Part scavenger hunt, part outdoor recreation, the 2023 Nebraska Great Park Pursuit is back for its 16th.he year. The free program encourages participants to discover park areas across the state by visiting a group of 20 community, regional, state and federal parks now through October 31, 2023.
To participate, teams of up to 10 people must register online, in advance, at negpp.org. All ages can participate. Teams then follow the clues on the Great Park Pursuit website or mobile app to find a program post within the park area. Once found, the team marks your visit in the app or makes a pencil print of the post to prove your visit.
To encourage participation, teams can win prizes like a GoPro camera, cabin stays, backyard game packs, Nebraska state park permits, Nebraskaland magazine subscriptions and more. The more parks you visit, the more prizes a team can win, or the more tickets you can get for the grand prize: a $1,500 outdoor recreation package. Prizes and sweepstakes entries are based on the number of post impressions or park visits recorded.
This year’s participating parks are:
Ash Hollow State Historic Park, Lewellen; Bluestem State Recreation Area, Martell; Bridgeport SRA, Bridgeport; Buffalo Bill SRA, North Platte; Calamus SRA Reservoir, Burwell; Chadron State Park, Chadron; City Park, Kimball; Cottonmill Park, Kearney; Danish Alps SRA, Hubbard; Deadwood MRS, Scribner; Felber Park, Hartington; Keller Park SRA, Long Pine; Legion Park, Sydney; Medicine Creek SRA, Cambridge; Memorial Park, Omaha; Missouri River Basin Visitor Center Lewis & Clark Trail, Nebraska City; Mormon Island SRA, Doniphan; Tara Hills Park, Papillion; Union Plaza, Lincoln; Veterans Memorial Park, Holdrege.
The Great Park Pursuit mobile app is available on Google Play and the Apple iStore.
Great Park Pursuit is a partnership between the Nebraska Park and Game Commission and the Nebraska Recreation and Park Association. It is sponsored by the Nebraska Medical Chiropractic Association and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District. Designed to promote active lifestyles while increasing awareness of the state’s nature-rich outdoor recreational opportunities, the program sees more than 700 teams participate each year, with more than 100,000 park visits annually.