Indian Cave State Park

Location: Nemaha County, NE (SE corner)
Terrain: wooded, rolling hills, some steep "cliffs", borders Missouri River
Size: 3,052 acres
Modern Campsites: 134 (22 with 50 amp hookups)
Phone Reservations: yes
Online reservations: yes
Link: Indian Cave State Park

Our first visit to Indian Cave SP was on Labor Day Weekend. It is somewhat difficult to reach from Missouri since there are only two ways over the river, Brownville and Rulo. We went in one way and out another and Brownville was probably the easiest of the two.

We were greeted at 8:15 p.m. Friday night by a line of cars about 15 deep. Park personnel were working the line to try to speed the process. Although we had a reservation and had prepaid, I mistakenly forgot to ask about the vehicle permit. The line took maybe 10 minutes and when we arrived at our site it was basically dark. My understanding from our neighbors is that the park is relatively quiet in high summer but picks up considerably from Labor Day-October 31 when the leaves are turning. The next day we encountered another long line but this time we bypassed it, since we had already received our tag.

Our site (#38) was bordered by a rock wall, a common feature to many of the sites on the short loop, called Hackberry Hollow. This makes for interesting backing in and begs the question, "What if it rains?", since the site is sort of in a hole. Outfitted with a 30 amp pole, a picnic table and fire pit, it's just a basic site. It shared a common problem with most of the sites we saw -- very little elbow room. We like to play "ladder ball" and we struggled to find enough room to play without lobbing balls in to the fire. Ash Grove is the longer loop by far and has reserved and non-reserved sites in abundance. Sites near the top are crowded and not well-shaded but as you roll down the hill, there is more level terrain and plenty of shade, plus the appearance of some "breathing room".

The campground is beautifully kept and has the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen. The park has living history demonstrations (brooms, soap, blacksmith, candle dipping), two historic buildings (a schoolhouse and a small "store") and a cave so damaged by previous visitors that it was hard to look at. ICSP also has a butterfly garden, trail rides, an amphitheater, a black powder rifle range and two cemetaries (the last immoveable link to the small village that once was here). The one notable thing ICSP lacks is fresh water taps: there are few to begin with and many were broken. Also, if you forget something, count on a 20-minute drive to Falls City or Auburn for groceries and conveniences.

Tent camping appears plentiful and is located along the main roads or, for the more adventurous, scattered throughout the park on over 22 miles of hiking trails. The trails even include Adirondack shelters, a feature I've never seen in a midwest park.

One interesting note: this park is near Brownville Nuclear Power Station. There is an emergency broadcast system in place in the park, both for inclement weather and nuclear meltdown. But the only glow we saw this weekend was the broad Nebraska sky shot through with stars -- something you can only see away from the city.

4/5 stars