"Gibbon Exit"

To get to our favorite crane-viewing spot, from Kearney take I-80 East to the Gibbon Exit and head south on that road. You will find a bridge crossing the Platte River. Take an immediate left into the parking lot of the viewing area. A short stroll away are two observation decks.

We find that this is the perfect place to watch the cranes first as they wake from their night of roosting on the river and then as they fly right overhead into the nearby cornfields to look for breakfast.

The first observation deck overlooks the road with the river and the roosting cranes in the distance. We've never found the sparse traffic along this road to be distracting. The second observation deck is situated near the river and perpendicular to the first deck. Both are protected by trees so that the cranes do not tend to notice the observers as they fly overhead.

On our first trip to watch the cranes, we just got off the highway and started driving through country roads. We saw groups gathering on private property but kept going until we found someplace "public" where we didn't feel as though we were stopping in someone's field. It was at this exact spot that we decided to wait for the dawn and the cranes. Listening to these noisy honking birds and watching them land their large 3-foot-tall frames was exhilarating! We were gratified the next year we went and found they had built this lovely observation area in "our" spot!

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