DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

We came here to see the wreck and artifacts of the Bertrand, which sank in 1865.
The air conditioned museum (free entry) is a great respite from the hot, humid Nebraska heat. The displays and info are interesting, quite the time capsule of daily, common items used 160 years ago.
Being a wildlife refuge as well, there is a nice viewing window over the river where one can see turtles on tree stumps, birds of prey and displays of other furtive, people-avoiding animals. Lots of morel mushrooms grow here in spring.
The site of the wreck itself is kinda boring, as it's just a dirty brown water pond with nothing to see but informational signs, which are interesting. But man, it sure is hot out there at high noon!

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is so worth a visit. One of my favorite places. I like to visit at various times during the year and always see something different. The visitor's center is full of interesting facts and the Bertrand museum is fascinating ! Especially in the early spring, I enjoy just sitting in there and listening to all the sounds outside (a speaker pumps in the sound). I enjoy the Cottonwood Nature trail for its peace and listening to the sounds of nature.

Amazing wildlife refuge! There's plenty to see. BTW, around the first couple of weeks in November, something like half a million Canadian geese stop by to rest on their way south. Can't wait to see it!

History, nature, awesome! Check out the Bertrand Steamboat museum (dig of most 100+ year old Steamboat found in 1969). Take the drive to the dig site abs the beautiful trails.

For just a $3 entry fee, I was very impressed! Nicely managed visitor center with large windowed viewing areas, nice displays of stuffed birds and wildlife, and nicely arranged steamboat Bertrand display. There are some hands on exhibits for kids.

We followed this with a short drive to the steamboat site for a walk and saw an eagle! We were not able to view impressive amounts of geese today... maybe because it was the middle of the day.

Always a terrific spot for exploring and experiencing the beautiful natural area that nature provides. Fishing, photography, birds, migrating ducks & geese, raccoons, opossums, badgers, bobcats, deer, if it's native & walks, crawls, slithers or flies you can experience it here. Bring your camera!

I hadn't heard about this place before, so it was a pleasant surprise! It's a nice place to watch wildlife and learn about the Steamboat Bertrand which sank in the Missouri River. The facility is beautiful and full of artifacts from the Bertrand, as well as all kinds of information about wildlife in the area. It's a great place to check out!

Bevy of Birds! We visited the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge to see the migratory flocks of birds—we were not disappointed! We arrived around 9:30am-ish and still had to wait in a long line of cars to get to the pay station for entry (very inexpensive, just a few dollars). Parking around the Visitor’s Center was packed but not impossible, even when very busy; we parked on the side of the rode and walked to the center. The trails around the Visitor’s Center were all roped off to avoid disturbing the flocks. No worries, the Visitor’s Center is fantastic and well worth your visit. The Visitor’s Center has great viewing windows, great exhibits, helpful staff, and bathrooms. On our visit, the Visitor’s Center was pretty crowded, but we still found lots of space to observe the birds (and fellow visitors were universally friendly). We also drove around the lake and found parking to hike the very short Cottonwood Trail (less than a mile, very gentle, wide trail with only a little ice), which gave us a long distance but uncrowded view of the activities from multiple points along the lake. We also saw two eagles from this trail. Overall, the sights of these birds was well worth the time and very small expense—highly recommended!

Was hoping to see the birds since there were so many in the fields. Still a cool place to visit and see the exhibit

Beautiful area for a nature walk and see some great wildlife..lots of different kinds of birds. We also visited the visitor center and the kids learned about the Steamboat Bertrand that sank and saw many artifacts retrieved.

Very nice museum, which was unexpected, from the reviews. Pleasant experience, learned about riverboat experience, there's an excavated wreck with all it's cargo salvaged.
Wildlife refuge of 8k acres, right on the Missouri River.

We love DeSoto! As it warms up this is a great place to walk the trails, spot the wildlife and soak up the feeling of nature. Great way to get some energy out of the kiddo on the weekend too. Can’t wait to spend some summer days here.

This is a beautiful area that is being rebuilt after the Corps of Engineers flooded the area twice in recent years. There's a lot of work going into the lakefront, the riverfront, the wildlife habitat, and even the museum. We go on a regular basis.

My husband and I like to visit wildlife refuges and quiet nature parks for the birding and the scenery. DeSoto does not disappoint. We were able to visit some, but not all of the areas because flood waters were still too high. Though we did not see the huge flocks of migrators, we enjoyed the birds we did see, and the changing colors of the leaves. So beautiful.

Simply stunning! The Bertrand exhibit is worth it alone but when you add the beautiful nature trails this place is amazing. For those not interested in exploring the trails, the roads will get you some good views, too.

Great to see the migration of the snow geese, the staff was very accommodating with all of the added people coming to the park. The indoor things to see where an added bonus, the trails are also nice and well maintained.

One of my very favorite places! We use to go here in the 60's before it was a Wildlife Refuge. The Bertram is Amazing. And I continue to be amazed while hiking and bird watching here.

My family has been going here every year for my whole life. It is such a great place to see birds and other wildlife. Definitely recommend visiting during the migration seasons! One of the best places to see eagles, geese, swans and ducks in the winter, and all times of year!

Five star hangout!

A fantastic place to come see a flood plain forest and its associated plants and animals. The best way to experience this place is with your bikes (take the full route around the lake) or, even better, by canoe or kayak. Be sure to go early enough in the morning or late enough in the evening if you want to see something of the deer, etc.

This park lies along a major flyway and hosts tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?!) of ducks, geese, and other feathered types in the late fall, winter and spring. The fishing on the lake is mediocre at best in my experience. Since the flood of 2011, the riverfront is a bit undone, but it is slowly recovering.

Their Missouri riverfront is a fantastic place to look for eagles in the winter time too. The visitor center is well laid out and staffed by friendly federal employees so keep paying your taxes.

Worth the drive from Omaha, especially when the trails are open. There are plenty of things for the kids to do, and they love the bird watching.