Located in north-central Nebraska the Central Niobrara Valley ecoregion covers roughly 23000 acres. This ecoregion offers a diverse landscape of wetlands, prairie and forest. Along the ecoregion’s rivers forests are interspersed with a mosaic of cropland and mixed-grass prairie. Overlooking river and stream bottoms is a terrain that includes steep hills and deep canyons with ponderosa pine and eastern red cedars and flat sweeping grasslands. Throughout the ecoregion there are several transition zones between forests and grassland types providing a mixture of eastern and western avifauna. Along the Verdigris and Bazile Creeks, due to lack of fire and specific livestock grazing practices that reduce native plant species diversity promotes the growth of exotic plant life. Many birding sites can be found along the highways traversing the ecoregion as well as in the ecoregions state parks and wildlife management areas located throughout the region.
| Title | Category | Address | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Bobcat Wildlife Management Area | 42.728, -99.877 | Nearly 90 percent of this area consists of steep pine- and cedar-covered canyons. | |
 | Cub Creek Recreation Area | 42.826, -99.916 | 27 acre lake surrounded by prairie and planted pine trees. | |
| Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge | 42.883, -100.445 | This refuge, originally established to protect bison and other large game animals, lies on the western edge of the east-west ecological transition zone between forest types, and thus has a fine mixture of eastern and western avifauna. | |
| Hull Lake Wildlife Management Area | 42.867, -98.882 | Area 36 acres. Hilly uplands, with oaks, conifers and grasslands around a 3-acre lake. | |
| Keller School Land WMA and Keller Park State Recreation Area | 42.668, -99.774 | Areas consist of native prairie, wooded canyons, Bone Creek, and five small fishing ponds stocked with trout and other game fish. | |
 | Long Lake State Recreation Area | 42.293, -100.104 | Sandhills lake and grasslands. 80 acres. | |
| Long Pine State Recreation Area | 42.547, -99.711 | Consists of about 85 percent pine and red cedar wooded habitats, and the rest is native Sandhills grassland, bisected by Long Pine Creek. | |
| Parshall Bridge Wildlife Management Area | 42.849, -98.837 | Area 230 acres. Riparian wooded habitats along the Niobrara River. | |
| Pine Glen Wildlife Management Area | 42.673, -99.7 | Consists of 960 acres of canyons, a trout stream, and mixed grasslands and wooded habitats. No facilities. | |
| Redbird Wildlife Management Area | 42.757, -98.431 | Mostly bur oak and cedar; bisected by Louse Creek, with steep wooded slopes and rolling grasslands. | |
 | Smith Falls State Park | 42.889, -100.315 | The river can be crossed by a footbridge for a view of the falls. | |
 | Spencer Dam Wildlife Management Area | 42.808, -98.654 | Includes 9 acres of Niobrara River Valley, providing river access. | |
| Thomas Creek Wildlife Management Area | 42.765, -99.691 | Steep topography around Thomas Creek, with grassland on the hills and wooded creek-bottom. | |
 | Twin Lakes R.C. Wildlife Management Area | 42.314, -99.479 | It includes 113 acres of surface water (two lakes) and 30 acres of grassland. |