Every spring 80 percent of the world’s Sandhill Cranes descend on the Platte River Valley for a refueling stop before continuing their annual northward migration to Canada and the Arctic.
A visit with Roger Jasnoch, Director of the Kearney Visitors Bureau about experiencing the crane migration and experiencing Kearney, Nebraska’s attractions.
Visitors from around the world descend on the Kearney region to experience the cranes up close and personal. Jasnoch shares his passion for springtime crane watching, along with Whooping Cranes, eagles, ducks, geese, shorebirds and other wildlife that make their annual migrations through Nebraska. Kearney is literally in the heart of America’s heartland—it’s just a five-hour drive from Denver, Colorado.
Jasnoch talks about a mandatory stop along Interstate 80 to experience the Great Platte River Road Archway that free spans the interstate. It’s a futuristic, multi-colored, steel-girdered structure. Inside the archway there is a Disney-esque experience that’s a hit with kids and adults alike. The Archway chronicles 150 years of transportation through the Platte River Valley.
History is brought to life through engaging, bigger than life three-dimensional interpretive displays, from buffalo migrations, to the era of the covered wagons, and the advent of the Lincoln Highway—America’s first transcontinental highway that opened in 1913.
More about the Sandhill Cranes
The Crane is one of the world’s oldest and most revered bird species. Nine million-year-old crane fossils have been recorded in Nebraska. Today, the Great Platte River Valley remains as a vital resting and refueling spot.
Cranes spend their days gorging on leftover corn in the surrounding fields, and then retreat to the Platte River’s protected sandbars around sunset.
The Crane is an amazing avian—they love to catch the thermals, and with a good tailwind can cruise up to 35 miles an hour, traveling sometimes as far as 500 miles in a single day.
Cranes have been spotted sailing on thermals in excess of 25,000 feet above sea level. The total population of Lesser and Greater Cranes and their sub-species ranges between 600,000 and 800,000.
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