We slept in this morning then had an early lunch at a local hamburger place, The Open Range Grill. We each had a great burger and fresh-cooked french fries. It was a good choice.
After lunch we headed north about 8 miles to Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam. We started at the visitor center. It is a nice facility that also houses the headquarters of of the state recreation department responsible for management of the lake and associated recreational facilities. We saw a 15 minute film of the history of building the dam that was interesting and well done. After seeing the exhibits in the visitor center as well as a water interpretive center, we drove over the dam and through several campgrounds below the dam then around a portion of the lake past several more campgrounds, beaches and picnic areas.
Lake McConaughy is a big reservoir, 22 miles long and 4 miles wide at its widest point with 105 miles of white sand beaches. It is a premier recreation site for water-related activities in Nebraska and looks like a great place to beat the heat of a Nebraska summer.
The Kingsley Dam, which holds back the North Platte River forming the lake, is one of the largest earthen dams in the world. It is 3 1/2 miles long, 162 ft high and 1,100 feet wide at the base. The dam was built for irrigation purposes and was completed in 1941. In 1984, the Hydro-Electric Generation Plant was added and produces over 98 million KWH of electricity annually.
After visiting the lake and dam we stopped at the local WalMart for a few supplies. We are having take-out pizza for dinner then early to bed. Our destination for tomorrow is Rawlins, WY. We hope to get an early start to beat the wind which always seems to get stronger in the afternoon. The weather looks good for tomorrow so we will see how it goes.
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