Spring at Mallet State Park: A Season, a Suggestion, a State of Mind

COZY CORNER NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Spring is on its way to Mallet State Park—or at least it has filled out the paperwork and promised to stop by eventually. March in Nebraska is a thrilling game of chance, where the forecast changes hourly, and every outdoor plan is made with cautious optimism and a backup jacket.

On any given day, visitors may experience:

• Snow in the morning, followed by sunburn by lunchtime

• A stiff north wind that questions all your life choices

• Sixty-degree weather that convinces everyone winter is “basically over”

• And then, immediately, more snow

Park staff recommend dressing in layers, including one outfit for winter, one for spring, and one for emotional resilience.

Despite the weather’s mood swings, signs of spring are appearing. The trails are getting muddier, the birds are louder, and the squirrels have resumed yelling at everyone for no apparent reason. Geese are back in full force, standing in pairs like they own the place, while deer emerge to survey the park with the same cautious optimism as the rest of us. Somewhere, a raccoon is confidently making plans it should not be making.

Of course, spring at Mallet State Park also means mysteries abound. Not the call-the-FBI kind—more the who-left-this-boot-by-the-trailhead variety. Was it a hiker? A fisherman? A raccoon with big dreams? We may never know. The park is full of unanswered questions, suspicious footprints, and people who swear they “definitely locked their car,” which, frankly, is my favorite genre.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because I write cozy mysteries—the kind where small towns hide big secrets, the stakes are high, but the language is clean, and the most dangerous thing (usually) is the killer’s bad alibi. So if spring has you craving a little intrigue with your sunshine—maybe a murder investigation that pairs nicely with a cup of coffee and zero nightmares—you know where to find me. Until then, enjoy Nebraska’s favorite seasonal game: Is this jacket weather or shorts weather? Spoiler alert: it’s both.