Ten things to do with family this summer

LINCOLN - If you are looking for interesting and exciting outdoor activities for summer fun with the family this year, tape this list of suggestions from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on your refrigerator door and see how many you can have checked off when the children return to school next fall.

€ Canoe the Niobrara River and visit Smith Falls State Park (SP), home of Nebraska's highest waterfall. Smith Falls SP is located 18 miles east of Valentine on the Niobrara River.

€ Spend the night camping in a tent at a state recreation area or wildlife management area.

€ Take the family fishing during the bluegill spawn from mid-May to mid-June.

€ Attend Rock Creek Days celebration at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park (SHP), June 2-3, see where James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok shot David McCanles in 1861, witness re-enactments of the Pony Express riders carrying the mail, and see the deep wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail. Rock Creek Station SHP is located about five miles southeast of Fairbury.

€ Visit Indian Cave State Park and hike or backpack along the 22 miles of trails that wind through rugged hardwood studded bluffs along the Missouri River. Indian Cave SP is located 10 miles south of Brownville and 5 miles east.

€ Visit Fort Robinson State Park to see the herds of buffalo and longhorn cattle, see the site of the Cheyenne Outbreak of 1879 when almost 150 Cheyenne broke out of the barracks where they had been imprisoned, killed soldiers and headed up the White River to hide in the Pine Ridge's rugged buttes, and the guard house where Sioux warrior Crazy Horse received a fatal stab wound inflicted by a soldier's bayonet in 1877. Fort Robinson SP is located just west of Crawford.

€ Bike a section of the Cowboy Trail between Norfolk and Ainsworth.

€ Try your hand at trout fishing at Pine Glen or Long Pine wildlife management areas along Long Pine Creek near Long Pine, or at Verdigre Creek north of Royal.

€ Visit the Rhino Barn at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park between Orchard and Royal, and see skeletons of prehistoric animals that were entombed there by volcanic ash almost 12 million years ago. Ashfall Fossil Beds SHP is located 6 miles north of U.S. Highway 20 between Royal and Orchard.

€ Visit the Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium at Schramm Park State Recreation Area. The Aquarium houses 12 viewing tanks displaying native Nebraska fish and those introduced into the state by human hands. There is a large terrarium and films and slide programs are shown in the modern theater. Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium is located about 6 miles south of Interstate 80 exit 432. Schramm Park SRA is open 24/7, but the Aquarium' summer hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends and holidays. There is a nominal adult admission charge.

Go to the Commission's Web site at www.OutdoorNebraska.org for more information about each of these areas.