Are you planning a camping trip to Elwood with your dog? We've got you covered. Finding a place to camp with your dog in Nebraska has never been easier. Each pet-friendly campsite offers quick access to one or more of Elwood's most popular destinations.
Lafayette Park Campground in Street Gothenburg, Nebraska features 30/50 amp electric and water hookup sites. Visitors have access to showers, restrooms, dump station, large spaces, walking trails, playground, horseshoe courts along with a Girl and Boys Scout Campground. All sites offer plenty of shade and the grounds are kept immaculate! Whether its for a night or two, we hope to see you soon!
Open April 1st to October 31st - November through March NO water - ONLY electric - open only for self-contained campers.
Summary Excellent camping, fishing, and water sports are hallmarks of this ever-popular area, 10 miles south of Lexington. Though relatively small at 68 acres, this SRA packs a lot of outdoor fun and provides three access points to the 2,068-acre lake. Attractions Johnson Lake offers great boating and skiing and excellent angling for a variety of fish, including walleye, white bass, and wipers. Campers will find electrical hookups, nonpad sites, showers, modern restrooms, dump stations, water, picnic tables, grills, shelters, vault toilets, a boat ramp, fish cleaning stations, a swimming beach, and accessible fishing piers. Johnson Lake campground offers 2 campgrounds. The main campground on the southeast side of the lake has 82 camper pads with electrical hook-ups and an additional 30 non-designated campsites. The campground is shady and located close to shower facilities. It has a sandy beach area and plenty of picnic areas. The Inlet campground on the lake's west side has 31 camper pads with electrical hook-ups and 10 non-designated campsites. It has a boat ramp, excellent bank fishing, and a handicap pier. For those golfers, there is an 18-hole golf course close by.
$25 / night
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
$7 - $195 / night
Legend
Great little RV park in a park-like setting. Gravel roads with relatively level gravel sites. Shared services. Lots of big trees. Long pull-through site to leave the truck and TT attached. Cross the little covered bridge into Lake Helen Rec Area for a good walkabout. Visit downtown Gothenburg to see the Pony Express station. We liked it and would stay here again.
Traveler
Peaceful spot by a lake all to ourselves. After dark highway traffic subsided and we were able to sleep soundly. There is some t mobile reception.
Guide
Very inexpensive, convenient, nice place to stay for a layover. It's a first come basis with I believe 22 RV sites. They have a dump, clean bathrooms with hot showers(which super clean), a playground for the kids and a couple of walking/hiking trails nearby. The very long Cerro Gordo County trail is close to 50 miles long. Believe the cost was only $15 on our summer early September rate and drops to $10 basically in October for a few months, which includes a small fire pi, tabke, and electric! I'll just say a gem of a simple place.
Traveler
At first I wasn’t sure because it’s right off the road but we gave it a try and love it. There aren’t many cars that pass and we had a couple of friendly people stop by with helpful tips- like look out for rattlers this time a year. It was a perfect spot for our two- day stay.
TravelerThe sites are very confusing. We had to move to a different site because we could not understand how/where to park or hook up to water and electricity. There was nobody around at all; just a phone number which we called and texted and got no response back. The bathrooms, while clean, were old and a bit worn. It’s not a great campground but it’s acceptable for overnight
Scout
My husband and I had a freaky experience here and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else. Around 4:30 AM a car pulled in quietly and parked right next to our van (even though there were other camping spots available). The only reason we woke up was because our dog started barking and freaking out. A guy was outside smoking and putting some things in a bag. We started up the RV and dipped as fast as we could. It’s a shame because it was a nice, convenient, peaceful spot otherwise. Be careful!
ScoutArrived pretty late into the night, but it was easy to find and no one else was there. Camped by the pond in my tent. One could bring a small to medium length trailer in here with ease.
RangerThe best thing about this campground is that it’s shady and a ways off of the interstate. Otherwise it’s old and tired, with small sites and odd shared hookups between spaces. (Eg. - our water hookup was Ammon a pole right next to our door and the picnic table. The bathrooms were old but clean. There was a cute covered bridge on a trail to the main park which was the best thing about it. There were only a few other campers there, but I cannot imagine what it would be like if it was full. We were there during a boil water order for the entire town, and we appreciated that they emailed us about it so we knew to bring our own water and not use the campground’s.
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
TravelerCute little park off the highway. 2 sites are available. I wouldn't haul a trailer into the park, but it's perfect for a small rv or tent camping. Allot of highway noise, but it's good white noise to fall asleep after you get used to it.
Scout
It is more of a fishing area for the locals than anything but it is open and you can camp. There are no marked sites. A local told me when they come here they just park in the grass anywhere and pay the fee. There is a vault toilet and "modern restrooms" (thr vault toilet is cleaner) but no showers as The Dyrt describes. There is a water sticker at the brick building on your left as you enter. You'll get a little interstate noise and distant train horns, but nothing that earplugs cannot fix. Nice place to pull off and sleep for the nights without utilities.
