Park system adds to outdoor leisure
■ The end of the sum
mer does not ring the
death knell for outdoor
fun. Parks and sites can
be enjoyed year round.
By Sarah Baker
Staff writer
Get out while you still can.
Soon books and classes will
be more commonplace than
shorts and sunglasses. But there
is still plenty of time to take
advantage of summer freedom
while the days are still longer
than the nights.
Although it may be surpris
ing to some, Lincoln and the sur
rounding areas are lush with
parks, trails and a variety of
other recreational opportunities,
most of which are free or have a
minimal admission fee.
Many of the parks, recre
ational areas and trails around
the area don’t cater specifically
to college students, but most do
give students the chance to get
outside while it’s still warm to do
something out of the ordinary.
Pioneers Park Nature Center,
located just west of Lincoln,
offers 700 acres of free, outdoor,
year-round entertainment.
Becky Witulski, a spokes
woman from Pioneers Park
Nature Center, said the park aims
its activities toward families, but
it still remains a big draw for col
lege students.
She said she was very inter
ested in doing things to attract
more students, but nothing has
been discussed so far.
“I don’t know what college
kids want to see, but I think it’s a
great idea to start doing more for
diem,” she said.
Witulski said in the winter
months, Mahoney’s sled run is
one of the most popular attrac
tions and draws snow enthusiasts
of all ages.
“We also attract cross-coun
try skiers in the winter, and they
are an older crowd,” she said.
Pioneers Park also has picnic
areas, biking and walking trails,
a ball diamond and soccer field
and wildlife such as bison, elk
and deer.
Get away from the city
entirely and take a half-hour trip
to Eugene T. Mahoney State
Park, which is teeming with out
door opportunities.
The park’s season runs
roughly from Memorial Day
weekend to Labor Day weekend.
Park spokeswoman Alice
Veskerna said the park’s craft
center is open year-round on
Saturdays, as is the mini-golf
course - weather permitting.
“We even have people come
to play mini-golf in January,” she
said.
The park’s other year-round
activities include horseback rid
ing, fishing and hiking.
Mahoney also has cabins and
lodging that are available for
rental throughout the year.
Of course, state parks aren’t
the only option for outdoor
entertainment.
Downtown Lincoln is more
than an eclectic ensemble of
bars, shops and Greek restau
rants. Nestled away among the
hubs of commerce are several
beautiful parks and gardens
available to all to help escape the
concrete and racket of the busi
ness district.
The Sunken Gardens, located
at 27th and C streets, is a former
neighborhood dump site that was
converted to a botanical garden
during the Great Depression.
The park is most often
reserved for wedding cere
monies, said Julie Watson, a
spokeswoman for the Lincoln
Parks and Recreation
Department, and she added that
on average, about 50 ceremonies
are performed there per year.
The garden is the largest
flower display in the city and
blooms with more than 50,000
flowering plants. The Folsom
Children’s Zoo, near the Sunken
Gardens at 1222 S. 27th St., is
another option for outdoor fun in
the late summer.
With animals as diverse as
llamas, lemurs and dwarf croco
diles, the zoo offers the chance to
see foreign wildlife close to
home.
Todd Logan, marketing and
events coordinator for the zoo,
said many are dissuaded from
visiting the zoo because of its
name.
“I think college students
would really enjoy what we have
here, but they just don’t come
because they think it’s only for
children,” Logan said. “It’s really
not that way.”
The zoo began in the 1960s
as a children’s zoo with a focus
on farm animals, but since then
the zoo has continued to expand
its scope and now includes larg
er, more exotic animals such as
baboons and leopards.
Most of the zoo’s activities
are oriented toward families,
Logan said, but he thought focus
ing more attention to college-age
people would be a success.
Lincoln is also a hot spot for
bike riding and has about 70 total
trail miles throughout the city.
. Rich Rodenburg, owner of
Bike Pedalers, 33rd and B
streets, said he has seen trail pop
ularity grow in recent years with
college students.
“Biking is a good recreation
al pastime,” Rodenburg said.
“When you’re not in the bars,
what else is there to do but get on
a bike and go ride?”
Students find it much easier
to ride a bike to campus than
drive a car, Rodenburg said. The
network of trails throughout the
city makes it possible for stu
dents to get to campus on a bike
much faster, he added.
The Billy Wolff and Rock
Island Trails join together at 30th
and A streets then continue north
to 16th and R streets, ending up
near City Campus.
The Murdock Trail, which
begins at 17th and Holdrege
streets, is convenient for those
who need to bike to East
Campus.
Rosenburg said the MoPac
Trail, one of the longest trails in
Lincoln, will soon extend all the
way to City Campus.
“Biking is great transporta
tion,” Rosenburg said. “That
makes it ideal for students.”
Although none of these
activities are that unusual, they
are fun, cheap and close to cam
pus, which makes any of them
ideal for one last dose of summer
fun.
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