Best Equestrian Camping near Doniphan, NE

Nice camp ground with helpful gate attendants, this Nebraska park represents the conundrum of many public campgrounds. Here, there are plentiful showers (yes, 75 cents for three minutes, woopdeedoo) but no water spigots and few usable pit toilets. There are primitive sites, 30 amp (yellow) and 50 amp (red) sites so no generator noise and all sites are near stocked ponds. A mix of overnight and long term visitors. Sandhills cranes can be viewed in the adjacent corn stubble in April. Limited cell service and no WiFi

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.

After much deliberation, and with great regret, I am declaring myself a Nebraska State Parks campground anti. There are three interlocking reasons for this decision:

1. Both the campgrounds I have been to (this one and Rock Creek Station SRA) seem to treat tent sites as an afterthought: each park has a very small number of tenting spaces that are kind of on the margins of the campground. At Fort Kearny, the sites that were available were also either totally slanted or full of trash. It does seem like other parks might not share this problem, but it at least indicates a pattern to be aware of.

2. In addition to the campsite fee, there is a $12 DAILY out-of-state vehicle entrance fee. This means that a $15 campsite is actually a $27 campsite. I will say, in fairness, that the $12 also allowed my car to enter the Fort Kearny historical site next to the campground.

3. The showers are coin-operated. This isn’t a cost problem so much as it is a logistical one: who has quarters anymore? Also, because the showers are timed, you can’t turn the water off and back on again, which ruins my entire haircare routine.

Obviously, these reasons won’t apply to everyone. If you have a camper or RV, your calculus will be totally different. If you’re in-state, and you only have to pay $6 for your vehicle instead of $12, I could see these sites being worth it. And if you don’t have hair that you need to condition, the shower thing might not bother you. But if you are like me, a long-haired out-of-state yokel trying to cross the country with a Honda Accord and a backpacking tent, you might take these considerations into account.

I will say that this campground is beautiful to drive through, with all the little lakes and the cottonwood trees. Also, the camp hosts offer free bikes for guests to use around the campground and presumably on the nearby hike/ bike trail, which is very kind of them and which I wish I had time to take advantage of.

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.

Mormon Island is a nice, clean State campground along Interstate 80 at the Grand Island exit. There is a store right before the entrance in case you forgot anything or need to purchase firewood. There are 3 different areas for campers, a tent area, a Rv area, and an area for generator use. The Rv area has Electric and the sites are evenly spaced on black top and are level. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There is also plenty of day use areas. The restrooms are clean and have water fountains. There is a separate shower house and laundry that is also well kept. The grounds are maintained and are attractive.

There is a playground for children, a fishing pier, biking, and nice trails to explore. This is a nice area with lots to explore including the Platte River. Just beware of deer ticks. Spray,Spray,Spray..my husband left with 32 visitors that needed to be pulled out.

Spacious and well maintained campground. In March, the campground was still in WINTER season so only one bathroom location open and no showers open in winter, and limited water access points, but we had a electric hookup. Our campsite loop bordered vegetation, was spacious between campsites, and fairly protected from Interstate noise. Had a fire ring and picnic table. Several lakes and pretty trees. Camp hosts were friendly and helpful with questions! Don’t forget to visit sandhill cranes in March/April.

Great one night spot. Easy access to the Interstate so there was noise but it still was a great site because of the breeze, shade and variety of trees. The bathroom was clean and close by. Easy to walkup and pay using the drop box. I would stay here again if we need a one night place.

Had a great time. Kayak and bank fishing, hiking and just relaxing in general. We stay in the area with no power, etc., but we were prepared. There are modern showers and restrooms on this part of the camp. Showers need to be fed quarters. 7 minutes for $1.50 if memory serves me right. The traffic noise off I-80 was the only drawback, but the trees blocked the view. Caught some Bass and Bluegill, but were not bragging size.

Good fishing. Two ponds. Right off I80.

Nice campground

• paved & level parking pads
• decent bathrooms
• Showers could use a cleaning.
• very few campers on a Tuesday in Oct
• nice paths for an after dinner stroll with the dogs
• att cell service is good
• no internet
• easy acces from the Highway
• lots of Highway truck noise

Easy access to I80 for a quick over night rest. Only a handful of pull thru site but tons of back in. $38 for electric pull thru site which was level gravel. No campground WiFi but our Nomad Internet worked well enough. Verizon phones worked too. I80 road noise was pretty loud but certainly not a deal breaker. We’d stay here again.

Stayed here for a weekend when we purchased our new travel trailer.  We wanted a camp ground that was close to a city and only a 2 hour drive from our home if we needed to get something or an accessory that we forgot to pick up before leaving.  Location is the big benefit of this location.  Literally right off the interstate and all the amenities of the city of Grand Island are only 5 minutes away.  Its rare that I can go eat at Texas Roadhouse or ice cream at Cold Stone and its a 5 minute drive from my campsite.    

