Best Campgrounds near Halsey, NE

Free dispersed site. Coordinates: 41.82207,-100.31366. Camped here on Sept 6, 2024. Along Forest Road 203, on a short little used unnamed track which dead ends at a barb wire fence and gate. Campervan fit okay with some leveling was needed. Sandy, grassy base. No cell service. The drive down on the unpaved east side of FR 203 Bessey Circle Rd was okay; narrow is places, but no obstacles. There is a path next to the site which goes nowhere, but okay for a stroll. FR203 had some traffic on it due to hunting season. This was the only dispersed site that I found directly off of the east leg of Circle Road, FR203.  There was nothing remarkable about this site; just okay for an overnight stay. There are other dispersed campsites along FR201 further south. This forest road is being reconstructed toward Whitetail Campground; high clearance 4x4 is recommended as one travels closer to this campground.

Clean, campground, everything you need is available. The river access is nice and our dogs enjoyed swimming. The train is annoying, blaring its horn at least hourly, if not more often.

Bessey NF Rec Campground : (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(72 yr olds in 27’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 3.5. There are some nice sites, but many are in groups o 2 or 3. I took pics of some of my favorite somewhat secluded sites Price 2024: $10 for electric sites and $15 for non-electric sites- both prices are w interagency pass Security: no Usage during visit: 1/2 Visual Privacy Between Adjacent Sites: most sites no Site Spacing: depends on the site Pad surface: gravel Reservations: Yes. Current night and 3 nights out are first come first serve. Campground Noise: Some OHV noise and voices during the day. Was quiet at night. Note there are a lot of OHVs in the campground. Outside Road Noise: none Through Traffic in campground:
Electric Hookup: some sites Sewer Hookup: no Dump Station: ye Potable Water Available: spigots throughout the cg Bathroom: yes Showers: yes Pull Throughs: some Cell Service (AT&T): 2 to 3 bars Setting: near a river with lush tree growth.
Recent Weather: highs are mid 70s to 80s Solar: some sites.
Insects: not many right now. Host: yes Rig Size: large rigs fit in some sites.
Sites: sites near the water beginning with number 33 are not that great. They don’t have a good view. I took pics of some of my favorite trailer sites. Most of them, our 26’ trailer will fit in.

Just spent the night, but it was a great stop. Free laundry, plenty of room and great service.

The sites are mostly level and well groomed grass with 2 new concrete handicap spots. The 30 amp and 50 amp power was proper voltage and dependable. Access to clear line of site to south for Dish or Directv is difficult due to heavy tree population. Non-Nebraska resident requires $14 pass in addition to the $30 fee with electric.  Potable water is available and dump station is easily accessible with a rinse water source. Ingress and egress is good with gravel road surfaces in park. The restrooms and showers are very clean and accessible.

My dog and I were the only ones there on a quiet Monday night.

Decided to cut our drive in half by staying here on our way to Smith Falls. It was a Monday night but it was very quiet other than the hum of the mosquitos!

-Side note: the vault bathrooms were a whole lot cleaner than some of our past experiences at other State Parks

Great spot with lots of trees and good sized sites. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and they were only half full & by night only a few more people came. Bugs were pretty bad. Unfortunately a bad storm moved in so we weren’t able to enjoy the evening. The trees kept us protected from the wind and hail. Would come back again!

Very nice little campground. Well manicured. Nice tent camping pads. Spots are well shaded. Has modern bathroom with FREE showers. Has primitive toilets scattered everywhere. Have walking, Jeep, ATV trails all over. Nice little pond to catch a few fish. Overall a very nice spot. A little noisy during the day with all the ATV traffic, but nice and quiet at night!

Trains ran all night every hour, maybe more, and blasted us each time. In the morning we were surrounded anf deafened by atv activity- we couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Camp hosts were amazing. Gave us firewood. Clean facilities. Well maintained. Gorgeous trees and trails.

This campground is a hidden gem. Nice big sites, your not packed it. Beautiful trees all around and we’ll kept. If you need electric you can reserve a site and get 30 or 50. Some sites have water and does have a sanitary dump site. Enjoying our overnight stay

This was on the south edge of town. Close enough to be able to walk to town. Very clean campgrounds. Nice bathroom! Perfect size little pond to kayak in. Very quiet.

Great camping trip with friends

This is a nice little campground in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Campsites are spaced apart nicely over three loops and many of the sites offer electric hookups. There are numerous water spigots around the campground and there’s also a dump station. The campground has hot showers, a basketball court and horseshoe pits available. A vending machine is located by the registration kiosks. Make sure to bring whatever you need with you because there isn’t much in Thedford or Halsey. 

There are lots of OHV trails in the area or there’s also a 2.5 mile hiking trail that leads to a fire lookout tower that’s open to public access. 

Be aware that there is a railway crossing at the turnoff from Route 2 so you will hear trains and train horns.

We enjoyed our brief stay. The campground is very well maintained, workers constantly trimming, cleaning etc. 

Right off the Sandhills Scenic Byway, beautiful drive. Our highlight was floating down the Middle Loup River in inner tubes ( Thedford, 15 miles away). 

Don't know if we will be back here again, but if we are I'd stay again.

On our road trip from MN to AZ this was our first stop. A lot of open sites. Sites where roomy and nicely spaced out.

The Thedford city park has four spots with 30amp electric. There is water nearby. Cost is a donation ( donation bog is next to the sites) To find these, they are on on Main Street (first road south of Highway 2). They sit on the curve where Main St heads north to highway 2. Would be an awesome spot for a day or more. There are trains that come through regularly, but they aren’t sounding horns near the park. A hill blocks a lot of the noise.

In a sea of private property this was a nice island of public land. We camped between a skate park and a ball field. Not sure if we could officially camp there but nobody bugged us. We came in after dark and out early. Don’t know if they’d want you there all day. No facilities.

Love Victoria Springs! It is a hidden gem in the Nebraska Sandhills.  It fills up on the weekends but during the week you can have the entire campground to yourself.  Beautiful trees, nice shade, and electrical hook-ups.

The camp sites were nice but there was so much rodeo activity it made it a bit overwhelming.