Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area

State: Nebraska

Address 1: 210615 Hwy 71

City: Gering

Zip: 69341

Phone: 308-436-3777

Open: Open all year

Open all Year: Yes

Number of Sites: 30

Camp URL: http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/guides/parksearch/showpark.asp?Area_No=193

Full Hook: Yes

Picturesque wilderness, Wildcat Hills SRA and Big Game Reserve encompass 761 acres of rugged rock buttes and pine-covered canyons, 10 miles S of Gering. It is also home to an extraordinary Nature-Visitor Center. It is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily April-September and 8-4:30 Monday-Friday October-March (closed weekends). Facilities: Picnic tables, shelters, water, vault toilets, hiking trails and 30 non-pad campsites.

The Game and Parks Commission acquired the initial Wildcat Hills tract in 1929, and the picnic area and game reserve were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Ad ministration (WPA) during the Depression era . Nearly all of the buildings and facilities on the area, with the exception of the new nature center, are built of native stone, quarried nearby. Wood for roofs, bridges and benches came from logs cut on the area.