Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area

State Recreation Area On A Sandhills Reservoir; Host Of The Nebraska Star Party (Hedge) · Valentine, Nebraska

Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area surrounds a long, branching reservoir on the Snake River in the Nebraska Sandhills, roughly 25 miles south-west of Valentine along Nebraska Highway 97. The dam was built by the federal Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation and the lake filled in the 1960s; around it Nebraska Game and Parks runs a scatter of campgrounds, boat ramps and sandy beaches in open grassland with no town or streetlight for many miles in any direction. That emptiness is why people drive here from other states: on a clear moonless night the sky is among the darkest in the central United States, and every summer amateur astronomers gather for the week-long Nebraska Star Party, held around a new moon. By day the reservoir is known for walleye, crappie and bass fishing, quiet camping, and Snake River Falls on the road in. It is a remote, basic place - primitive campsites, vault toilets, no restaurant - and the nearest fuel, groceries and dependable phone signal are back in Valentine. Come for the stars and the solitude, not for comfort, and plan the trip around the moon.

Nebraska Highway 97, Valentine, Nebraska, 69201, United States

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the recreation area is open all year, day and night, with camping in the designated campgrounds, on Central time (check - Cherry County is split). Water taps are seasonal, roughly May to September; winter brings dry taps and unplowed roads. The Nebraska Star Party runs about a week around one summer new moon; check the dates. The traps that ruin a trip are coming at full moon, arriving after dark with no site picked, and leaving Valentine short of fuel or water. Confirm current times before relying on them.

Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos