Pibel Lake: A place to enjoy the outdoors and experience history

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A 24-acre lake nestled in a valley just east of Highway 281 and south of Bartlett offers visitors a chance to relax and appreciate nature.

We recently visited with Pibel Lake enthusiast Alan Bartels about this location. Bartels is also with the Lower Loup Natural Resources District that now manages Pibel Lake.

“This lake has a long and interesting history,” Bartels said. “Pibel Lake was formed around 1894 or 1895. It was an irrigation project that started at Ericson in the mid-1890′s. The project went through the eastern Sandhills and over here across Clear Creek. William Pibel moved from England in the 1880′s. He later operated the Pibel post office here in the 1890′s, and then became the superintendent of a company that was managing the land along that irrigation system. The irrigation project failed, and Mr. Pibel moved back to England. But the lake that bears his name, is still here today.”

For decades, Pibel Lake has been a popular spot for recreation. “Shortly after the lake formed, and enterprising man built a hotel on the east side of the lake,” Bartels said. “That didn’t last long, and it burned down. Later, a Mr. Gilroy built a hotel on top of a hill on the west side of the lake. It was a grand hotel for its time, with a large dining room, and the only gas pump for miles. It became a fishing area, a picnic area, and just a chance for people to get into the outdoors.”

Pibel Lake was privately owned until about 1930, when the state of Nebraska bought it.

“The Game and Parks Commission operated it as a recreation spot for decades,” Bartels said. “In 2012, ownership transferred to the Lower Loup Natural Resources District. At that point, all sorts of improvements began. They put in a foot bridge in at the north end of the lake, along with a trail. On the south end of the lake, they installed new restrooms, there are a couple of fishing piers and a picnic shelter, and then a local person named Hope Peterson donated money to put in a new playground.”

There is plenty of other history surrounding the lake. At one time on the northeast corner of the lake, there was a one-room school named Pibel School District 1. And right across from where the school used to be is a cemetery that still remains. It’s called “Pibel Pleasant Hill Cemetery”. Also, on the north end of the lake, you’ll find the Pibel Bible Camp, and it’s been around since 1930, and it’s a fixture at the lake.

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