Little Brown Box tour reveals seasonal beauty of Nebraska’s Bohemian Alps

SEWARD COUNTY, Neb. (KOLN) - To some, the grasses of Seward County, may look a little plain, but in the distance are hills that reminded Czech settlers of home and even inspired poetry. The region is called the Bohemian Alps.

"It's so frustrating to me to try and get a picture of our Bohemian Alps because they are so spacious," said Pat Coldiron, a Seward County historian. "And they're so big, and you can't get a picture of the scope of them all. And I go, 'How did they get their wagons over there, and how did they travel through here?'"

Coldiron created a self-guided road trip with brochures, games, maps and trinkets to share the significance of the Alps. It's a part of her Little Brown Box program.

The Bohemian Alps is about 25 miles west of Lincoln. The vast terrain spills into other counties and many small towns, but Coldiron prefers the route down Ridge Road near Garland.

It takes people past an area that used to house a settlement called Oak Grove.

"Over there was a little community back there that not one trace of it is left," Coldiron said driving through the hills. "They cut down so many of the oak trees there, and then hauled them down to Lincoln as they cooked down the salt at Salt Creek."

Although the Oak Grove settlement no longer exists, oak trees still dot the hills of rocky terrain. Coldiron told me there used to be a quarry where people dug for limestone and sometimes found fossils.

"(The Bohemian Alps) were created throughout the last glaciation, and so it's what I call steeply, rolling hills," said Scott Luedtke with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. "Part of why those grasslands and woodlands are still in place is because of that steeper topography."

Luedtke is the southeast district manager for private lands programs. He works with landowners when they have questions about preserving some of the natural terrain. The topography includes lakes, farmland and what tallgrass prairie remains in Nebraska.

"Landowners would tell you that those grasslands can be pretty rocky and part of the reason why they don't turn them into corn and soybeans," Luedtke said.

Today, some farmers still grow dryland crops in the Bohemian Alps. It's also the home of former U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser.

"And Ted wrote about the Bohemian Alps in 'Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps,' which is a series of essays about this part of Nebraska," said Carla Ketner, owner of Chapters Books & Gifts in Seward.

When Kooser was asked why he's drawn to the Bohemian Alps, he said in an email, "Some of us will on our own, discover that there's something peaceful about looking at landscape. Other people will always drive past without looking."

He also said "stewardship" is needed to preserve the area's beauty.

"Most people who don't know Nebraska, think about Nebraska being flat and boring," Ketner said. "But the hills around here are gorgeous in any season really."

As leaves start to change colors, the Bohemian Alps are about to look extra beautiful. Before people drive through the scenic routes of Seward County, Coldiron warns them to be careful for farm equipment on the country roads and to watch for deer.

If you'd like a Little Brown Box, you can buy the Bohemian Alps tour for $15 at the Liberty House at 441 North 5th St. in Seward. If you'd like a box mailed to you, you can call (402)643-2555 or email Pat at .