DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

We came here to see the wreck and artifacts of the Bertrand, which sank in 1865. The air conditioned museum (free entry) is a great respite from the hot, humid Nebraska heat. The displays and info are interesting, quite the time capsule of daily, common items used 160 years ago. Being a wildlife refuge as well, there is a nice viewing window over the river where one can see turtles on tree stumps, birds of prey and displays of other furtive, people-avoiding animals. Lots of morel mushrooms grow here in spring. The site of the wreck itself is kinda boring, as it's just a dirty brown water pond with nothing to see but informational signs, which are interesting. But man, it sure is hot out there at high noon!

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is so worth a visit. One of my favorite places. I like to visit at various times during the year and always see something different. The visitor's center is full of interesting facts and the Bertrand museum is fascinating ! Especially in the early spring, I enjoy just sitting in there and listening to all the sounds outside (a speaker pumps in the sound). I enjoy the Cottonwood Nature trail for its peace and listening to the sounds of nature.

For just a $3 entry fee, I was very impressed! Nicely managed visitor center with large windowed viewing areas, nice displays of stuffed birds and wildlife, and nicely arranged steamboat Bertrand display. There are some hands on exhibits for kids. We followed this with a short drive to the steamboat site for a walk and saw an eagle! We were not able to view impressive amounts of geese today... maybe because it was the middle of the day.

I hadn't heard about this place before, so it was a pleasant surprise! It's a nice place to watch wildlife and learn about the Steamboat Bertrand which sank in the Missouri River. The facility is beautiful and full of artifacts from the Bertrand, as well as all kinds of information about wildlife in the area. It's a great place to check out!

Bevy of Birds! We visited the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge to see the migratory flocks of birds—we were not disappointed! We arrived around 9:30am-ish and still had to wait in a long line of cars to get to the pay station for entry (very inexpensive, just a few dollars). Parking around the Visitor’s Center was packed but not impossible, even when very busy; we parked on the side of the rode and walked to the center. The trails around the Visitor’s Center were all roped off to avoid disturbing the flocks. No worries, the Visitor’s Center is fantastic and well worth your visit. The Visitor’s Center has great viewing windows, great exhibits, helpful staff, and bathrooms. On our visit, the Visitor’s Center was pretty crowded, but we still found lots of space to observe the birds (and fellow visitors were universally friendly). We also drove around the lake and found parking to hike the very short Cottonwood Trail (less than a mile, very gentle, wide trail with only a little ice), which gave us a long distance but uncrowded view of the activities from multiple points along the lake. We also saw two eagles from this trail. Overall, the sights of these birds was well worth the time and very small expense—highly recommended!