Best Glamping near Columbus, NE

Pros 

- Own Beach Front! -- I can not express how amazing this perk is!!! 

- No "dogs not allowed" signs like the public beaches! 

- Plenty of trees for shade (and hammocks) 

- Close parking

- The breeze off of the lake helped so much with bugs

- Price $15/night

- Mowed grass trail nearby.. no clue where it leads - the bugs were too bad!

- Shower houses within driving distance, or longish walk (not currently open.. Covid)

- Stars are amazing at night 

- Fire Pits & Grate  & Picnic Table included

Cons

- No Water hydrants

- Bathrooms are not nearby (maybe 6-7 minute walk?)

- These sites fill up FAST.. Go out on a Friday at 3 pm.. there will not be sites left

---- We went on a Tuesday and got there around noon and there were only 3 sites available. 

- Minimal tent sites (I think 8 total?) -- at south shore

- Can hear vehicles driving on the nearby highway

- Can get crowded with visiting boaters during the weekends

If you’re camping to get out in nature and relax, this is not what you’re looking for. The campgrounds and lake here are party central - which is fine, just know what you’re getting into.

I came here to camp after a night down at Pawnee/Lake View and it was a stark contrast in experience. After kayaking on the lake, I was able to find a site that wasn’t reserved - which is almost impossible to do! Expect sites to fill up fast around here, you have to be willing to drive around through all the loops and areas to see what you might be able to snag. Do not listen to the park staff when they say an area is full - I was told this and it was not the case at all. Wasted a lot of time that trip because of misinformation.

Expect to get cozy with your camping neighbors - sites are crammed in and not spread out in the least.

Sometimes trash is a big issue at this campground too- the huge bins are overflowing after a big weekend.

Noise - constant noise from the boats on the lake and other folks out camping or for day recreation. There is a bike trail for riders, a marina, and a dedicated party cove for the younger college crowd.

I ended up leaving after a few hours at my spot because it just wasn’t worth it to stay.

Lake Wanahoo is a fairly new lake in Saunders county Nebraska. The lake is part of the local NRD and was originally managed by the state parks department. You used to be able to use your state park permit to gain entry, but now you need to either buy a day pass or a yearly pass from the NRD.

There are plenty of places to camp here including gravel pads and grass pads for RV’s. While most people seem to prefer the gravel pads closer to the lake, we actually prefer grass pads because they are 2-3 larger, so you have more room to setup.

The tent camping area is huge and there always seems to be plenty of availability. We were the only tent in the entire area. The tiered tent area allows you to have a great view of the lake from wherever you setup. All RV and tent spots have picnic tables and fire rings. Unfortunately when the lake and campground were built they planted saplings, so during the hot months there is no shade to be found.

The is still plenty to do at the lake from getting the fishing boat out, using their three wide boat ramp or fishing from the shore using bank or using a jetty. There is a gravel trail that goes all the way around the lake, which provides about a three mile loop. The trail also leads down into the town of Wahoo. There are two large play areas for kids. One is in the campground and one is across the lake in the day use area.

No matter where you go you are not far from a restroom. There are nice clean vault toilets available all around the lake. There is also a large bathroom/shower house in the campground. The shower house does have a change machine on the outside of the build to get change for the showers. These are kept very clean and tidy.

When pulling your RV out here the water fill is in an awkward spot in a parking lot of the campground. To get to the dump station you have to leave the campground, get on the highway and drive to the opposite side of the lake to the day use area. These were just installed a couple years ago. They are nice and level, but just add a bit of driving to get to them.

All-in-all this is a nice place and in a few more years of tree growth, it could be even better!

This lake is a Nrd controlled lake that is relatively new, and requires a daily pass or annual pass. I believe it opened 2012. This lake sits just out side of the Northside of Wahoo, and sits off a relatively busy highway. So as you would expect there is some traffic noise. Also with the age of this lake there is no mature trees around the lake. So as you would expect it will make tent camping difficult for some on hot days. There is tent camping, and rvs, as well as a couple little cabins for rent. The fishing is pretty darn good on this lake. There are several online articles that will back that claim up, as well as myself. This is also a good kayaking lake. There is also a trail, or path that goes around this lake for biking, jogging, or just simply walking. The whole area and restrooms are clean, and well maintained. I thing it's a beautiful clean lake that the city of Wahoo should be proud to be next to. I believe this lake will get better with age.

Once we exited off I 80 per campground(CG) instructions, we traveled following our RV GPS, WAZE, and Google Maps on the back roads to the state recreation area(SRA) and specifically the South Shore CG. We saw the South Shore sign that was somewhat hidden by trees and also a sign for the dump station and potable water. We pulled into the dump station for potable water and to dump what we had from our overnight stay as we were going into back-in site 80 with only electric(50/30/20 AMP). There was a small unmanned check-in gate where we got our Nebraska State Park Pass, but no one was around to stamp our pass so we followed the signage to site 80, which was a fairly easy back-in. We were amazed at the lake view as this site sits up on a hill about 100 yards from the water. Our name was on the post as we had online reservations(there are some first-come-first-serve sites here). We could have put out our satellite, but we got a multitude of OTA channels out of Lincoln, NE. We also got 3 bars on Verizon and 2 bars on T-Mobile. The South Shore CG has a mix of FHUs, 50 AMP, and 30 AMP-only RV sites. Note that when the utilities state Electric Plus, there is no water at the site, just 50 AMP electric plus a 30/20 AMP as well. There are also tent areas within the SRA campgrounds. The sites in general are spaced so you are not right on top of your neighbor. However, the sites that run on both sides of site 80 have no one behind with lots of space down to the lake. This was a very nice CG that we would not hesitate to visit again.