Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area Campground

An absolute joke. Requires two nights stay minimum. So we’d have to pay over $60 to stay the one night at a spot with literally nothing but a fire pit and picnic table. That’s not even for a spot with hookups.

Nice grass to pitch your tent on right next to the lake. Not too close to neighbor sites. Quiet

Great fall camping. Big sites well spaced. Our choice of shade or open sites. This time of year it’s first come, first served. We had very few neighbors.

East campground Electric Plus Site. Looking for the plus. No RV fill/dump station. Water spigot available. Bath house with pay showers. Daily entry fee (had to purchase on internet), fill/dump station a few miles up the road to the big lake. Just not convenient. Host on site, but sign says off duty, and haven’t seen them. Several piles of dog poop on site and we didn’t bring a dog. Site does have a fire pit, picnic table and a good view of the lake. Not worth what an out of stater had to pay traveling through.

Nice large grassy spots with beach access. Great flat roads for bike riding. Very few visitors off-season

Been here two different weekends now as we wait for our more long term spot to open up. Has been very quiet even when packed full. Camp hosts are super friendly and helpful.

We paid for a site that resembled a dispersed camping site( and a poor one at that). We also left early, not wanting to stay an hour more. Site disorganized, unclean, with old nasty Porta potty’s. This campground is not for seniors! Mostly for low income Young families.  in addition to the camping fee we were required to pay $12 for a vehicle fee. No showers or even vault toilets. Walmart is a better deal?

We thought this place was beautiful. Loved the beach camping on the lake. You could be on the lake or nestled in the trees. Open camping within the beach area you choose. Get a reservation, but plenty of open space. Gave it 4 stars because it was blowing like crazy when we were there.

Easy access to campsites, clean shower houses, fun walking trails with great views of the lake! Fun boating and atv activities or beach day with the family!

No close restrooms, sites are very close and it costs $25 per night for a basic site

Title says it all

This review is for the West Campground, which is a Basic site with no hookups. There is water in a couple places but not at each site. The sites do have a picnic table, fire ring or grill. There are trash dumpsters, a playground, porta potties and a more modern restroom at the end of the campground. Most sites are fairly level and have trees for shade. Sites 1-17 are right on the lake, although the sites near the power generating have a strong surphur smell from the water.

This is a great place to stay if you don’t mind no hookups.

This campsite is beautiful - a nice quiet lake with fishing & kayaking, shady spot with electric hookup, and a pretty nice fire pit. Huge cottonwoods surround us with birds chirping into the evening & the crickets singing at night. No water hookups at the site but there is water available - though not a RV fill/dump station. Paid showers available. A great retreat after a day on Lake Mac, which is right next door. No quiet hours on Saturday night. Worth it for the water access to Lake Ogallala!

Absolutely stunning place to camp right on the lake! Just beware if you are parking on the back of loose sand, as some vehicles could get stuck. It was very windy when we were there, so if you’re renting make sure you have appropriate stakes!

This place was great up until around 10pm when I noticed a strange pick up in cars coming through. Later I realized these are all the people who don’t want to pay and come in after the gate attendant leaves. Unfortunately, the caravan that came to the site next to mine around 11:30pm was awful. Kids running around screaming and lighting up my tent with flashlights until 1am, the music started at 1:30am, and then illegal fireworks at 2am. When I told them I was trying to sleep I got called some unfavorable names and as a solo female traveler did not feel safe.

I would avoid on Fridays and Saturdays in the summer if you are looking for the peace and serenity other campers mentioned.

This was a great little campsite that’s a little off the beaten path and for us was a nice surprise. The campground was quiet with some wildlife in and around the lake. There’s only a pit toilet and a few outhouses on the tent side. No showers. The only water pump I found was at the fish washing station.

Stayed one night on the Big Lake and one night at the small lake. Both are very good, just more quiet and less traffic at Lake Ogallala. Very nice camp sites and good fishing.

Mid April, we were one of a handful of campers. We had our pick of sites at Lake Ogallala located at the base of the dam. We selected 38. Due to the high winds and cold, we weren't able to kayak/SUP as planned, but it would be a good place. Also, great places on the other side of the dam. The bath house was open, but not the showers, which are pay by the way. There are also Porta Pottys in addition to the 1 modern bathhouse. The tree shaded sites are pretty level, but the tree rooms have buckled a lot of them. There is no dump station here, you have to go down the road to Little Thunder, but no extra charge. Speaking of charges, its pretty pricey. Sites $32 Plus a separate daily park pass. State residents $6. Nonresident $8. Lastly, the campground is next to a huge open pasture with lots of cows grazing. We didn't notice any smell, though. We would stay again

Stayed here on my cross country drive. Real calm at dusk on this reservoir, it picked up real fast into a certified windstorm by 2AM when I felt like my tent was about to be blown away into oblivion. LOTS of RVs.

Great sites right on a small peaceful lake. Just know if the wind changes you might get a little smelly at the campsites. Also look at beach camping up at the big lake above the dam. We didn't realize that was there until we drove in so FYI.

Real quick review: Nice little no wake lake. We enjoyed the lake to paddleboard around. Tent camping one side and RV on my the other. Bath house Boat launch Playground RV hookups Dumpstation Short walking trail to the damn spout ..water all sites ..some electric Sites

Such a beautiful place to stay. Ideally, you would want a spot by the water and/or under the shade trees more. For the reservable side, it has electric hook ups and community water spouts you can fill your tanks with. Spots are pretty spaced out. The big lake is easy to get to. Dump stations are at the big lake and should be marked better. There used to be a playground at the campground, but it is gone. Did find one by the dam at the non-electric side of Lake Ogallala.

The views are pretty but the lack of full hookup sites and dump stations aren't worth it, in our opinion. When we booked our reservation, we utilized the options for 50amp site for a 40' camper and water. What we got was a 50amp site with "community" water available for us to fill up jugs and whatever else held water that we had to walk several sites down to get from a communal water faucet. Had we known this, we could have filled out fresh water tank completely to prepare. It isn't like we never dry dock but a more clear booking site would have helped us prepare. The trash dumpsters are in the worst possible spot for longer rigs pulling out from Lake Ogallala's SRA sites, including #36. And, finally...the fact the dumpstations are no where near most of the camp sites, nor are they clearly marked for convenient finding ensures we will not using this location again.

Great rout fishing below the dam but the cool thing is that all of the lake and surrounding sites are available to you.  Nice facilities and possibly a bit quieter than some of the Lake McConaughy sites which can become party sites.

I stopped at this campsite on a cross country road trip from NY to NV, as I didn’t know anyone who resided in the great state of Nebraska. Talk about a total hidden gem!! This campground is one of the most beautiful, quiet and serene campgrounds I have ever been to. There are lots of sites right along the water and perfect for fishing!! Absolutely some gorgeous views here.

Really nice little lake for kayaking and fishing. There was some people swiming in the lake but it was too cold to go in there. Watch out for biting flies.

Clean restrooms with showers. Well wooded and below the dam so there is not much wind.

Lake Ogallala Trail is a 9 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Ogallala, primarily used for hiking. The lake itself is pretty small (large pond) especially compared to its neighbor Lake McConoughey

The camping area was a little on the primitive side. Morning catfishing right off the banks is excellent!

Lake Ogallala and it’s campground was beautiful! Plenty of fishing, great area for walking, and you can hop right over to lake McConaughy for even more water action, restaurants and beautiful seeneri! The camp sites of most of the campground we small and very close together though.