Between Aug. 10 and Oct. 23, the City of Lincoln's 2026 running schedule for Pioneers Park has 30 dated entries. That works out to a cross-country meet, time trial, or practice about every two and a half days, all on the prairie trails in southwest Lincoln. After Oct. 23, the next entry is the Holiday Run on Sunday, Dec. 6. This year the record rain of Sept. 30 hit right in the middle of that stretch. So most of October is a month of working around the park, and the Nature Center's real fall opener comes two weeks after the last race, on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The storm got there before the runners did
Lincoln Airport recorded 6.15 inches of rain on Wednesday, Sept. 30. That broke the city's all-time daily record of 5.45 inches, which had stood since Aug. 29, 1910. The National Weather Service office in Omaha/Valley also lists 6.15 inches as the official all-time record in its event summary.
The next day, Lincoln Parks and Recreation posted a list of temporary closures. For anyone headed to Pioneers Park, the key line was that parts of the Bison Trail were impassable between the Salt Creek Levee Trail and Coddington Avenue. That stretch is how many people bike or walk into the park, so it matters even if your destination is the Nature Center lot. The same KOLN roundup listed impassable areas in Wilderness Park, the impassable Salt Creek Levee Trail underpass, and flooding on roads and trails near 70th and Normal streets at Holmes Lake Park.
Pioneers Park and the Nature Center were not on the City's named closure list. The City warned of standing water, mud, and debris in parks generally and said staff would announce reopenings when areas were safe. Parks spokesperson Kat Schlueter said crews were clearing debris and closed areas would reopen "as soon as they are safe." No reopening time for the Bison Trail had been posted in the coverage we reviewed. As of Oct. 4, check the Lincoln Parks and Recreation page before you leave home.
Two meets cancelled in two days
The cross-country course took the clearest hit. Superior Public Schools told families the Pioneers Park course was "impassable" after the rain. The Lincoln Lutheran meet set for Oct. 1 was cancelled and will not be rescheduled. Louisville Public Schools posted the same cancellation. The next afternoon, the LPS Varsity Boys XC Championship at Pioneers Park was listed as cancelled on the GoBound meet listing.
That matters for everyone else because of a rule on the City's Pioneers Park page. Cross-country and other running events require closing the Tallgrass Meadow Loop, the blue trail. Events can also restrict the equestrian and hiking trails and access drives, and they bring more traffic at road crossings. So on a race day, the most open prairie loop in the park is closed to casual walkers, and parking gets tight.
The race days still on the calendar
Here is what remains on the City's 2026 schedule after today, with the matching high school listing from the Nebraska School Activities Association.
| Date | City of Lincoln listing | What the organizer's schedule shows |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Oct. 6 | Centennial Conference, 4 p.m. | No separate listing found |
| Saturday, Oct. 10 | Catholic Youth League, all day | No separate listing found |
| Tuesday, Oct. 13 | LPS Open, all day | No separate listing found |
| Wednesday, Oct. 14 | Not listed | NSAA Class A-1 and A-2 districts at Pioneers Park, hosted by Lincoln Southeast |
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | XC District Meet, time TBA | NSAA's Oct. 15 districts are Class B and D, at Beatrice, Overton, and other sites |
| Friday, Oct. 23 | State Meet, noon | NSAA state championship at Kearney Country Club |
The two schedules disagree on the last two weeks. NSAA's 2026 district sheet puts both Class A-1 and A-2 races at Pioneers Park on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The A-1 girls start at 1:30 p.m. and the boys at 2:30 p.m. The A-2 girls start at 2:00 p.m. and the boys at 3:00 p.m. NSAA puts the Oct. 23 state championship in Kearney. Papillion-La Vista's team schedule shows the same. The City's Oct. 15 and Oct. 23 entries may cover events we couldn't identify, or the dates may have shifted. If you're planning a quiet Wednesday afternoon walk on Oct. 14, expect district crowds on the trails. Treat Oct. 15 and Oct. 23 as possible race days until the City confirms them.
The Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 cancellations also show that this schedule depends on the course. If wet ground cancels more meets, more of the remaining dates could open up for walkers. If the course dries out, every remaining date on the table could mean a closed blue loop.
When the calendar opens up, the hours tighten
Once the races end, the season changes in a second way. From Nov. 1 to April 1, the Chet Ager Building south of the park road keeps limited weekday hours. Year-round, it closes 30 minutes before the Prairie Building. The two trail networks run on different clocks:
- Gated trails south of the park road are open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Non-gated trails north of the road, plus bison viewing, are open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. during daylight saving time and 7 a.m. to sunset the rest of the year.
So the bison viewing area keeps the longest hours in the park. Through the end of daylight saving time, an evening visit after work still fits. Once the schedule switches to sunset, a weekday visit has to fit into daylight.
Nov. 7 is when the Nature Center gets the park back
Wild Fall Festival and Bison Day runs Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pioneers Park Nature Center, 3201 S. Coddington Ave. Admission is free and donations are welcome. The City's event page lists:
- Workshops on bison and native prairie plants
- Animal meet-and-greets with turtles and snakes
- Nature activities, art projects, and story times
- Guided nature exploration
- Tours of the historic buildings
- Wagon rides for ages 3 and up, $5 per person
The City asks visitors to park in the main Nature Center lot or the overflow lot east of the Nature Center gates. The festival takes in the Nature Center's 668 acres of tallgrass prairie, its woodlands, wetlands, and stream, and more than eight miles of trails past the raptor exhibits and the bison herd.
The herd has grown recently. Bison first came to Pioneers Park in 1931. Three bison on loan from the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari in Ashland joined in 2017. Six females were bought from the Crane Trust in January 2024 with help from the Friends of Pioneers Park Nature Center. In December 2025, the Crane Trust donated a female born in 2018. Her mother had chosen to care only for her twin brother, so she was raised at the Trust's headquarters near Wood River. Nature Center coordinator Jamie Kelley said at the time, "As our herds grow, so does our partnership." Bison Day this year is the first fall festival since her arrival.
Two projects with no dates yet
Two more items are worth knowing before Nov. 7, and neither has a firm timeline.
The first is Martin Pond. Nebraska News Service ran a story on Pioneers Park on May 2, 2026. It reported that the pond would close that summer for dam reconstruction. Kelley described the plan as draining the pond through the old retaining wall, clearing out waste and unhealthy sediment, and building a "proper dam." The current wall was built from discarded railroad material, rebar, pipe, and cement blocks. "We think that Martin Pond is mostly groundwater-fed, so it could be fine," she said. We haven't found an update on whether the work started, finished, or slipped. Ask at the Prairie Building before you plan a route past the pond.
The second is the Friends of Pioneers Park Nature Center's 2026 focus project, which funds the design and installation of an improved nature playground. No construction dates have been posted. The same group helped pay for the 2024 bison purchase, and the City credits its annual contributions with supporting the herd's care. One more gap: the 2026 schedule still shows Bites, Bikes, & Bison as "Sunday, DATE TBA (9am-4pm)."
For the rest of October, plan your Pioneers Park visits on non-race days, check the Bison Trail status before biking in from the levee, and save Saturday, Nov. 7, for the bison.
If you're out at the Nature Center on Bison Day and get to talking about which parts of southwest Lincoln are closest to these trails, I'm always happy to chat about it. Let's Connect, and you can find me at Miranda Watson.
