Nebraska National Forest
near Halsey, NE

We'd been wanting to visit the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, NE, for some time. Jim Davis finally decreed that there would be a Just Jeeps trip out there over Labor Day weekend. The attendees were:

• Jim and Michelle Davis and their girls Jade and Rachel in a red YJ
• Ben, Stacy and Micah Hollingsworth in a black YJ
• Darrel and Joanne Swenson and their dogs in a yellow TJ
• Kevin Sourdyke in a turquoise Chevy pickup
• Chris Larkin on an ATV

Kevin has been to Halsey many times, and he and Chris acted as our trail leaders this weekend. Darell had also been there before, and did color commentary for us. Neither Jim nor I had ever been there, so this was a scouting trip for us.

The Swensons, Davises, and Hollingsworths all camped in the Bessey campground on the north side of the park, about a mile west of Halsey. It's a nice campground, but the non-primary restrooms left something to be desired. Chris and Kevin camped at a secluded spot deep in the forest, which is legal.

Calling this a 4-wheeling trip would be stretching the truth a bit. The forest has a well-maintained, 31-mile gravel road that loops through it, and is also littered with narrow, unmaintained, sandy roads and ATV trails. With the exception of the hill pictured below, we didn't see any trails that couldn't be easily traversed with any stock 4x4. There are numerous sand washes that would make this area quite fun for ATV's. Since most of us drove passenger vehicles, this was more of a laid back camping and exploring trip.

The Bessey campground
The Hill
Passing ATV's
Rachel, Micah, and Jade
Stacy & Micah in the Dismal River
The Dismal River
One of many windmills
Kevin & Chris' campsite
Darrel's, Ben's, and Jim's Jeeps at above campsite
Fields full of flowers
Micah on sandy trail
Jeeps in the forest