Pontoon in Nebraska

Nebraska and boating don't sound like a pair until you've stood on the dam at Lake McConaughy and watched sailboats work water that runs to the horizon. Locals call these reservoirs Nebraska's "ocean," and the big three earn it: McConaughy in the west, Harlan County Lake in the south, Lewis and Clark Lake along the northeastern border. Between them you get open water for powerboats and sailboats, quiet coves for anglers and paddlers, and prairie sunsets that no coastal marina can match.

The marinas on these lakes handle the essentials and then some: transient and seasonal slips, fuel docks, pump-out stations, and often rental fleets. Small fishing boats, big cruisers, sailboats: the facilities scale to fit. What defines the scene is how unpretentious it is. People come here to fish, to pull skiers, to anchor somewhere calm on a big inland sea and do nothing at all, and the lake communities work hard at making visitors feel like regulars.