enjoy the view.

Eventually the one way road will take you back to the main part of the park.

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