Wood Lake Nebraska Map

About Wood Lake, Nebraska

Wood Lake is a locality in Cherry County, Nebraska, United States. It is a small community with a population of 46. The population density is 56.0 people per km². Wood Lake is located at 42.6386°N, 100.2382°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Wood Lake is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 69221.

Wood Lake commands a solitary presence amidst the vast, undulating expanse of the Nebraska Sandhills, where the horizon serves as the primary arbiter of the day. It lies 108.1 miles north-northeast of North Platte, NE (from North Platte, NE: bearing 14°T), and is situated 22.7 miles southeast of Valentine. Evergreen Creek carves a quiet, meandering path through the terrain, its waters sustaining the tallgrass and shortgrass prairie that ripple under the relentless pressure of the wind. To the north, the gentle depression of Porter Valley offers a subtle variation in the topography, while the distant, jagged silhouette of Antelope Peak marks the far edge of the traveler’s view. The quality of light here is singular; at dusk, the prairie grass burns with a muted, amber fire, turning the sky into a wide, pale canvas that emphasizes the profound isolation of the plains.

Wood Lake anchors a lifestyle defined by the enduring rhythms of cattle country, where the local economy has long been tethered to the health of the range and the seasonal demands of ranching. History here is marked by the quiet persistence of pioneers who broke the sod, leaving behind a legacy of resilience that persists in the austere, functional architecture of the region. While the Plum Creek Valley Wildlife Management Area provides a protected sanctuary for the native fauna eight miles away, the surrounding land remains largely defined by the steady, labor-intensive work of agriculture. Life in Wood Lake moves with a deliberate, unadorned pace, far removed from the clamor of industrial centers, finding its character in the stark, honest clarity of a landscape that demands little but yields a quiet, grounded sense of belonging.

About This Wood Lake Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Wood Lake, Nebraska. Coordinates: 42.638612, -100.238182. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Wood Lake includes the ZIP code (69221), telephone area code (308), county seat of Cherry County (Valentine), and school district assignment (Valentine Community Schools).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.