Best Tent Camping near Long Pine, NE

I was heading to Merritt Reservoir and saw a sign for camping (Big Alkali WMA) and thought I could review a new site for the Dyrt. It was so nice, I changed my plans and stayed!

The campground is nestled in the Valentine Wildlife Management Area in Cherry County Nebraska. Cherry County is about the size of Connecticut.  It is so sparsely populated it is known for its endless sandhils and clear night sky's. The Nebraska Star gazing festival is held in Cherry County annually.

The camp site is south of the 16B about 10 miles west of highway 83 and about 25 miles south of Valentine NE.

The 8 camping sites are well marked. At least one is handicapped accessible, though there is no paved way to the campsite's vault toilet. each has 15 and 30 Amp hookups, BUT NO WATER!

There are about 20 other primitive sites with firepits or grills and picnic tables. I assume unlimited camping if you just wish to throw up a tent. There is no charge for the sites, no entrance fee, no cost for electric, FREE.

The lake is so glassy, peaceful, and of course it is sandy bottom for great swimming. It would be awesome for peaceful Kayaking or Canoeing. Of course, the Niobrara National Scenic River is just half an hour up the road, so this might be a great base camp for all things Kayak. 

I assume that fishing is the main attraction. There is a nice boatramp. I see a large pontoon boat pushed up on the shore and I actually saw folks out on water skis when I arrived. 

I may try to bike some of the trails in the Valentine WMA. These Sandhills are steep and beautiful. 

Did I mention FREE, even with 30amp hookup???

I found the gravel access r road off of 16B to be well maintained if slightly narrow. Two pickups meeting is an inconvenience, but two large rigs might pose a problem.

I usually dispersed camp. But, 90 plus degrees, with himidity, calls for electric! Fair share of reviews on this park. Most pretty accurate, id say. One lacking review is cellular. Didn't even realize no cellular until after setting up. I have AT&T. I did get an intermittent bar from band 13, (Verizon). This campground is in a decent valley. Thus, no signal. Up out of the valley - great signal! I'm setup with new cell router with 4 cellular antennas, including a directional antenna. Also have booster/repeater (Keep it off normally). Couldn't get AT&T signal. Had to use booster plus directional antenna to get signal. Band 5 only one that would connect. But, got 5mb down and 2kb up. Enough to stream with! I was in site 11. Had to point directional antenna south towards Long Pine. Hope this helps!

Valentine City Park in Valentine, NE is not a vacation destination per-say. That being said it is a highly useful place if you are passing through or in the area for an event/family get together,etc.

Down a side street off the main “drag” of Valentine, you drive through a neighborhood and down the hill to a nice, shaded typical city park. There is a creek that meanders through the middle of the park with several bridges, vehicle and foot, that connect a nice little trail and disc golf area and also a rentable venue(there was a wedding/reception going on when we visited). A playground, restroom and parking areas. The sites are basic, fire ring, maybe a picnic table and run along the creek. Once again this is a city park so there are more passerby’s then at regular campgrounds but for the most part it was quiet.

There is a “lake” across the road but it doesn’t really seem to be a recreation type place, or maybe it was just a slow week because other things were going on. (A Cowboy event and cattle roundup) So, functional and things to do but there are better recreation areas nearby if your are looking for a destination to camp and fish, explore.

I lost all my pictures of Valentine and the park but have included the nearby recreation areas. Valentine has the usual, fuel, truck stop(showers), food and entertainment. There were several excellent restaurants but some have limited hours.

Wacky West Travel Park had very nice and helpful owners. Make sure you have the phone number because their office hours are limited so that they can keep up the park. It’s small and a little crowded but serves the purpose of a base camp or overnight location.

I attended a “Sisters on the Fly” event in Valentine, NE and this is were we all met and camped. The owners squeezed us all in and gave us a discount for our stay. One nice thing is you are in the middle of town right off the main drag so you can walk anywhere in town pretty easily.

The restroom and shower are keyed which you receive when you check in. Down side to that I forgot to drop my key in the mail slot when I left and had to go back to do so.

There is electric/water hook up at each site, not much in the way of shade , limitedfire rings and picnic tables. You could tell several of the sites were more towards permanent dwellings and some of the sites sat right on the entry road so you step out your camper door into the road. These sites were stacked so two of our group didn’t even try to unhook their campers.

If you’ve never experienced sand burrs Nebraska has them and they are horrible on dogs feet. The owner of the campground made extra efforts to keep the burrs out of the immediate camping area but my dogs still picked up several. There is a cattle yard directly behind the campground so I’m not sure how it smells when it’s hot, we were there in cold weather so it was not an issue.

Valentine has events going on and the Niobrara River is a main attraction, several of the group did a kayak float and explored the waterfalls along the river. We also walked to dinner within 1/4 mile at an excellent restaurant, Peppermill Steakhouse, worth a visit.

The three stars is due to the location, cramped accommodations and no recreation in the immediate area. However the owners were very accommodating and the facilities were well maintained. I would stay there again. Also I lost the pictures of the campground and Valentine but included the nearby recreation areas.