2020 Sandhill Crane North Platte River Blind

Each spring the most incredible migration event in the world passes through the North Platte, Nebraska area. More than 200,000 Sandhill Cranes will spend about six weeks in the North Platte River valley fortifying themselves for the nesting period to come. While they are here, they will engage in beautiful courtship and pair-bonding behaviors.

Courting cranes are magnificent as they stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air in a graceful and energetic dance. Parents will dance with their chicks for the entire first year of their lives. Juvenile Sandhill Cranes will use the complex dance steps they learned to select a mate when they are two to five years old. They will mate for life, though continue to show their affection to their mates each spring with their dancing prowess. The energies and, dare we say emotions, released during the dancing rituals are essential to successful breeding.

North Platte River Sandhill Crane Viewing Blind

Dusty Trails LLC, your outdoor specialists in North Platte has partnered with a landowner along the North Platte River to place a Crane viewing blind near a large roost. 

Crane Viewing Tour Start Times:

6:00am - March 7 & 8, 14 & 15, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, April 1 & 3
6:00pm - March 7 & 8, 14 & 15, 20 - 29
6:30pm - March 30 - April 5

Your blind experience will depart from the North Platte / Lincoln County Visitors Bureau at 101 Halligan Drive. Please plan to arrive about 20 minutes before the scheduled tour time. Late arrivals cannot be accommodated. 

All tours are accompanied by an experienced guide. The morning blind tours will involve walking into the blind over uneven terrain in complete darkness and remaining in the blind until all of the birds have left the river, approximately 8:30 or 9:00am. The evening blind tours will involve walking into the blind before sunset and remaining in the blind until full dark, approximately 9:00 or 9:30pm.

Some binoculars will be available to share, but please feel free to bring along your own to enhance your experience, as well as whatever photography and videography equipment you would like. Please note, unless you purchase a separate experience in a photography blind, tripods are not allowed. No flash photography is allowed, and no flashlights are allowed. Your guide will lead you to and from the blind.

Though the viewing blind is enclosed and heated, it will still be very chilly. Warm, seasonally appropriate clothing is a must. Hats, gloves, thermal underwear, heavy coats and outerwear and sturdy boots are recommended.

The maximum number of individuals that can be accommodated in the blind is 15. Tour prices are $35.00 per person; Children under 10 are not allowed in the blinds.

While you're in town to experience the Sandhill Crane migration, be sure to check out these other adventures:

Sandhill Crane Bus Tour

Prairie Chicken Dance

Full Moon Horseback Adventure

Photography Policy
Cameras and other recording devices are welcome in the viewing blind, provided they do not place the cranes at risk or detract from the experience for others. Below are rules/guidelines for photography and recording in the general viewing blinds:

• The use of cameras and any other recording devices in the viewing blinds is allowed ONLY when there is enough light to prevent disturbance to cranes. Illumination from LCD screens in darkness will spook cranes roosting on the river and diminish the viewing experience for all visitors. Otherwise, all cameras and recording devices must be stored during the tour.

• Tablets (Ipads, etc.) are not allowed.

• No flash allowed.

• Continuous mode or rapid fire photography is not permitted.

• Tripods are not to be brought in the viewing blinds because of space limitations and tripping hazards. Monopods are allowed (tripods CANNOT be used as a monopod).

• Nothing can extend outside the blind windows (camera lenses, binoculars, hands, faces, etc.)

• Camera phones must be set on Airplane Mode and silent while on the tour.

The fine print:

• Tickets to these excursions are non refundable. 
• Dusty Trails has no control over the wild animals these tours will be viewing or the weather. There are no guarantees as to how many birds will be seen, or what they will be doing