Pibel Lake Recreation Area, about 9 miles south of Bartlett and a mile east of US 281, has been run by the Lower Loup Natural Resources District since 2012; the state bought the lake in 1930, and Game and Parks managed it until then. The 24-acre lake holds largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish and yellow perch, with two ADA fishing piers, a boat ramp for small boats and no-wake boating. There are picnic areas and a shelter, a playground, vault toilets, a pedestrian bridge across the north end (2016) and a primitive campground on the west side, where RVs are welcome but there are no pads, hookups or dump station. On the east shore stands the national and Nebraska champion eastern cottonwood, 85 feet tall, 37.2 feet around and 120 feet across, crowned in February 2025. The lake was formed by a diversion dam on Clear Creek about 1895 and is named for William H. Pibel, the area’s first postmaster; Pibel Bible Camp was founded on its shore in 1939. A History Nebraska marker tells the story.