Platte River Valley

Main stem

Including the North Platte River, the Platte River stretches over 850 miles (1,400 km), with a drainage basin of about 90,000 square miles (230,000 km). The mean annual flow is estimated at 3,240 cu ft/s (92 m/s). The Platte drains one of the most arid areas of the Great Plains with a flow that is considerably lower than rivers of comparable length in North America. For much of its length, it is a classic wide, muddy and shallow braided stream that, in the lower reaches, flows in a floodplain bordered by bluffs. During pioneer days, the common humorous description was that the Platte was "a mile wide at the mouth, but only six inches deep." 49ers said it was "too thick to drink, too thin to plow". In western Nebraska, the banks and riverbed of the Platte provide a green oasis amid an otherwise semi-arid region of North America. The central Platte River valley is an important stopover for migratory water birds, such as the whooping crane and sandhill crane, in their yearly traversal of the Central Flyway. Fossil evidence in the Platte River valley indicates this crane stopover has been active for over 10 million years.