Many people consider Nebraska to be a “flyover” state, or a state that is only worth flying over on your way to somewhere else. As I have called Nebraska home for my entire life, I beg to differ. Crisscrossed by a wealth of rivers and full of rolling sandhills, tallgrass prairies, and the best sunsets around, Nebraska is a natural beauty that everyone should experience.

While Nebraska is a great place to visit year round, the month of March is a prime time to make the trip. Between late February to early April, south central Nebraska becomes the site of one of the greatest natural spectacles in the world: the mass migration of sandhill cranes. For thousands of years, these giant birds have spent the early spring traveling from their winter grounds in Texas and Northern Mexico to their summer nesting sites in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. Weak and famished from the winter and their long flight, the cranes break up their journey by landing in Nebraska. To this day, a half a million cranes descend upon the Platte River area in the spring to rest and replenish their bodies before finishing the flight north to mate.

For Nebraskans, the arrival of the sandhill cranes is a big deal. Many of us view their appearance as the harbinger of spring; it means that we have survived the long, cold winter and that spring is right around the corner. It is also a big deal to us because with the cranes comes hundreds of tourist from all over the country and the world. We love to host everyone and educate them about these incredible birds. It also gives us an opportunity to contribute to the conversation about conservation and living in harmony with the species. We greatly respect these birds and their epic migration, so we love to teach people about our ban on hunting them and how to properly view them.

So how can you experience one of the world’s greatest migrations for yourself? Hop in your car or your plane or however you want to get here and head to the Grand Island area! While the cranes are here for about a month and a half, mid-March is the best time to come, as bird numbers will be at their peak. If you don’t mind getting up early and standing outside in 30-degree weather, you can go to the Crane Trust Visitor’s Center in Alda, Nebraska before dawn and take a guided tour to the riverside where hundreds of cranes spend the night on the Platte’s many sand bars. From the shelter of a blind, you can see the cranes come alive in the sunrise, listen to their primordial trills and whistles, and watch them flap their wings and dance. During the day, when it is significantly warmer, you can take one of the numerous country roads in the area and hunt for cranes in the air and in the fields, where they eat up the corn leftover from harvest. You can also return to the Crane Trust and spend time exploring their trails and bridges, watching their herd of plains bison, and spotting several native species of songbirds. In the evening, you can stay at the bridges at the Crane Trust or go to one of the river lookouts in the Wood River area and watch the cranes return to the Platte for the night against the dramatic backdrop of a stunning Nebraska sunset.

So come visit us in Nebraska and experience on of our favorite moments of the year! We’d love to have you!