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If you’re pinching pennies this summer you can still have a vacation – think local and affordable. There are 100 free (or almost free) things to do in Nebraska for the most discerning traveler. If no price is listed on an event or activity on the list below from the Nebraska Department of Travel and Tourism, it’s free. Everything comes in at less than $5 per person. For interactive maps and a downloadable copy of the 2009 Nebraska Travel Guide, visit www.VisitNebraska.gov
100 free (or almost free) things to do in Nebraska 1. Check out a small-town rodeo (typically less than $5 for admission; not recommended for vegans) 2. View a sunset in the Sandhills (less than $5 for bug repellent) 3. Hike the Panhandle’s Toadstool Park 4. Take a bike ride on one of Nebraska’s many roads, trails and bike paths 5. Go to Lincoln’s Jazz in June or… 6. Omaha’s Jazz on the Green 7. Browse used book or music stores while juggling a latte (~$5) 8. Visit a Nebraska State Park ($4 for a daily park permit) 9. Walk around Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium and soak up the atmosphere 10. Visit Lincoln’s Sunken Gardens 11. Visit Scotts Bluff National Monument in Gering ($4 per entering car) 12. Take in the architecture and artwork at the Nebraska State Capitol 13. Visit one of Nebraska’s many farmer’s markets 14. Visit Lincoln’s Pioneers Park and get ice cream at the store on the corner of Coddington and Van Dorn (~$5) 15. Go to a park and play softball or catch 16. Go fishing at a lake or pond (amortize the fishing license out over several fishing trips for adults) 17. Tour the Happy Jack Chalk Mine in Scotia 18. Hike the Pine Ridge region of the state 19. Gaze at stars in the Nebraska countryside 20. Watch a Nebraska thunderstorm lumber across the open sky 21. Go down the Cowboy Trail near Valentine to see a quarter-mile long former train trestle that rises 150 feet above the Niobrara River 22. Drink great, free Nebraska mineral water out of a drinking fountain 23. Check out the First Friday art walk in downtown Lincoln 24. Watch live horse racing at Lincoln’s State Fair Park ($2 general admission) 25. Discover your heritage at the Wilber Czech Festival Parade 26. Go swimming at Branched Oak Lake ($4/day park permit) 27. Check out Music & Mozzarella music event at the Lincoln Children’s Museum 28. Go four-wheeling in the Platte River Valley 29. Take your toddler to Lincoln’s Ager Play Center (Admission is $2.50/person) 30. Ride North Platte’s Cody Park Antique Carousel and eat an ice cream while you do it ($1 total) 31. Eat an apple at Nebraska City’s Kimmel Orchard (~$5) 32. Take in artwork at Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum, free every Saturday until noon 33. Check out the Welcome Camel in Cairo 34. Attend beer school at Lincoln’s Lazlo’s Brewery 35. Go to NEBRASKALand Days in North Platte 36. Water ski at Oliver Lake State Park near Kimball ($4/day park permit) 37. Grab a bite at the Annual Taste of Omaha Festival (~$5) 38. Visit Hastings’ Fisher Fountain 39. Sit a spell on the World’s Largest Porch Swing in Hebron… 40. Or travel back in time with the World’s Largest Time Capsule in Seward 41. Take in a movie at one of the state’s two remaining drive-in theaters in Alliance or Neligh (~$5) 42. Eat a piece of pie at Crawford’s High Plains Homestead (~$5) 43. Take in the scenery during Omaha’s Annual North Hills Pottery Tour 44. Visit the Ft. McPherson National Cemetery, near Maxwell 45. Feel positively ancient at Alliance’s Carhenge 46. Snap a photo under the 100th meridian sign at Cozad near the train depot 47. See the only Union Pacific 3977 Steam Locomotive on display anywhere at the Cody Park Railroad Museum in North Platte 48. Visit the arboretum on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus 49. Absorb some culture in UNL’s Sheldon Art Gallery 50. Visit the Sachtleben Observatory at Hastings College, where you can use one of four telescopes free on two Saturday nights per month 51. Take the Fountain to Fountain Walking Tour of Hastings Historic District 52. Ride ‘em cowboy at Omaha’s River City Roundup 53. Hear the story of Buffalo Bill Cody at Buffalo Bill State Historical Park in North Platte ($4) 54. Visit Centennial Hall, near Valentine, which is the oldest standing high school in Nebraska and also reportedly haunted ($2) 55. Take a stroll through a small-town downtown 56. Go back in time on Hastings’ WWII Naval Ammunition Depot Driving Tour 57. Take in the Annual Intertribal Gathering at Fort Robinson State Park during the second weekend of June 58. Visit Robidoux Pass National Historic Landmark, eight miles southwest of Scotts Bluff National Monument, where you can view wagon wheel ruts made along the Oregon Trail 59. Visit a county fair and enjoy the parades, root beer floats, races, etc. (~$5) 60. Go off the main roads and drive up a scenic overlook. Free beautiful views. 61. Have a picnic in a small town park 62. Visit Smith Falls State Park, near Valentine, and see the state’s highest waterfall ($4/day park permit) 63. Play disc golf 64. Visit Merritt Reservoir and enjoy fishing, swimming and excellent beaches in June, July and August ($4/day park permit) 65. Get historical at the Lincoln County Historical Museum in North Platte ($3) 66. Enjoy a free concert at Lincoln’s Antelope Park 67. Take a boat ride at Omaha’s Gene Leahy Mall (~$5) 68. Visit Beatrice’s Homestead National Monument 69. Pitch horseshoes 70. Visit the Fort Cody Trading Post in North Platte 71. Visit Hastings’ Holiday Island 72. See some western art at the Stones and Bones Gallery and Emporium in North Platte 73. Visit the new Golden Spike Tower in North Platte ($5 for students, $4 for seniors) 74. See the animal displays at the Cabela’s location closest to you, or road trip to the store’s original Sidney location 75. Visit Wildlife World in Gering 76. Go to Nebraska’s Highest Point in Kimball 77. Stroll along one of the many historic walking tours around the state 78. Go to a small town Nebraska high school sporting event 79. Take in the vast Willa Cather Memorial Prairie, near Red Cloud 80. Visit a town that only has one stop light 81. Pace Union Pacific trains across the Sandhills 82. Drive down one of Nebraska’s nine scenic byways 83. Honor and remember 20th century veterans at America’s 20th Century Veterans Memorial in North Platte 84. Ride a bike to the Nebraska state line 85. Watch a calf being born on a Nebraska ranch 86. See wheat, bean, corn or sunflower harvests 87. Visit Nebraska’s most famous Chimney Rock in Bayard ($3)… 88. Or check out Court House and Jail Rocks, near Bridgeport for a more individual rocky experience 89. While you’re on the pioneer trail, see California Hill, where the Platte River divides in two… 90. …and then follow the Oregon Trail from Oshkosh to Bridgeport 91. Absorb culture at the Western Nebraska Art Center in Scottsbluff 92. Visit the Nebraska Major League Baseball Museum in St. Paul 93. Visit the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha 94. Hearken back to the first spectator rodeo in Nebraska that took place in 1882 at North Platte’s Cody Park Wild West Memorial near the Old Glory Blowout site 95. Walk along the Omaha riverfront and cross the new Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge 96. Go on a public art tour of Omaha or Lincoln 97. Relive the life of homesteaders at Kimball’s Brookside Farm 98. Shop the annual central Nebraska Junk Jaunt (free but will cost you some gas and a few bucks on junk) 99. Eat a tin roof sundae in Potter (~$5) 100. Visit the Pawnee Earth Lodge in Goehner
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