Best Equestrian Camping near Chadron, NE

This is a full hookup (electric/water/sewer) campground, appears to be recently updated. Concrete pad, fairly level. Picnic table and grill in each site. Few trees, mixture of shade and non shade sites. Decent amount of space between sites. Bathrooms and showers are available near the partial hookup campground. Good Verizon cell coverage. Campground is on site of old Fort Robinson. The old barracks and post buildings are available to reserve and stay in. This area is prime for equestrians with many trails to explore on horseback. Numerous trails aren’t quite as friendly for hiking on foot because of tall grass. There are a couple of scenic roads (1 unpaved/washboardy; 1 paved on canyon road) to drive and see local landscape. On site attractions: History museum, restaurant serving breakfast/lunch/dinner, indoor swimming pool, horse stables, general store, small library. Historical markers paying homage to Levi Robinson (the fort’s namesake) and the site on which Crazy Horse was killed.

Chadron State Park is such a beautiful area. The scenic drives are amazing. The campground is a nice campground. The sites are a little close together and it was challenging to back our 38' camper into our site, but once we were in we had a great time. Everyone was friendly and campground and restrooms and showers were clean. The sites were Electric only. Each site had a fire ring and picnic table. We were able to get cell service most of the time.

The park had tennis courts, a pond for fishing and paddle boats, a swimming pool, horse riding, and hiking trails. We stayed here a night than moved on to Fort Robinson and will definitely come again.

Factoid: When I stayed here I learned that the Nebraska National Forest is manmade! It is the largest hand planted forest in the US. it felt like a green oasis in the “desert" of Western Nebraska!

I spent 3 days hiking in this Forest and enjoyed every minute on each trail. This area has such differing geography. I’d begin the hike in the Forest, climb up to the ridge and catch views all the way into the vast, flat Buffalo National Grasslands area. 

My home base was in Chadron State Park where I camped. The park itself has 6 miles of hiking trails which connect with several other trails in the Nebraska National Forest. The video is a section of the Black Hills Overlook Trail in the National Forest. A definite must! There was evidence of old wildfires on the western slopes, but otherwise the lodgepole pine trees were beautiful. Steamboat Butte Trail is another good hike.

Chadron State Park is located in the Nebraska National Forest off Hwy 385 south of the town of Chadron which has a Walmart for supplies.The park has pretty much everything: a fishing pond, A trading post for basic camp supplies and some food, swimming pool, seasonal horseback trail rides, archery range, tennis court, disc golf, sand volleyball, horseshoe pits, softball field, playground, AC/heated cabins, group camping with a group lodge,  and campsites with 30 amp HU, no water so fill up at the bathrooms and there’s a dump station on site. 

The site I was in was level, but there was no shade. Shade trees are sparse in the area where I was camped. It was quiet and the stars were great at night, and made for a good home base from which to hike in the Nebraska National Forest.