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We are so glad you are considering spending time in the great outdoors of central Nebraska with us.
At Blue Heron, you will find many comforting amenities accompanied by gorgeous scenery and plenty to do. Please let us know if there is anything you need regarding your stay!
The summer of 2021, we were able to snatch on to this little piece of Heaven right here in Central Nebraska. With the quaint town of Gothenburg nearby, the scenery, and the mission to embrace the outdoors, we couldn't pass up making this place a part of our family. We promise to keep the grounds up to par, and the amenities consistent, because we value our campers and their safety and security.
$29 - $55 / night
Traveler
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
TravelerAfter much deliberation, and with great regret, I am declaring myself a Nebraska State Parks campground anti. There are three interlocking reasons for this decision:
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.
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.
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.
ScoutThis friendly campground sits on The reservoir, and is about a 5 minute drive to Johnson Lake. We payed for a full access site, and had no leveling issues at all. Most sites have fire pits, and tables. We see other campers with pets, so we assume they are allowed. They sell bait for local fishing that is a 2 minute walk on a well mowed trail away. Our kids enjoyed the quiet and loved being turned loose to enjoy the surroundings.
ScoutWe have 3 littles and the campground was so quiet it felt like our own great views and so peaceful!
Traveler
Sites were very large with nice mature trees. We were the only people there other than the lady in charge so it was do peaceful and quiet. The dogs loved laying in the grass and frankly so did we.
TravelerThere are three campgrounds, one near the entrance off the state road and two on either side of the inlet of the reservoir. Again, the Dyrt coordinates were incorrect. The Inlet park for RV’s only is on the other side of the lake from the state park with the swimming area.
The spots are close together but are lakeside, what a place to wake up! The hosts were friendly and the baths and bathrooms were nice enough.
Lots of fishing!
TravelerWe arrived here on March 1st and it was very silent, just one other camper. Spots are clean, squirrels running around, tables and firepits.
Of course this time of year the restrooms were closed.
Some traffic passing by.
GuideA nice campground located on a beautiful lake. Several first come first serve sites that were wooded. A welcome find on a Saturday night without reservation. Nice bathrooms and showers, fire pit and picnic table. Conveniently located not far off I 80. Dump station and clean water are just before getting into the park on the left side. A well managed and maintained park.
TravelerNice quiet campground! We tent camped, it was a nice grassy spot! Our camp site had a picnic table and a fire ring! We chose one on the end with trees on one side so more privacy! There were very few other campers around! Kayak access down the road from our spot! Bathrooms were nice! You have to pay for showers! They had some free firewood available which was really nice to help our fire last longer!
TravelerWe really enjoyed this campground but the RV sites are definitely popular on the weekends. We arrived at about 4 on a Saturday in June. All of the sites were first-come-first-served and the only thing available were the tent sites with no hook ups. We stayed by the kayak put-in and it was lovely—green, shaded and peaceful, near the water spigot, clean bathrooms and pay showers. There’s a decent amount of space between each site, though no bushes or anything to create privacy. There were also some tent sites available right near the water that we didn’t realize were open until we had already settled in. The lake is lovely and there are huge trees all over. There’s only one RV dump site which made for a huge line in the morning.
TravelerOne of my favorite campgrounds by far. There were plenty of sites during my stay in October, and the site I stayed at was right next to the lake. In the morning, the trees were beautifully lined along the campsites. At night, it’s a little windy there but tolerable with the RTT I was staying in. Campground is clean with electric hookups, tables, and fire pits.
TravelerWe were the only ones there and we got in late. Check in (drop box) is right on the way in. Easy access to electrical. Pretty lake to sit by and have morning coffee. Only downside was that it isn't too far off the road so traffic can be heard late at night.
GuideLarge well kept kept campground! Very easy to get in and out off and all facilities are top notch!
TravelerWe arrive at midnight the self checkin was easy. BRING CASH and QUARTERS.
