We were fortunate enough to be able to take a couple days to see the SandHill Cranes this year. Got to the Alda exit off of Interstate 80 around 10:00 am. There is a wonderful Information Center on the South side of the interstate. They provide you with everything you would ever want to know about the Cranes. They have maps of the gravel roads near the exit. They can tell you the locations where sizable flocks have been seen. We drove that route and probably saw 3/4's of the 404,000 head that have been spotted. We spent the night in Kearney and some time at the Rowe Sanctuary. The structure at Rowe is built with straw bales coated with plaster. Makes it very efficient. The next day we watched the flocks going every direction on the compass. Nightfall near Rowe is quite a sight. They leave the fields where they spend all day eating the leftovers from the soybean and corn fields. They land in the Platte river and spend the night for safety reasons. The guests we met those 2 days were superb hosts and very neighborly.
They have a display showing the spread on a map where the Cranes travel North even up to Greenland and then for the winter they travel South to Southern Mexico. They all cross the Platte River in about a 15 mile stretch.