When most people think of Nebraska landscapes they think of corn fields. Beaches and lakes are often non synonymous with our state. But there are quite a few lakes around Lincoln and they are a breath of fresh air in the summer.
We visited Pawnee Lake at
this week and it was wonderful! It only took us 25 minutes to get there from our house in central Lincoln. We took a very scenic route (aka I got a bit lost) so it probably could have taken even less time. Pawnee is located Northwest of Lincoln.
It is $5 to enter the park. You can boat, fish, camp and swim. We chose to go to Area 1 and spend the day swimming and building sand castles on a small beach. The water was warm and the beaches and water were clean. We visited on a Tuesday at 10:00 AM and there were very few people on the lake or the beaches. Whenever a boat or jet ski came by, small waves were made and the kids loved jumping in them. After talking to friends, they said that the lake can become very crowded on weekends and their advice was to get there early in the day to avoid crowds. Alternatively, the lake is open until 9:00 PM so you can come out on a weeknight which tend to be less crowded than weekends.
We brought blow-up toys, buckets and shovels, and life jackets. There were picnic tables, swings and bathrooms within walking distance of the beach. I like this beach a lot because the parking lot is close and if you are hauling a lot of stuff, you won't spend a half an hour going back and forth to your car.
The lake is cloudy and at 3 feet deep we could no longer see our feet. This combined with a rip-tide current creates a dangerous situation for children. A child can disappear in seconds and unlike at a pool, they are almost impossible to see in lake water. Make sure to pack some kind of flotation device for children if you are visiting a lake.
I highly recommend visiting a nearby lake for a summer activity. We are lucky to have so many within an hour of us-Branched Oak, Pawnee and Wagon Train are three that we have visited and enjoyed. There is just something about beaches and kids that go hand-in-hand. Five hours passes quickly with sandcastle building, shore exploring and swimming out to the buoys.
