Two Rivers State Recreation Area

THANK YOU to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission which donated a two-night stay in a restored Union Pacific Caboose cabin at the Two Rivers SRA to the 2010 Nebraska Travel Conference in October last year. I was the high bidder, and we just enjoyed our stay there. Two Rivers is just about twenty minutes outside of Omaha, and only about 50 miles from Lincoln, so it’s convenient to everywhere. There are ten U.P. Caboose cabins, and a couple hundred camping spots on 644 acres of land, plus 320 acres of water in seven small lakes. One includes a swimming beach, and there’s even a dedicated trout fishing lake.

The Platte River borders the SRA on the west, and the Elkhorn on the east – hence the “two rivers”. We kayaked a couple of the lakes, but the water is so high and fast in the rivers that we didn’t attempt it. The Platte River might be high in our neck of the woods in western Nebraska, but nothing like this just a few miles before it dumps into the Missouri.

The Caboose cabins are totally cute. The historical integrity of the cabooses was retained in the process, including the steel grate platform (wear your sandals stepping out of the door in the morning!) and the 25” steel doors. The clearance above the rail is still the standard 30”, so they aren’t handicap accessible. Each has an attached deck with a picnic table, and there’s a charcoal grill and fire ring nearby. The fireflies and locusts were outdoing themselves with the light show and the serenade.

They are air conditioned and sleep six with two bunk beds in the back and a double bed in the cupola. This is where we slept, and it was all good except the trip down the ladder in the morning! If you stay here, just remember that it is simply a housekeeping cabin, so you have to bring everything you need – bedding, towels, cooking and eating utensils, lawn chairs, etc.

The steel exteriors of the cabooses block cell phone service inside the cabins, so any data, phone calls, messages have to be made from outside. Plus, your phone is going to be searching for signals the entire time you’re inside the cabin, so your battery is going to drain fast.

There is a great concessionaire on site, with cooked-to-order meals, and just about anything you might have forgotten in your trip planning.

You can make reservations 24/7 at www.outdoornebraska.org up to a year in advance for two-night stays. Walk-ins may be available for one night. You can also call 402-471-1414. They are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tworiverssra.

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee is always on.