Best Tent Camping near Crawford, NE

Tent camping near Crawford, Nebraska centers around several established campgrounds and wilderness areas in the northwestern part of the state. Roberts Tract Camping Area in the Nebraska National Forest offers year-round tent campsites with basic amenities, while the Oglala National Grasslands provides more primitive tent camping experiences. Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Management Area, located near Harrison, features drive-in tent sites with picnic tables and toilet facilities. Bordeaux Wildlife Management Area offers dispersed camping options for those seeking a more remote experience.

Tent campers should prepare for variable conditions in this region. Roberts Tract provides fire rings, picnic tables, vault toilets, and trash collection, but no firewood or showers. The area is known for potentially windy conditions, particularly at night, making sturdy tent stakes essential. Oglala National Grasslands prohibits fires and pets, offering a more austere backcountry tent camping experience. Most sites in the region lack potable water, requiring campers to bring their own supply. Weather can change rapidly, with winter storms possible even when temperatures have been mild. Cell service varies by location, with Bordeaux Wildlife Management Area reporting good Verizon coverage.

The tent camping experience around Crawford features unique opportunities for wildlife viewing and hiking. According to reviews, the Oglala National Grasslands offers excellent antelope viewing opportunities, particularly during hunting season. Campers noted that Soldier Creek Wilderness features "easy but long trails" with "lots of horses," though the campground can be "very windy at night," recommending "a decent tent" for comfort. Gilbert-Baker Wildlife Management Area receives praise for its "awesome hiking" and fishing opportunities, with well-maintained sites. Walk-in tent sites throughout the region provide access to less-developed areas where visitors can experience the natural landscape with minimal infrastructure. The primitive tent camping options in this region appeal to those seeking solitude and direct connection with the prairie and forest ecosystems of northwestern Nebraska.

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Best Tent Sites Near Crawford, Nebraska (4)

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Tent Camping Reviews near Crawford, NE

119 Reviews of 4 Crawford Campgrounds


  • Joe R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 5, 2019

    Chadron State Park Campground

    Wenzel Protico 6 Tent review at Chadron State Park, Nebraska Panhandle.

    Located in the Northwest corner of the Nebraska panhandle this 98 year old state park has it all for a great family get-away of road tripping stop.  Chadron State park offers 70 electric and 18 primitive camping sites.  The bulk of the primitive sites are walk up so be sure to get there early for the sites that have the best shade trees.  There are a few non-reservable electric sites but to be safe I’d book online well in advance or call ahead.  You can also book cabins at this park and during my stay the cabins looked to be entirely in use.  Enjoy miles of hiking and mountain biking trails that range from level to steep inclines through rouged terrain. Activities such as swimming in the well maintained pool, horse back riding have extra fees which are reasonable.  There is a great fishing pond and several playgrounds scattered throughout the park.   If you plan on horseback riding, and you should it was the highlight of our trip, tours begin at 9am and leave every hour except noon until 3pm.  I recommend the 9am or 10am ride to avoid the heat.  You register at the visitor center located at the front of the park for this 45 min guided ride.  Other features of this park include an archery range, paddle boats, tennis, horseshoe pits, sand volleyballs and outdoor events (check the Nebraska state parks calendar).  

    On this multi family campout we had 8 kids with us and 6 adults.  We camped in sites 16 and 14 which are electric sites.  We chose these sites for the plentiful shade trees and proximity to the water pump and the shower building.  The sites are deep and mostly flat.  We had a little tent city going with large tents and we all found level, shaded ground.  

    Observations: the grounds are well kept with regular rounds from camp hosts and park staff to check trash and make sure the guests are happy.  If you are hoping for some downed wood for fire you’ll be out of luck at this park.  You can bring in local wood and find wood for purchase on site and in nearby Chadron just a 12 minute drive North of the park.  You may want to bring your bike to the park.  Most of the attractions are a quick although hilly ride from the campsite.  I would like to see walking and riding paths separate from the roads at this park.  When driving be on the look out for pedestrians and bike riders on the road.  This was a quite campground with many short stay visitors during our stay.  Quite hours start at 10pm and end at 8am.  I have to say were were easily the loudest group a bit in violation of the 10pm quite time as we played games around the campfire but we were not visited by any neighbors or the camp host.  If you are a fan of view spectacular night skies this a a great park.  You can see brilliant stars, planets and the Milky Way.  On hikes you’ll see sandstone buttes and valleys.  We also saw many bird species and more woodpeckers than I’ve seen in any other location.  You’ll also see white tail and mule deer around the park.  The camp host told us that in the fall you can observe big horn sheep in the area.  On your hike bring binoculars and enjoy a peak at the black hills of South Dakota.  