This is a nice and well kept campground.  Good shade on our section that is away from the lake and close to the shower houses.  Shower houses are clean and typical for NGPC camp grounds.  Electrical hookups on each campground with water spigots spaced through the campground.  Good access for backing in.

One night stop at the very well maintained RV and Campground. RV spots are level and electric hookup only. Dump station and water fill available. No problem getting a spot for the night as a walk up in the off-season(our stay was11/27), but likely not during peak. Must pay for state day pass and per night. ($8 for day pass and $20 for 30amp night winter rate.) Park/playground for the kids!

While camping at Morman Island, we went through one of the worst storms! 85 to 90 mile an hour winds with hail! It was bad enough to go through the storm but it really was bad that not one person from the campground came around to check on us the next morning! They really just concentrated on the clean up. The priorities were messed up. At the time of the storm there were only 25 campers in the whole place. How long would it have taken to check on the well being of those 25 campers! There was no prior warning of the storm from anybody at the campground. Other campgrounds that we’ve stayed at, we always have had a heads up. The pictures are from the morning after. Not just a little blow! Overall the visit wasn’t the best with the storm and all. There are several rules that are clearly posted throughout the grounds and at the pond. Dogs on a 6 ft leash. No floaties in the swimming area. No dogs on the beach. No parking on the grass. All of these were being violated and not one person from the staff could be seen addressing any issues. People were doing whatever they wanted to. I would have loved to let my dog go swimming but it was against the rules. The section we were in was a new section, but we could not even let our dog out in our camp site because of an abundance of stickers and burrs! She at one point just laid down because of her paws filled with burrs and could not walk any more. This was in our site. I’m not sure if anyone else had the same problem. The facilities were very clean. (They need a shower house in the new section). Making the reservation was very easy. The people we did talk to were very nice.

Nice campground with access to fish 3 lakes! Very nice camp host!

This campground looks great. The lake looks inviting and has a swim area as well as fishing. Well maintained and the camp host was friendly and helpful.

Family and pet friendly campground

The facilities are very clean. The grounds are well kept.
The only down side I didn’t like was the amount of signs throughout the grounds! There are signs every where telling you what you can’t do. They could do with a few less signs. A overall nice place to set up. Plenty of space between sites so you are not on top of each other.

Nice and Busy

After a long drive, I was looking for somewhere easy to get into and out of, near the interstate.  I stopped for gas and saw the sign for the sites and decided to give it a look.  

When I got there around 5pm, I was able to have my choice of sites.  By 8pm, every site was occupied in the tent area.  This seems to be a good stopping point for transient campers as they pass, like myself.  This does cause an issue with the noise from I-80 just outside of the grounds, but the trees and a dirt berm help to keep that down to just a low drone.

Great campground location, and inexpensive.  The site, and amenities, are very nice.  The campsite itself is very well maintained and level.  The tent area restroom was very clean.  The showers are located over in the Cottonwood Campground, and are adequate.  This was my first encounter with the pay showers though, and I had to scrounge around for quarters to feed into it. 

The only small problem is that at approximately 5am, I started hearing the air/fan boats from a local launch on the Platte River.  I was wide awake and had actually already packed my Jeep by 630am.  I am not sure if this is a normal occurrence, or just something that happened that one day.  Other than that, I would definitely say to give this place a try.

Edit:  The Bosselman Travel Center is a great place to pick up a little food as well as fuel up for your trip.

State park sticker required. Fishing and swimming.

This park is right off I-80 off one of the Grand Island exits. This park was actually a surprise to me. It was pretty clean, especially for as packed as it was. The spacing between camp site were pretty good. The lakes for swimming, fishing,, and nonpowered boats were clean. The trees, and grass areas were pretty as well, and had modern restrooms and showers. There are playgrounds, volleyball court, disc golf and nature trails available. There are camping for rvs, tent, and generator camping. And honestly if it weren't for the interstate noise (which was not bad) I would of forgot I was next to one.

I’ll start off by saying it’s pretty decent fishing. Some sides of the lake have a lot of moss but I caught a few decent sized in just a few hours. Besides that very crowded and would not consider camping at this location.

Just a quick one night while passing through.  Easy access, paved and good cell coverage.  We only had power but we didn't need more than that.  Any size rig can find a spot there.  Would stay again.

Ok so the cost to camp here is very expensive considering what they offer... First the sites are all in terrible condition..  the shower house is gross and the vault toilets.. puke. They where so over full the toilet paper was at the top... We could smell it  all the way down where we were and it was a long distance away ..  the playground is terrible cigarettes and booze bootles everywhere... Come on you have an attendant on site what do they do but junk up the place with old dirty bicycles piled high In a nasty campsite...   We had been heading home from a mountain camping trip where we where in a camping area with zero power zero water and vault toilets and those where immaculately clean..  we only spent like 6 bucks a night to stay there and it was much nicer than this crap hole..

Short walk to the Platte river. Several fishing ponds.

My husband and I were able to get a primitive site right next to one of the lakes. Our site was secluded from the other campers but it was a bit of a walk to the vault toilets. We even saw some deer in the field next to the campground. Great for an overnight stop!