Quality of Life

Like many Nebraska communities, Ogallala and the Keith County area provide a wealth of recreational and quality of life opportunities. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy one of many area attractions and recreational activities. Families are proud to raise their children in an environment that promotes high scholastic achievement as well as a healthy lifestyle. Quality health care is also available throughout the county.

For more than a hundred years, Ogallala has ranked among the state's top tourism communities. As far back as the 1870's, Ogallala was a booming, bustling community. Today, the dance hall hostesses still kick up their heels during the nightly show at Ogallala's Front Street, a western and historical attraction financed by members of the business community and designed to replicate the Trail Drive era. The cast of the Crystal Palace Revue - comprised of high school and college students - present a family show each night during the summer season at Nebraska's longest running summer theater. Besides the Crystal Palace Revue, Front Street has a free western museum, a restaurant serving real buffalo burgers and steaks, McKenzie’s Photography & Gifts clothing, ranch memorabilia and gift shop, and the Kenfield Brothers Petrified Wood Gallery, one of Keith County's treasures and one of Nebraska's unsung treasures. Twins Howard and Harvey Kenfield donated their collection of more than 45 years to the community. The Gallery is a museum of natural history specializing in ancient woods.

Because of its western heritage, Ogallala has been designated Nebraska's "Cowboy Capital" by the Nebraska State Historical Society. Ogallala's first cemetery, Boot Hill, is now an historic park and is also a tombstone history of Ogallala.

Ogallala's Mansion on the Hill, built of brick kilned in Ogallala in 1887, is now operated as a Victorian period residence. It is owned and maintained by the Keith County Historical Society.

The gem that draws most visitors to Keith County is gigantic Lake McConaughy. The lake boasts 100 miles of shoreline of white sand beaches and 30,000 surface acres of clear blue waters and some of the best walleye fishing in the nation. The lake is a mecca for sailboat and sailboarding enthusiasts as well as fishermen and campers. Concessionaires around the lake offer restaurants, lodging, boat rentals, convenience/grocery stores, guide services, jet-ski rentals, scuba diving, and RV camp grounds.

Keith County has two golf courses - WestWind Golf Course, an 18-hole course in Ogallala and Bayside Golf, a challenging new 18-hole course at Lake McConaughy, which includes a new log cabin clubhouse. There is an outdoor swimming pool and an indoor pool in Ogallala, as well as an outdoor pool in Paxton.

In addition to nine parks covering 50 acres with 10 ball fields (seven lighted), six tennis courts and four parks with playground equipment, recreational activities in Keith County include Cornhusker Lanes Bowling Alley, the Goodall Recreation Center, the Prairie Theater and Goodall Public Library.

• Historic Haythorn Ranch, home of Figure Four Traditions Event Center, is a 7,200 square foot facility which is available for rental and catering for receptions, weddings, reunions, business meetings, conventions, etc. The ranch also offers group wagon rides and chuck wagon dinners. The Haythorn Ranch is the largest breeder of the American Quarter Horse in the United States.
• Ole's Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge - Nebraska's best-known watering hole features hundreds of pictures and memorabilia which share the rustic knotty pine walls with more than 200 trophy heads of North American and African Big Game. A hunting lodge and corporate retreat south of Paxton has been added to Ole's complex.
• Kingsley Dam - Impounding the North Platte River for irrigation and power generation, the dam is three and one half miles long and 162 feet high. It is 1,100 feet thick at the base.
• Kingsley Hydroplant - Owned by Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District, the state's largest irrigation system was financed by Nebraska Public Power District.
• Clear Creek Waterfowl Management Area - Located at the west end of Lake McConaughy it attracts large numbers of Canada geese, which can be hunted on the controlled shooting area and much of the lake.
• The Eagle-Viewing facility of Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District is open from January through early March when bald eagles congregate in large numbers below Kingsley Dam on Lake Ogallala.
• The little Catholic-Protestant Church at Keystone - Built in 1908, the church is monument to religious harmony. It was built in a pioneer town too small for two churches. It has a Roman Catholic altar at one end, a Protestant altar at the other end, with reversible pews, which can face either altar.
• A popular event at Lake McConaughy is the annual Kites and Castles, which draws visitors and competitors from several states.
• In addition to area county fairs and rodeos, annual festivals include Brule Arts in the Park, Brule Days, the Paxton Labor Day Celebration and the Ogallala Indian Summer Rendezvous.
• Lake McConaughy and Lake Ogallala rank as the number three spot for bird watching in the nation. More than 320 species of birds have been identified on or near the shores of Lake McConaughy/Lake Ogallala.
• A nearby attraction in neighboring Garden County is Ash Hollow State Historical Park southeast of Lewellen. A modern visitor center interprets the geological, paleontologic, prehistoric, Native American Indian, military, 19th Century fur trappers, and pioneer history. The Ash Hollow Cave further interprets the geologic history. Windlass Hill was described by emigrants on the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trail as the steepest descent east of the Rockies. Ruts remain from wagons, which descended the hill. The annual Ash Hollow Pageant retells the humor and tragedy of the emigrant trails and area history. Pageant narrative is based on emigrant and military diaries.
• Located near Lake McConaughy is the 9,000 square foot, $2 million Lake McConaughy Visitor/Water Interpretive Center, Nebraska's first water museum. The center also serves as Lake McConaughy headquarters for the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission and for Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District. The center includes a 50-seat theater, the Cabela Aquarium and the interpretive center focusing on the cultural, natural and economic importance of the Platte River system to Nebraska and the region.

District 1 in Ogallala offers a K-12 curriculum at the Ogallala High School, the Ogallala Middle School, Prairie View Elementary School, Progress Elementary School and West 5th Elementary School. Several other schools in Keith County also offer excellent educational opportunities.

Keith County also offers two private Christian schools, St. Paul's Lutheran School, Pre-5, and St. Luke's Catholic School, Pre-5, where the student is offered an environment in which the school combines an emphasis on the basics of academics with a commitment to developing the Christian values of integrity, morality, responsibility, and respect for the rights of others.

In both the public and private schools, value has been placed on active participation by both teachers and parents. This has been paramount in achieving a high school graduation rate of 98% and an average ACT score of 21.1.

Area colleges include: