Best RV Parks & Resorts near Harlan County Lake

Harlan County Lake Near Alma, Nebraska Methodist Cove Park is located on the west side of Harlan County Lake by Alma, Nebraska. The 13,000-acre Harlan County Lake is the second largest lake in the state. The lake and surrounding land hold great appeal for sportsmen, birders, naturalists or anyone wanting to just get away.

• • May 1– Sept 30
• • Reservable May 1– Sept 30 (877-444-6777)
• • Non-reservable Nov 1– April 30

• 48 Electric sites

• 50 amp available

• 81 non electric sites

• Dump station

• Picnic area

• Playground

• Full hookups

• Sewer hookup

• Electric

• Water

• Fire ring/grill

• Toilets/showers

• Boat launch

Methodist Cove Park offers variety campsites of individual, group, electric and non-electric sites. There is also one reservable group picnic shelter for day use. One large heated shower house with flush toilets is centrally located within the campground and several vault toilets are located throughout the rest of the park. The main road is hard surfaced, while others are gravel. A fish cleaning station with grinder and running water is located near the entrance. There two full service marinas on the east end of the lake. Located in South Central Nebraska, lands surrounding Harlan County Lake are primarily mixed grass prairie land. The campground is mostly forested, offering ample shade during the warmth of summer. 

This is a beautiful campground.  The site is flat and open.  Trees are scattered among the many campsites.  The sites are small but well maintained.  A bonus was a washer and dryer located in both the men's and women's bath/toilet facility.  That facility was very clean.

The Republican River Valley was once occupied by one of the greatest concentrations of buffalo on the Great Plains and was a favored hunting ground for the Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes. Harlan County Lake is popular for fishing, hiking, hunting and boating. Walleye, wipers, white bass, northern pike and channel catfish are the most sought after fish species. Game animals include pheasant, quail, prairie chicken, white-tailed and mule deer, turkey, waterfowl, rabbit and squirrel. The lake offers a variety of hiking trails of varying length and style, as well as one equestrian trail a short drive away. An off-road vehicle trail is located in nearby Republican City. Harlan County and an additional almost 18,000 acres of land that surround the lake is managed by the COE. There are six parks which provides the area with a plethor of recreation campsites.

 When you turn off the main highway there is a liquor store and just down from that is a bait shop where I would guess you could pick up some supplies. There is a market in Alma, Nebraska. Make sure you purchase your supplies before arriving. 

Notice to all that bring watercraft. All watercraft pose a threat of AIS Aquatic Invasive Species to the waterways in Nebraska and waterways in other states. Watercraft is the primary source of AIS they must be prepared with an accepted means of ensuring no AIS will enter local waterways. CLEAN DRY Non residents must obtain the AIS decal and apply to watercraft. If a boat is launched from a Nebraska boat facility a AIS decal must be obtained.

 Latitude 40° 5' 12.9998" N Longitude 99° 18' 56.0002" W 

From U.S. Highway 80, take Highway 183 south to Alma, Nebraska. Turn left on South Street and travel 2.5 miles. The park entrance is on south side of the road.

Need to Know• Only one camping unit allowed per site• All campers must check in when arriving at park• Maximum of six people allowed per site• An attendant is on duty during the peak season of May through September• Secure coolers and boating equipment each night to prevent thefts• Off-road vehicles are not permitted

• Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.

Contact Information Mailing Address 70788 Corps Road A REPUBLICAN CITY, NE 68971-9742 Phone Number For campground inquiries, please call: 308-799-2105

LNT

Better than when you found it

Stay safe - Happy Travels

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

Stayed one night in a tent. Was able to find a site tucked in the trees that felt separate from the other campsites and it was perfect! Had a range of sites from primitive (picnic table and fire ring) to full hook up. Huge, busy campground but not overwhelming—there’s enough space to accommodate. Verizon works great.

Shaded RV spots with hookups. Good swimming

This campground is busy all summer for the full hookup but normally will have electricity only or primitive openings

Located on Harlan County Lake. We chose campsite #63, just back from the shoreline. It was an extremely large site with plenty of room to play with our dogs without bothering anyone else. Plenty of places to walk or hike along the shoreline. While the temps were in the 90's and humid out in the sun, our site stayed between 78 and 80 due to the cooling breezes coming from the lake. The campground water supply was pristine. There were plenty of nice outhouses spread throughout the park. The main bathhouse is huge and the showers are great. The boat ramp was very nice. The campground hostess was very nice and comes around to introduce herself in case you have any questions.

Excellent for large RV’s. Pull thru sites with full hookups and overlooking Norton reservoir

Fantastic state Park with full hookups... Beach, fishing and a delightful small City of prairie dogs to entertain the kids for hours

Large campground with primative and RV sites. Dogs are allowed on leash and there are plenty of places for the kids to run around and play. There is a heated shower and coin operated laundry available in the campground or you're only a few minutes away from Alma, NE for a supply run. Fishing is popular here with a great boat ramp and area to clean the walleye or whatever is biting that day. For those who RV camp, there is a dump station available.

Old Marina campground is mostly a RV campground, but plenty of grass behind each side for a tent.  This campground is in two areas, if you turn left as indicated by the sign you enter a loop that has numerous sites all pretty much right next to each other.  All these sites are perfectly level.  A small shelter is at the end of the loop.  A playground is in the middle of the loop and restrooms/showers are on the north end of the loop.  If you turn to the right you will come to a large parking area for the boat launch, and another set of campsites, you are just parking in a parking lot with numbered spots containing your hook ups and picnic tables with covers.  All sites in either section have picnic tables and metal fire rings as well as water and electric hook ups.  An RV dump is located on the road just before the turn to Old Marina.  Several dumpsters are in the area.  The loop section has large trees providing shade.  A sign on the restroom indicates that WIFI is available.

Hill Top Campground is a nice level open campground, appear to be fairly new.  Great spot for the RV set as all sites have electric and water hook ups as well as picnic tables and metal fire rings.  Campground sits on a high spot in the State Park and overlooks the lake.  Sites are very large and nicely spread apart, but are in the open.  The big draw back to this campground in Webster State Park is the lack of a restroom.  You will need to go to the near by Old Marina Campground a 1/4 mile away for restroom and showers.  Old Marina also has a playground.  An R/V dump and dumpster is located between Hill Top and Old Marina Campground.  Boat launch is just down the road.  All sites can be reserved.

30 amp and water hook-ups at the NE corner of the Oxford city park.  There is a free dump station w/ water available nearby.  The night we spent there, we had planned to boondock along the Republican River, but temps were ~100 degrees so we altered our route to have electricity of the AC.  Widely spaced sites with great shade and a great place for kids.  We were the only campers there for the night we stayed.  After heavy rains it could be difficult to impossible to drive onto grass at sites.   We would gladly stay there again.

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.

Lake View Campground is a small campground right along the shore of the Webster Reservoir.  This campground has ten sites with water and electrical hook ups, plus an additional 7 or 8 primitive sites.  A couple of the primitive sites are along the shore, but most are at the edge of a large grass area.  Their is an vault toilet at the entrance to the campground, a bit of a walk from the primitive campsites.  A large shelter is also available at the site.  A shower house is located at a day use area just past the campground as well as an archery range just past that.  All sites have picnic tables and metal fire rings

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

•  150 campsites, both with and without electric hookups. 
• There are also several tent-only sites. 
• Showers
• Toilets
• Laundry (1.50 per load)
• Two playgrounds
•  Volleyball court 
•  Boat ramp 
•  Fish cleaning station with grinder and running water is located near the entrance. Walleye, wipers, white bass, northern pike and channel catfish are the most sought-after fish species. 
• Game animals include pheasant, quail, prairie chicken, white-tailed and mule deer, turkey, waterfowl, rabbit and squirrel. 
• The lake offers a variety of hiking trails of varying length and style, as well as one equestrian trail a short drive away. 
• An off-road vehicle trail is located in nearby Republican City. 
•  Latitude 40° 4' 59.0002" N Longitude 99° 13' 39.7200" W 
• Directions"   Highway 80, take Highway 183 south to Alma, Nebraska. Turn left onto Highway 136. then turn right on Berrigan Road and travel 1.25 miles to the intersection of Road B. Turn right and travel one mile; the park entrance is on south side of the road.
• Off-road vehicles not permitted in the campground 
• Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. 
• Phone number for campground inquiries, please call: 308-799-2105

This is our second visit to this location and I have an update on our stay.  Major thing for us is that we have not encountered the dreaded blood thirty skeeters.  We did have a major storm last night but campground held up rather well.  Hunter Cove is a large, well kept park and all facilities are clean with no flies or at least very few.  The park is blessed with a lot of mature tress giving most sites a nice shade.  There are several water sites and even the sites that are not on the water you will still have a view of the water.  Pad are gravel or grass but hard packed.  Hunter Cove is set in a very rural area.  Roads are what I would consider secondary.  Rather narrow, especially if you meet a vehicle pulling a boat and you are in an RV so be prepared.  

 When you turn off the main highway there is a liquor store and just down from that is a bait shop where I would guess you could pick up some supplies.  There is a market in Alma, Nebraska.  Make sure you purchase your supplies before arriving.

If you have a reservation and the camp host is not on duty you will find your spot and they have place a tag with your name and dates of arrival.  Sites are well marked and well maintained.  There are sections for tent campers and many are water sites.  Enjoy bird watching, fishing, hiking, fishing and other water activities.

Notice to all that bring watercraft.  All watercraft pose a threat of AIS Aquatic Invasive Species to the waterways in Nebraska and waterways in other states.  Watercraft is the primary source of AIS they must be prepared with an accepted means of ensuring no AIS will enter local waterways.  CLEAN  DRY  Non residents must obtain the AIS decal and apply to watercraft.  If a boat is launched from a Nebraska boat facility a AIS decal must be obtained.

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.

I've stayed 3 times at the Fort Kearney SRA for convenience only.  Nebraska Game & Parks has a punitive price model that charges out-of-state visitors $12/day to enter a park with a campground (no Senior discounts either) and then $15/day for a primitive campsite (no water or electric) that is a looong ways for the dirty and rundown restrooms.

There are many RV and tent sites at this campground with water access to the Harlan reservoir. Several loops of sites are available around the lake within this campground. Electric RV sites and some tent sites can be reserved online while there are also a set number of first come first served sites. Dogs and campfires are allowed. There is a fish cleaning station for those who are interested in fishing. There is also a playground in the main loop for kids. Due to the overwhelming amount of rain in the area, some of the sites are unavailable right now, but there are still more than enough for everyone. We were there on a busy holiday weekend and still had plenty of space, shade, and privacy. Dogs are allowed on lease at all times. There are also two group campsites and a covered picnic facility that would be great for reunions.