Nebraska Public Lands
1.1% of Nebraska is federal land: 558,783 of its 49,031,680 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Nebraska is the U.S. Forest Service, with 351,197 acres, 0.7% of the state. This guide covers 45 state parks, 5 National Park Service units, 1 national forest, 2 wilderness areas, and 8 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Nebraska public lands by type
Nebraska public land map
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 61 places on this map
State parks (45)
- Arbor Lodge State Historical Park
- Arbor Lodge State Historical Park and Arboretum
- Arnold State Recreation Area
- Ash Hollow State Historical Park
- Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park
- Bluestem State Recreation Area
- Bowring Ranch State Historical Park
- Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area
- Branched Oak State Recreation Area
- Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park
- Buffalo Bill Ranch State Recreation Area
- Calamus State Recreation Area
- Chadron State Park
- Dead Timber State Recreation Area
- Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area
- Eugene T. Mahoney State Park
- Fort Atkinson State Historical Park
- Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park
- Fort Kearny State Historical Park
- Fort Kearny State Recreation Area
- Fort Robinson State Park
- Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area
- Indian Cave State Park
- Johnson Lake State Recreation Area
- Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area
- Lake Minatare State Recreation Area
- Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area (Nebraska)
- Louisville State Recreation Area
- Medicine Creek State Recreation Area
- Memphis State Recreation Area
- Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area
- Niobrara River Bridge (Niobrara State Park, Nebraska)
- Niobrara State Park
- Pawnee Lake State Recreation Area
- Pelican Point State Recreation Area
- Platte River State Park
- Ponca State Park
- Rock Creek Station State Historical Park
- Rock Creek Station State Recreation Area
- Schramm Park State Recreation Area
- Sherman Reservoir State Recreation Area
- Smith Falls State Park
- Stagecoach State Recreation Area
- Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area
- Willow Creek State Recreation Area (Nebraska)
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (5)
National forests (1)
Wilderness areas (2)
National wildlife refuges (FWS) (8)
- Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge
- Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Desoto National Wildlife Refuge
- Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge
- John W. And Louise Seier National Wildlife Refuge
- Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge
- North Platte National Wildlife Refuge
- Valentine National Wildlife Refuge
Who manages Nebraska's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Nebraska |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 5,155 | 0% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 351,197 | 0.7% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 175,674 | 0.4% |
| National Park Service | 6,462 | 0% |
| Department of Defense | 20,295 | 0% |
| All federal land | 558,783 | 1.1% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Nebraska public land
2 of Nebraska's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Nebraska state parks table.
Common questions
- 1.1% of Nebraska is federal land: 558,783 of its 49,031,680 acres (2024 data).
- 5,155 acres, less than 0.1% of the state (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Nebraska is the U.S. Forest Service, with 351,197 acres, 0.7% of the state.
- This guide lists 45 Nebraska state parks and recreation areas, 2 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
- blm.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.