When visiting state parks, it's important to protect food from insects, rummaging critters, and neighboring campers disguised as giant squirrels. Avoid these common dining nuisances with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of beverages and American fare at the Peter Kiewit Lodge Restaurant in the Eugene T. Mahoney State Park in Ashland.

With lofty views of the gurgling Platte River, the Peter Kiewit Lodge Restaurant whips up a variety of Southwestern dishes to satisfy visitors at the Eugene T. Mahoney State Park. The menu offers a selection to make any picnic basket-intoxicated bear salivate. Appetizers such as the beef or chicken-stuffed quesadillas ($6.45) and buffalo shrimp kebabs ($7.95) serve as ideal warm-ups for entrees, including a marinated whiskey steak sandwich ($7.95) or a sautéed flounder ($11.95). Diners can wash down all scintillating tastes with a wide selection of beer and non-alcoholic beverages. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets are served seven days a week beginning Memorial Day through Labor Day ($8.25-$12.95, depending on the meal and the day), and Sunday's are buffet-only, with no menu service available.

With a lush 690 acres, the Eugene T. Mahoney State Park offers a plethora of recreational activities. Day trippers can enjoy attractions such as the Family Aquatic Center, a mini golf course and sport courts, horseback trail rides, and a 70-foot observation tower from which visitors are free to taunt city-dwelling friends with giant handmade signs. For overnight visitors, the Peter Kiewit Lodge offers 40 modern guest rooms, and the park also hosts a camping ground and private cabins secluded on wooded ridgetops.

Reviews

TripAdvisors give Eugene T. Mahoney State Park an average of four owl eyes. One reviewer had this to say:

• There is a restaurant on site which has an AMAZING buffet. I am not a big buffett [sic] person but this one was exceptional. – Crusie, TripAdvisor