Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Chadron, NE

We were told through an email from the campground(CG) that there was road construction in town with length restrictions. Between the CG instructions and looking at Google Maps, we found an easy route around the construction and arrived with no issues. Check-in was quick and easy. There’s a$3.50 CG fee along with tax. This is a small CG so finding pull-through site 5 with FHUs was not an issue. There was however a tree on our door side that was a potential problem for our slide-out, but the camp host came by and made a suggestion to place our 39’ 5th wheel at the back of the site so slides etc. did not get involved with the tree. The site was plenty long enough for our RV and F450. The water and electric are towards the back and there are two sewer connections, one in the middle and the other at the back that’s handy. Currently, there is no WiFi or cable television. There are essentially no OTA channels but we had a clear shot of the southern sky for satellite. We got 2 bars each on Verizon and T-Mobile. The sites here are very close together. The back-ins do provide a little more site spacing but in the big scheme of things not enough to make a difference. There is no formal dog park but plenty of areas to walk your dog to include an off-leash area on the other side of the small lake. You can also fish(catch& release) in the lake if you purchase a CG license. There’s a flock of wild turkeys that wander around the campground plus mule deer here and there.

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.