South Dakota’s Custer State Park is the home of North America’s largest bison herds so it is obviously the best place to see them outside of famous Yellowstone National Park. Although they were hunted to near-extinction in the 17 and 1800s, during the last 100 years, special reintroduction programs–such as the one run in Custer State Park—have led to a herd of between 1,300 and 1,400 you can see all year.
The best time to visit though is during the spring when you can see all the cute baby bison too.
Gibbon, Nebraska is where you’ll find one of the most significant epic bird migrations in North America. The best way to see these birds is to sit in a little bird blind with windows that are just big enough for cameras and binoculars. There are millions of them along the local Platte river.
They forage for food in the numerous cornfields during the day and roost by the river at night. You can see them on their migration route approximately 20 miles east of Kearney from March to the middle of April at sunrise or right before sunset.