Ranger
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.
GuideFirst 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.
GuideThere were a ton of mosquitoes when we visited, so much so that we couldn’t sleep in our truck and had to set up a tent. Several cars drove by on the road, some as late as 2:30 in the morning. Also, the cows nearby were super loud. Not the best sleep but hey, it’s a free site. No amenities at all.
Scout
Older campground at museum. Clean and reasonable. Did not use showers. There is a nice grassy no hookups field. Good for tenters, horsemen.
TravelerI wasn’t going to write a review about the roughness of the campground, the very small and dirty showers and bathrooms, nor the very dirty museum(the pictures must have been when it was newer) until Mary, who checked me in, called my daughter a liar and told me I was going to have a life of disappointment because I don’t discipline her(texts attached).
I’m a PA member and found this place on their app. I was excited as that’s what my 11 year-old and I have been doing this school year. In fact, we had just stayed two days at Laura Ingalls Wilder’s house! Mary took my reservation on the phone and let me know sewer hookups were reserved for non-PA guests first. This was fine, though three of those nine spots were vacant both nights we were there.
We have two dogs with us. I let Mary know and she indicated that was fine as long as they were well-behaved. I told her they are. She told me they needed to be leashed, and I said, “Of course!” She continued to tell me a dog had been running loose that day for more than five minutes while she called it and while she understands sometimes they get out, this was just not ok. I agreed whole-heartedly.
I was surprised when we got there because the pictures on PA and on their website look tree-lined, grassy, and well-kept. It is rough. The grass is patchy and it’s more gravel than not. There are buildings around the RV sites that look like they’ve been abandoned for decades and they are the motel! It’s certainly not $35/night nice. It did come with a free ticket to the museum, so that was cool.
The museum has neat stuff. It’s very run-down and dirty; I was sneezy and some of the cooler buildings were very smelly. We’ve been in a lot of museums lately and this was both the most expensive and the least well-kept, which is too bad, because the stuff is cool. There are people restoring things and I hope that’s where the money’s going and it gets better.
After we had been gone for more than 24 hours I received a message from Mary implying that I’m a bad parent and my child is a liar. Remember, there was a dog loose Mary was calling for the day we arrived. No one said anything while we were there, because I believe it didn’t happen the way she says. We have been traveling most of this school year. We’ve been in campgrounds ranging from National Parks to Disney; basic to fancy. Through 22 states no one has accused us of not cleaning up after ourselves. We are diligent about it because I highly dislike it in others.
Traveler
It's a small park with a pond that you can fish at. We were the only campers in for the day and honestly probably wouldn't be great for tents. There are 3 pull outs that you can put in an RV or camper but not much else to this place.
Legend
I stayed at the Main camp ground with a great lake view on site 76. Sites 77-86 are pull through and the rest are back in for RV. There are also tent sites near the water. There are bathrooms, showers and electric (50/30amp), there are no water hook-ups. The dump station is currently closed (April 2024) due to construction. The camp grounds are close together but they have planted bushes between them to create privacy. I cant speak on the bathroom or showers as the are closed since it is off season.
Scout
Like others have said, it’s right next to the interstate so you hear traffic and truckers all night. I spent 2 nights here in February in a tent. It wasn’t nice but it was a place to sleep while in town for a class.
Scout
The grounds host was very helpful getting me to my spot. The restrooms and showers were emaculate.
TravelerClean sites with just a few quiet RVers. Clean bathrooms. Easy dump site. Worth the few miles to drive off 1-80. Beautiful big trees throughout the RV park and along the paved, 1-mile loop trail. Online reservations. Verizon = 2 bars.
TravelerLittle ways off I 80, but worth the trip. Very well maintained , nice bathrooms and showers. A lot of space between sites, both pull thrus and back ins.
ScoutThis is a small area with a pond just off the interstate. A little sketchy but not quite as sketchy as some of the other wildlife management areas on this stretch of I-80 (and I stopped at 3 before this one and decided to keep moving until I got here). A bit trashed, but not horrible. Constant sound of the interstate. Some light local use of the road and of the pond for fishing. I wouldn't make this a destination, but for a one night needed rest stop it's ok.
ScoutLess than 10 mins off the highway. Rolled in about 11pm; easy to find and a very quiet area. Great ATT phone service.
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
Guide
There’s about 11 or 12 campsites here there’s a dump station, water available and electric it’s free they suggest a donation It is real sheltered with all the big trees 
ScoutBeautiful little pond for fishing if you have a kayak. The bank is surrounded by cattails with a nice ramp and only two wheelchair accessible peers to fish from.
The highway is about a half mile away and the noise does not stop. That being said, if I’m ever back this way, I would stay here without a second thought.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Elwood, NE?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Elwood, NE is Main Area Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 10 reviews.
What is the best site to find dog-friendly camping near Elwood, NE?
TheDyrt.com has all 38 dog-friendly camping locations near Elwood, NE, with real photos and reviews from campers.