    The visitor center offers camping essentials you may have lost of forgotten, souvenirs, ice, wood and a vending machine.  You can also visit the trading post on site and order from a small menu of breakfast and lunch/dinner items.  

    Nearby Chadron State park you can visit the Nebraska state forest and grasslands, Agate fossil beds, fur trading museum, Box Butte state recreation area/lake, Black Hills of South Dakota, and Fort Robinson state park.  All in all this is a must see state park for a short or long stay with family, friends, or a solo trip.  5 stars in my book.

    Ranger Review, Wenzel Portico 6 tent:

    As a ranger for The Dyrt I have the opportunity from time to time to review camping products.  I was fortunate to be able to review the Wenzel Portico 6 tent on this multifamily 3 night, 2 day campout.  

    The Portico 6 is a 74” heigh dome style tent using 3 lightweight shock corded poles.  The footprint is 10’x9’ and advertised as a 6 person tent.  I’d cut that in half for occupancy in reality.  I’m 6’2” and my sons are 6’ and 5’6”.  I’d say with sleeping bags and a couple of back packs we would consume the entire floor space.  We tested this tent with 2 cots and two 12 year old boys for 3 nights. The tent was intuitive and easy to set up from the box without looking at directions.  Total set up time was roughly 17 minutes from initial unboxing to completion.  This is definitely a two person job in order to get the poles upright but not difficult.  The Portico has some great highlights including a dry entry awning although a bit short, plastic pole holders at the corners, and a large D shape entry.  The door zipper worked very well with no snagging which was a very pleasant thing as tents go.  The Portico also has 3 very useful storage pockets on the outside of the tent.  The boys used the pockets to hang their wet swim trunks.  I can see these pockets being useful for storage of bug spray, sun screen and other like items.  It is curious why the storage pockets aren’t located on the inside of the ten however where I can see them being more useful.  There is ample head room in the tent and with the rain fly off the tent if very breathable while offering a view of the sky.  There is good privacy with the mesh starting a bit higher on the tent which I think is a great feature.  You’ll also enjoy the pre-attached guy lines on the rainfly.  Speaking of the rainfly, this may be the tent’s best feature.  We did see a good amount of rain during this campout with a long lasting low wind thunderstorm.  The rainfly held up great and keep the boys dry the hole time.  

    Before I go in to the concerns it should be noted that this is not a tent designed for outback and rouged camping.  This is a tent for the back yard or well established camp sites.  If that is where you keep this tent then I think you’ll really enjoy the tent for a long time.  Potential concerns come from the light weight fiberglass poles, thin floor, plastic pole holder corners and plastic tent stakes.  We layed down a second tarp in the tent and used cot foot prints to help protect the floor.  I’d defiantly never use this tent without a good think tarp under the tent to protect from puncture.  I’d upgrade the tent stakes if you plan on camping on hard ground or ground with any rocks.  These yellow low end stakes will not last long.  Much care is also needed when pounding in the stakes to the plastic tent pole holders.  One missed swing could potentially break the corners or the stake.  The awning did do it’s job keeping some small camp chairs dry but I’d like to see a bit deeper awning.  The only complaint the boys had about the tent was that it didn’t move air very well with the rainfly on.  The tent didn’t have any condensation in it however.  All in all this is a nice backyard camping tent for a maximum of 2 people with cots or 3 people in sleeping backs with a couple of packs.  It is light weight and easy to store.  Set up with two people and tear down with one will take around 15 minutes both ways. Check out more here: https://wenzelco.com/portico-6/

  • Abby M.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 1, 2021

    Red Cloud (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Pretty, quiet and peaceful!

