Area Attractions

  • Historic Haythorn Ranch houses Figure Four Traditions Event Center, a 7,200 square foot facility which is available for rental and catering for receptions, weddings, reunions, business meetings, conventions, etc. The ranch also offers group wagon rides and chuck wagon dinners. The Haythorn Ranch is the largest breeder of the American Quarter Horse in the United States.
  • Ole's Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge - Nebraska's best-known watering hole features hundreds of pictures and memorabilia which share the rustic knotty pine walls with more than 200 trophy heads of North American and African Big Game. A hunting lodge and corporate retreat south of Paxton has been added to Ole's complex.
  • Kingsley Dam - Impounding the North Platte River for irrigation and power generation, the dam is three and one half miles long and 162 feet high. It is 1,100 feet thick at the base.
  • Kingsley Hydroplant - Owned by Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District, the state's largest irrigation system was financed by Nebraska Public Power District.
  • Clear Creek Waterfowl Management Area - Located at the west end of Lake McConaughy it attracts large numbers of Canada geese, which can be hunted on the controlled shooting area and much of the lake.
  • The Eagle Viewing facility of Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District is open from January through early March when bald eagles congregate in large numbers below Kingsley Dam on Lake Ogallala.
  • The Little Catholic-Protestant Church at Keystone - Built in 1908, the church is monument to religious harmony. It was built in a pioneer town too small for two churches. It has a Roman Catholic altar at one end, a Protestant altar at the other end, with reversible pews, which can face either altar.
  • A popular event at Lake McConaughy is the annual Kites and Castles, which draws visitors and competitors from several states.
  • In addition to area county fairs and rodeos, annual festivals include Brule Arts in the Park, Brule Days, the Paxton Labor Day Celebration and the Ogallala Indian Summer Rendezvous.
  • Lake McConaughy and Lake Ogallala rank as the number three spot for bird watching in the nation. More than 320 species of birds have been identified on or near the shores of Lake McConaughy/Lake Ogallala.
  • A nearby attraction in neighboring Garden County is Ash Hollow State Historical Park southeast of Lewellen. A modern visitor center interprets the geological, paleontologic, prehistoric, Native American Indian, military, 19th Century fur trappers, and pioneer history. The Ash Hollow Cave further interprets the geologic history. Windlass Hill was described by emigrants on the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trail as the steepest descent east of the Rockies. Ruts remain from wagons, which descended the hill. The annual Ash Hollow Pageant retells the humor and tragedy of the emigrant trails and area history. Pageant narrative is based on emigrant and military diaries.
  • Opening in 2002 is the new 9,000 square foot, $2 million Lake McConaughy Visitor/Water Interpretive Center, Nebraska's first water museum. The Center also serves as Lake McConaughy headquarters for the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission and for Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District. The center includes a 50-seat theater, the Cabela's Aquarium and the interpretive center focusing on the cultural, natural and economic importance of the Platte River system to Nebraska and the region.