The only annoying thing was needing quarters to shower. $1.25 for 7.5 minutes
GuideThere are about 10 spots around the pond. We took one of the3 pull through right next to I-80. Plenty of space, level, shade and if you just look at the lake: quit a nice view. The noise from I-80 ist always there (about 200') but it's constant and was ok for us (rather than trains every 30 minutes). There's a lot of trash but that's to be expected in a area like this. We cleand up some and it was ok for a night
Legend
Off of I-80 at Exit 211 is Blue Heron Campground. The new owners took possession in 2021 and it is no longer a KOA. There are 40 RV/Trailer sites that vary from pull thru to back in. Of those sites 17 are Full Hookups and the rest are water/electric. Full runs &45/ night, W/E run $39-42. The campground has laundry, playground,restrooms(which are very clean) and there’s cute lamps scattered throughout. The areas are nice and kept up. There are also 3 cabins with swings, air, benches and fire pit which run $55 a night. This is a good place to stop and can hardly hear the interstate traffic. There are also really nice areas for tents that have picnic tables and fire pits with benches and there are water spigots scattered
GuideSteve bought this site from KOA in July and is working on upgrades. It is very clean and all the amenities work, but is in need of paint and TLC. Check power at yr site before unpacking as some spots are locked. They plan to upgrade electrical but other things need doing first.
Lovely spot under the trees next to a nature preserve. Yes you can hear the freeway; no it didn’t bother us.
TravelerBooked last minute for a night, ended up staying 2 nights. Great place, great service, and Steve was awesome. Highly recommend!
ScoutWhat a neat little place right off 80. Clean bathrooms. Laundry. A dried up creak right alongside the campground. Perfect for walking your dog. Well shaded. Everything is dirt but not it’s really nice here. I rolled in pretty late and the person working here drove me to my site and held the flashlight to help me set up. Very nice man. Definitely coming back
ScoutBathrooms nice and clean. Nice pool. Campsites are large and very clean. The campground is outside of town so it’s very peaceful, especially at night
ScoutI was heading to Colorado in 2022 and decided to give this place a try. I was greeted by the owner and his partner, and given a nice pull through site for my RV and toad. Period kind of rustic, but clean maintained. The owners talked about the plans. I had to make renovations to this former KOA camp ground regardless I will keep this on my list. Crews and may be a day or two extra in the future.
ScoutThe grounds host was very helpful getting me to my spot. The restrooms and showers were emaculate.
Guide
Road noisy kept this from being a 5. Good facilities all around. Concrete pads, all drive through.
GuideIf you don’t mind hwy noise (we slept in a roof top tent) after a long day of driving no issue sleeping. Nice level pads. Easy check in (after hours) called ahead and paid and they left us a camp map and our site info. Bathrooms were nice with laundry and “storm shelter”
RangerVery nice campground. Plenty of room between sites. Nice little beach areas. Plenty of room to walk the dog. And the dog park is big enough for the dog to run & play in. Wi-Fi is excellent. Cell service too. Now you wonder why not a 5. Being right next to the  highway very bad road noise. Had to turn the fan on high to drown it out. Other than that, this is a great campground.
ScoutThe park was mostly gravel lot. It was all FHU throughout that I saw the staff was nice at check in. Didn’t have any other interaction with them after that. The park was clean. I just really to comment on the very odd bath house. The showers were separate shower rooms. Two were just shower. There were two other that had a toilet in them. The wasn’t any place to set your bath items or clothes. The were hooks, but some were missing one hook leaving only one. You had to be able to hangs items from a hook and also your bath towel. The toilets were separate rooms one toilet to a room. That’s it. Just a toilet and a trash can. Then the sink/mirror was out in the open room and just two sink-a. No place to set anything if you wanted to blow dry hair after shower. No trash can at sink area. The only place you found a trash can was in the separate toilet room. Very odd layout and any other camper we talked to said the same thing. Trees at sites were only in one area of campground. Our site didn’t have a tree. All sites were concrete pads which is nice. Hook ups were easy to reach without needing to add lengths of hose or cord. LOTS of highway noise. We just did an overnight on way from Montana to Florida. It’s was just okay and would have gotten. More stars from me if not for the odd bath house. I didn’t use the laundry facility, which was also housed in same open floor plan building as toilets, showers and sinks.
TravelerThey took ok in as an emergency stop because our truck had DEF issues. Campground is nice level concrete pads and a reasonable distance between sites. There is a stocked pond you can fish without a license. It is catch and release only. It is right on a bike/walking path that goes into the city and to the archway that is super convenient. The park is clean and the staff is awesome! We would definitely stay again.
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