    Stayed a single night but would definitely stay longer. There’s about 13 sites, trash and recycling bins, and clean vault toilets. Sites were well spaced and had picnic tables and fire rings. Fee wasn’t required when I visited. Looks like mid-may is when they begin. Arrived Friday and there were several spots to select from. By morning, only 2 left.

  • Fred S.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 9, 2024

    Red Cloud (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Good for overnight stay

    Was not interested in staying one night at Chadron State Park. Nice state park, but the campground was a little too crowded for my liking. It was also expensive. Stayed at Red Cloud Campground instead. Glad we did. As stated in previous reviews, this campground is clean and well maintained. I wouldn't recommend amy rig larger than a truck camper. Concrete picnic table, grill, metal fire ring, almost level gravel parking spot. Partial shade. In pine forest. Gravel campground road, ends in small loop. Sites not quite level but most not bad. Tent camping posible. Dirt & grass sites; mowed. Some are large, some with some privacy. Single vault toilet, clean with tp. Campground is in the woods next to US Hwy 385. Noisy, especially with truck traffic. Noise decreased about 10pm. Otherwise, really nice campground. Would recommend for overnight stay. AT&T data service good; bad T-Mobile service.

  • K
    Jul. 12, 2025

    Walgren Lake State Rec Area

    Great little empty campground

    Was worried I might not get a spot on a Friday night in July. Showed up at 8pm and had the entire place to myself. No ranger and no other campers. Nice place with spots around lake. Not level parking area and no hookups for campers but great primitive site and only noise was the occasional coyote. Vault toilets. Pack it in, pack it out. No trash or sewer dump. Cost $24 for out of state.

  • Billy B.
    Aug. 14, 2016

    Toadstool (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Great place for a short stop

    The park is located ~20 miles from Crawford, Ne. Many of those miles are gravel roads. The park is full of a lot of very neat rock formations. There is a ~1 mile long looped hiking trail inside the park that has markers so you can read about the land and how the rock was formed. There is an outhouse style bathroom available and half dozen camping spots with fire rings.

  • C
    Aug. 21, 2016

    Red Cloud (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Red Cloud Campground, NE

    After the party crowd left from the farthest campsite from the entrance, it was quiet. The vault toilets were clean enough. The campground is quite close to the road so the lights and noise from vehicles is frustrating in the middle of the night. It's also at the bottom of a hill, so you have to be careful where you place your tent if it's raining. We were fine, but most of the sites looked dangerous if you're trying to avoid low spots where water pools.

  • Judy B.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 31, 2021

    Toadstool (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Stark, hot, small

    Toadstool campground is found down a long accordion gravel road.  There are no trees so plan on only finding shade inside your tent, camper or the table shade.  There are pit toilets and no water. There are picnic tables with shades, fire rings, and upright grills. The area is most visited for it's unusual rock formation that formed by wind and water eroding the surrounding soils and rock and leaving capstones on elevated pedestals, hence the name Toadstool.

    At the right time of the moon phase this would be a good dark sky area to observe the Milky Way since there is no town or development for several miles.  If you don't want to rough it and opt for more civilized camping, Fort Robinson is a few miles south.

  • HThe Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 18, 2021

    Toadstool (Ne) Nebraska Nf — Nebraska National Forests And Grasslands

    Beautiful Remote Camping

    Down a 10 mile dirt road, we got the 5th of 6 sites (4:00?) beautiful site - shade, picnic table and fire ring provided - great short hikes - clean, no water, gorgeous sunset and stars. Short interesting hikes - train sounds in the distance! Absolutely worth it!

  • C
    Jul. 30, 2018

    Chadron State Park Campground

    Great camping.

    Clean restrooms with showers and laundry. Little noise from the highway. Some sites have tree cover. Close to city and within 2 hours of Rushmore and Crazy Horse. .


Guide to Crawford

Crawford, Nebraska, offers a fantastic backdrop for tent camping enthusiasts, with a variety of well-reviewed spots that cater to outdoor lovers seeking adventure and tranquility.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Crawford, NE?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Crawford, NE is Roberts Tract Camping Area with a 5-star rating from 1 review.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Crawford, NE?

TheDyrt.com has all 4 tent camping locations near Crawford, NE, with real photos and reviews from campers.