Lake Nemaha is stilled used today
even though there is no longer
people swimming, boating, or doing
activities that can only be done at
a lake. Lake Nemaha is currently a
state wildlife area and is run by
Kansas Wildlife & Parks. The park
covers 705 acres and is used by many
people in the Nemaha County area.
Many people hunt at the old lake bed
and the areas around it. There are
many white-tailed deer, squirrel,
rabbits, turkey, quail, and
pheasants. With the only water being
the small channel which is the start
of the South Fork of the Big Nemaha
River many people still fish in the
area. There are two camping areas
available and for hiking you can
hike down game trails or take the
trail on the southwest side of the
lake. There is even talk about
partially refilling the lake with
water. The lake bed is currently
leased out to farmers for farming
and the rest of the area is now
timber land. The farmers that work
that land must leave a couple of
rows of crops for the wildlife in
the area. The current spillway for
the South Fork of the Big Nemaha
river was built in 1986. Gabions,
rock filled baskets, are used to
prevent the river from scouring the
banks under the bridge. This style
of bank stabilization was state of
the art when the bridge was built
and is very unique in Kansas.
Wildlife Area
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