Best Tent Camping near Burwell, NE

I grew up in the towns next to the Davis Creek Dam which is managed by the NRD. This is a great , once upon a time small campground right on Davis Creek Dam. You’ll enjoy this campground that is far away from road noise. Supplies can be purchased in North Loup, Scotia or Ord Nebraska, roughly 6 and 16 miles way respectively. This campground gets busy over summer holidays but other than that I’ve found that you can reserve same day spots without worry, especially if you are tent camping.

3 miles East of Loup City is Trade Winds campground. It is privately owned so you don’t need a state pass. It has 12 cabins and 20 Rv/tent sites with electricity and shared water. The sites are very close together but have shade trees. Each site is back in with picnic bench and fire rings. There is a nice marina for food,bait, supplies. And it has a grill open on weekends. There is a coin operated shower house and laundry mat area. The Marina also has kayak, boat slip, and storage for rent. Everyone there seems to be nice. They even had a huge firework display.

Victoria Springs has 2 different areas for camping. One area is for tent camping ($15 a day) and has a small lake with paddle boats to use. The lake has an algae issue right now. This area has a picnic shelter and playground that is dated. There are 2 cute cabins available for rent which have fire rings and picnic tables. The other area is for RVs and you can have electric $20)or electric and water($30). Each site has a fire ring and picnic shelter and is on grass. There is a basketball hoop that needs help and horseshoe area which is overgrown. A little bit of upkeep and elbow grease and this would be a great getaway.

Davis creek is a 67 camp site (25 primitive/2 ADA, 42 electric/3 ADA) nestled in rolling hills of Valley county Nebraska on the Davis Creek reservoir.  Camping is permitted year round although water is only available April 1 to November 30th.  There is also a camp host in the RV section from April-Nov.  There are no established trails for hiking but the gravel roads throughout the camp are used for walking and bike riding.  

This is a lake and campground that went from very primitive just over 20 years ago to a top notch natural resource district campground and recreation area.  The NRD is investing heavily in this campground with large shelters, shower house (bring quarters), 2 boat ramp areas, large fish cleaning station, ADA ramps, fishing docks, and a small swimming beach.  The rumor from the locals is that the entire campground will be electric in the near future.  I was really impressed to find free WiFi added in 2019!  The WiFi was strong and reliable everywhere in the campground.  

I camped on site 72 which is an electrical site capable of facilitating smaller RV’s, campers or tents.  Site 72 was near water, a brick restroom building and the shower building.  You’ll be hard pressed to find any adequate shade at any of the sites here although the row of 60’s will offer some late day/evening shade.  All of the sites have very nice concrete pads with large fire rings with grilling grates in addition to large concrete pads with picnic tables.  There is plenty of green space at most sites and at 72 we set up horseshoe stakes and had all the room we needed.  

The lake:  we took our kayaks out and did some fishing on this campout.  Access to the lake is easy with nice wide boat ramps at two different let in’s.  This is a popular fishing and water sport lake that does allow skiing and high speed water sports.  If you like to fish I recommend going to the inlet a couple of miles North of the campground, it seems to be the most popular spot for on water and shore-line fishing.  We trolled lines behind our kayaks and caught white bass on this Memorial Day weekend in 2019.  

ADA site:  There was a really nicely designed ADA site next to site 72 that I think is worth mentioning here.  The site was flat with a concrete path that connected the site to the walking path to the restrooms.  The fire ring and picnic table were also designed for those wheelchair bound.  I’ve attached some pictures below.  If you have disabilities you’ll have access to everything you need at this campground.

Love Victoria Springs! It is a hidden gem in the Nebraska Sandhills.  It fills up on the weekends but during the week you can have the entire campground to yourself.  Beautiful trees, nice shade, and electrical hook-ups.

The sites are mostly level and well groomed grass with 2 new concrete handicap spots. The 30 amp and 50 amp power was proper voltage and dependable. Access to clear line of site to south for Dish or Directv is difficult due to heavy tree population. Non-Nebraska resident requires $14 pass in addition to the $30 fee with electric.  Potable water is available and dump station is easily accessible with a rinse water source. Ingress and egress is good with gravel road surfaces in park. The restrooms and showers are very clean and accessible.

Located in the center of Nebraska, Victoria Springs is a 27 site campground and a couple of rental cabins. You can rent paddle boats for the small lake. Merlin counted 10 different bird sounds here in April. The park has a basketball hoop, horseshoes, and a playground across the creek by the lake. Most sites are electric and 6 that are non-electric, and water hydrants are sprinkled throughout the campground. There is a shower house with flush toilets (not open in April) and a vault toilet at the end of the loop. While I like Bessey a few miles away, this is much quieter without trains every 10 minutes. Cell service available with both T-mobile/Mint (strongest) and Verizon/Visible.

Though located on the North side of the Missouri River, this campground is considered to be in Nebraska. Run by the US Corp of Engineers, there are no state permits required. We paid $16/night, but it’s possible that we could have gotten 50% off with our America the Beautiful pass. I just forgot to check and didn’t think to include the pass when registering.

The site was electric only and I don’t believe full hookups are a available at the campground. We snagged this site, in what is normally a fully booked campground, thanks to Campnab.

The site was paved and had an area covered with small rocks where the picnic table and fire pit were located. We had two trees at the north of our site that facilitated hanging the hammock with extended straps and also a tree on the west side of the site. The bath/shower house was a short walk (as was water access) and were very, very well kept and clean. Contractors live on site and clean several times a day. It was a great area for riding bikes and was very family and pet friendly.

Homestead Knolls is a small campground near a small, beautiful white sand beach with gradual increase in depth, perfect for swimming with family. Boat ramp is nearby. You can find all essentials at a nearby gas station.

A lot of campsite. Can rent boats and jet skies. Multiple convenient stores. About five miles from nearest town. Nice swimming and fishing spots. Love going there.

Being new not much for trees. It was nice to have clean showers close to the camp site.

Great camping trip with friends

This campground is a hidden gem. Nice big sites, your not packed it. Beautiful trees all around and we’ll kept. If you need electric you can reserve a site and get 30 or 50. Some sites have water and does have a sanitary dump site. Enjoying our overnight stay

Camp hosts were amazing. Gave us firewood. Clean facilities. Well maintained. Gorgeous trees and trails.

Great spot with lots of trees and good sized sites. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and they were only half full & by night only a few more people came. Bugs were pretty bad. Unfortunately a bad storm moved in so we weren’t able to enjoy the evening. The trees kept us protected from the wind and hail. Would come back again!