Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

Our next stop today was the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge.  The roads here weren't terrific either but not nearly as bad as what we experienced at Smith Falls State Park and, actually, you'd expect a wildlife refuge to have gravel roads.

These first pictures that we took were on two different scenic overlooks as you enter the park.

The first pictures we

Then we headed to the Visitor Center and Lee got a road map to follow through the refuge.  It wasn't the easiest thing to follow but we managed to get around.  The temperatures were high in the 90's by the time we arrived here.  We were afraid all of the animals would be laying down in tall grass and we'd never see them.  We didn't see many, but we did find some.

There is a large Prairie Dog City just as you start the journey into the refuge.  They are sure cute but I wouldn't want them in my yard!

Tall Prairie Grasses

I loved some of the wild flowers!

I'm wondering if you can rent a horse for a ride in the refuge.  Don't really know.  They weren't exactly the kind of animals we were looking for, but they are beautiful.

The cloud formations today were just awesome!

As we were getting toward the end of the refuge roads, we finally found some bison.

Another view of the Niobrara River

Since it was getting so hot outside, we decided it was time to eat and we headed to the Bunk House Cafe in Valentine.   Lee had a reuben and fries and I had a cup of beef noodle soup and a BLT.  The sandwiches were passable but the soup was really good.  Their pies look wonderful too so we may have to stop by again.

Then we headed back to the campground to work on this blog!