A Walk in the Non-Profit, Private Forest

It is summer, so I went out.
We seem to have reached the hot part of the year. I don’t know how it happened, but I wound up outside in the hot part of the day in the hot part of the year. I would have liked to have more water with me than I did.
Fallen tree at Fontenelle forest

One of the things that Nebraska does  well–maybe due to being a little flatter than average–is handicapped accessible outdoor spaces. There are actually a couple of courtesy scooters for those who need them, and they both appear to have a little more get-up and go than the ones you’d get at the supermarket.

This one is Fontanelle Forest’s boardwalk trail… which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a raised boardwalk, which loops through the park in a figure eight, and covers some of the area’s most scenic landscape. Benches at fairly regular intervals throughout. There are no sharp rises or falls in this one, but it still manages to get up to a really nice view of the river from time to time. The official trail length is a mile. Even. Unofficially, I think there are some paved paths attached which aren’t counted in that number. (Or in any of the other “trails.”

boardwalk trail at Fontanelle Forest

There is also a raptor recovery sanctuary, that rehabilitates birds of prey to be released into the wild, and has about 15 different birds (mostly permanent residents, for one reason or another) on display. There were two bald eagles this time around. And a treetop ropes course, for those who have children. (No, I don’t think it’s worth having children, just so you can go on the ropes course, but if you have them, anyway, it’s probably a win.)

Here’s the boardwalk as seen from below. As you can see, it’s probably a little more even than the rest of the area.

It’s not a state park… it’s a membership-based non profit that will tolerate visitors for a fee. If you lived close enough, the membership would be worth it, but I’m just day-pass people, since I only get there a couple of times a year.

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