Bessey OHV Trail System covers 36 miles of designated off-highway vehicle trail in the Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey in Thomas County — a location that makes it historically and ecologically unique among OHV destinations in the country. The Nebraska National Forest is the only hand-planted national forest in the United States: the entire ponderosa pine and eastern red cedar canopy was planted by hand beginning in the 1890s in an experiment to determine whether trees could be established in the Nebraska Sandhills. The OHV trail system threads through this planted forest rising from the surrounding rolling Sandhills grassland — the contrast between the pine forest and the open sand dune landscape visible at the forest edge is striking. Trail surfaces alternate between open sandy track and more compact forest floor dirt depending on the section. Trail difficulty ranges from wide sandy loops appropriate for beginners to narrower forested single-track. Maximum vehicle width is 64 inches, accommodating most ATVs and UTVs. Access is via NE-2 to Halsey; vault toilets and trailhead parking are provided. Primitive camping is available at McKelvie National Forest campgrounds nearby. Contact the Bessey Ranger District in Halsey (308-533-2257) for current conditions.

Cedar Run ATV Trail Area is a 470-acre Army Corps of Engineers ATV and OHV riding area on the south shore of Harlan County Lake near Republican City in Harlan County, south-central Nebraska, approximately 20 miles north of the Kansas state line. The area occupies rolling grassland and timbered draw terrain typical of the Republican River watershed — gentle upland ridges of mixed-grass prairie, creek-bottom timber draws with cottonwood and cedar, and open cross-country riding terrain within the designated project boundary. All OHV types are permitted; no entry fee is charged. The trail system covers approximately 9 miles of marked routes through the area's varied terrain. Camping is available at nearby Corps of Engineers campgrounds on Harlan County Lake, which also supports fishing, swimming, and boating to round out a full-facility recreation visit. A Nebraska OHV registration sticker is required for all non-street-legal vehicles operated in Nebraska. The Republican City location puts Cedar Run within reach of the Kearney and Grand Island markets to the north, and the McCook and North Platte markets to the west. Contact the Harlan County Lake project office (308-799-2105) for current access conditions and lake level information.