Loup River, Monroe to Columbus, NE

Trip Overview

We put in at the bridge south of Monroe. It was a very warm day. This River is very wide and shallow, with a channel snaking across the sandy bottomed river bed. Pretty flat water all the way, I think we only hit one or two tiny little rapids. It’s really easy to lose the channel though, because you’re distracted by beautiful bald eagles, red tailed hawks and other abundant wildlife and plant species. I saw a beaver on the bank that was so close I could have almost have reached out to pet him, if beavers were the sort of critter that one would pet!

The trip down to Pawnee Park in Columbus is about 15 miles, and took two of us about 7 hours on the water, plus driving time shutting boats and trucks. This includes a couple stops to stretch and maybe a 20-30 minute lunch break. The river gauge at Genoa was measuring about 4.1’ and discharge was almost 400 CYS that day. There was a decent current running, but it was still necessary to paddle the whole time to stay in the channel. Not a lazy float kinda river at this stage. Weather was hot (90 degrees) and very sunny. Wear and reapply sunscreen often! There was not a scrap of shade to be found most of the trip.

The only downside was once we took out under the bridge in Columbus, we had to carry our boats up and over the levee to the parking lot, perhaps a quarter mile. I would like to try this river again in the springtime when the wildflowers are blooming and perhaps the water level is a little higher.