Best Equestrian Camping near Elwood, 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

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.

very nice sites with hookups. will definitely stay there again!

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..

Stayed here in late October and was pleasantly surprised by how nice this was. Had gorgeous fall color and a great sunset. Park was sparsely populated, but there were a couple other campers spread around. Very peaceful and quiet. Site and bathrooms were clean, altho the particular site I chose was hard to level my truck out in for car sleeping. Had a really nice sunrise walk around a field behind the site and saw lots of deer. Quick little ten minute or so jog off the interstate and about 15 to get into the actual town. Would definitely stay here again! Had good signal with verizon.

We only stayed one night. Got in late and left early. Was very peaceful, quiet, lots of sites. I think it was in September. Would stay again!!!

Short walk to the Platte river. Several fishing ponds.

Pulled in at night - was easy to get a spot. Very relaxing campground set against old growth trees. Beautiful pastures and some fishing ponds. Sites seemed pretty level. Right off highway but peaceful and quiet. Needs a little upkeep in terms of mowing the grass and cleaning trash up from the ponds.

This was a quick stopover due to bad weather coming in. A daily vehicle park permit is required and when this is added in to the cost, it’s a bit pricey for what it is, but the Recreation Area has a lot going for it. Check the photo of their brochure for camping pricing. They go by Electric Plus, electric and basic. 

There are 7 sandpit lakes in the area that offer fishing. Lakes 5, 6 and 7 offer handicap accessible piers. Lake 7 has the swimming beach. I was camped backed up to Lake 4 at site 57. This site wouldn’t accommodate anything longer than 26’. It was also right next to site 58, so it would be great for 2 families looking to camp together, but otherwise, not so good. The site wasn’t level due to erosion, which was pretty significant. 

The area has beautiful, mature cottonwood trees. One of these was right at site 57 so there was lots of shade. Also a picnic table and fire ring. Electric h/u, but no water. Need to fill up prior to camping. I didn’t use the dump station or the bathrooms so can’t comment. 

There’s a bike trail that goes to the Fort at the historical park. I didn’t have time to check this out, but would like to next time I pass through.

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!

Always a great place for a weekend get away!  Kids love to explore on their bikes.  Nice trail to the Platte River.  Just a nice escape location!

This is a nice site with electric and tent sites. Each site has fire ring and there are vault toilets around the site. There are tent site that are free. You can camp there off season. Some of the site are on the river. There are also several hiking trails.

Very nice stop, close but not too close to I-80. Quiet. Nice lakeside setting.

First time at this park. 6/30/24. You roll in the staff are friendly to help. The park is quiet, plenty of room for your site. Its deffinetly a good stay if traveling through.

Enjoyed our short stay here. Found by accident trying to find a different location, but a pleasant place to stay for a couple nights. The one downside is the pit toilets. They hadn’t been emptied in who knows when. The tp was piled high and there were flies. Yuck! Thankfully, we didn’t have to use them. Hosts were very nice and even have bikes for the kids. Posting a video about this park on YouTube soon. Skyways to Highways

This is a great campground with lots of shade and amenities. The showers require coins to operate, so make sure you bring $1 bills for the coin machine if you don’t have quarters. Half of the campsites are first come first serve, but we had no problem getting a site late at night.

Note that you have to pay for both the campsite itself and for a motor vehicle permit. It seemed a little steep to me because we had to stay for two nights, and the total came out to $74. Maybe I’m just cheap.

There are lots of playgrounds for kids. Also the campground host is situated next to a free bike rental stand. You can take a bike for free and ride around the whole campsite at any time. Pretty cool!