Best Tent Camping near Ogallala, NE

We loved this camping area and have been dreaming of returning.

The view was spectacular from the tent site, but there are plenty of full hookup sites available.

Though most lakes in Nebraska are man-made and muddy, this manmade lake is in the sandhills so it is all beach and clear water. The showers are free and there are plenty of hydrants for non-hookup sites.

There is good trout fishing here and excellent bird watching. We saw the Long-billed Curlew, Burrowing Owl, and several other birds checked off our bucket list.

The towns of both Ogallala and Lewellen both had plenty to see.

The camp host was exceptional and helpful beyond what is typically expected.

Nice small campground next Buffalo Bill Ranch Historic Site. 50/30 amp available. Water is confusing. Water at site 6 and 20. Also water available at tent site at end of campground. Water spigot is located at the back of both sites and tent site so confused how everyone else can get water. Just plan ahead. Only one other camper was here so we parked in site 6. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️. Verizon was 5G.

Quick Notes: RV Pads w/ water & electric Tent sites Group & handicap sites Bathhouse Boat launch Sandy beach Wake lake Fishing Dumpstation

Lake Ogallala Trail is a 9 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Ogallala, primarily used for hiking. The lake itself is pretty small (large pond) especially compared to its neighbor Lake McConoughey

The camping area was a little on the primitive side. Morning catfishing right off the banks is excellent!

Stayed one night on the Big Lake and one night at the small lake. Both are very good, just more quiet and less traffic at Lake Ogallala. Very nice camp sites and good fishing.

This is one of our favorite campsites in the country.  On a tall cliff, lake breeze blowing through the popup window, sandy beach that is as big as the panhandle itself (these are the sandhills of Nebraska). My 'Dyrt' profile picture is of our site at Cedar Vue.

Ogallala was a raunchy western town and has q boot hill full of cutthroats and cowboys.

The lake is huge. one of the few man-made lakes that are visible from outer space.  Nice wide open country side all around with much wildlife to see.  If you are a bird watcher, head north to crescent lake and see the burrowing owls, long billied curlew, or a vast amount of other  birds.  The fishing is renowned.

Warm showers, flush toilets, full hookups (though we prefer the scenery of our primitive site). Nice visitor center at the dam

Lake Ogallala and it’s campground was beautiful! Plenty of fishing, great area for walking, and you can hop right over to lake McConaughy for even more water action, restaurants and beautiful seeneri! The camp sites of most of the campground we small and very close together though.

Such a beautiful place to stay. Ideally, you would want a spot by the water and/or under the shade trees more. For the reservable side, it has electric hook ups and community water spouts you can fill your tanks with. Spots are pretty spaced out. The big lake is easy to get to. Dump stations are at the big lake and should be marked better. There used to be a playground at the campground, but it is gone. Did find one by the dam at the non-electric side of Lake Ogallala.

The views are pretty but the lack of full hookup sites and dump stations aren't worth it, in our opinion. When we booked our reservation, we utilized the options for 50amp site for a 40' camper and water. What we got was a 50amp site with "community" water available for us to fill up jugs and whatever else held water that we had to walk several sites down to get from a communal water faucet. Had we known this, we could have filled out fresh water tank completely to prepare. It isn't like we never dry dock but a more clear booking site would have helped us prepare. The trash dumpsters are in the worst possible spot for longer rigs pulling out from Lake Ogallala's SRA sites, including #36. And, finally...the fact the dumpstations are no where near most of the camp sites, nor are they clearly marked for convenient finding ensures we will not using this location again.

Mid April, we were one of a handful of campers. We had our pick of sites at Lake Ogallala located at the base of the dam. We selected 38. Due to the high winds and cold, we weren't able to kayak/SUP as planned, but it would be a good place. Also, great places on the other side of the dam. The bath house was open, but not the showers, which are pay by the way. There are also Porta Pottys in addition to the 1 modern bathhouse. The tree shaded sites are pretty level, but the tree rooms have buckled a lot of them. There is no dump station here, you have to go down the road to Little Thunder, but no extra charge. Speaking of charges, its pretty pricey. Sites $32 Plus a separate daily park pass. State residents $6. Nonresident $8. Lastly, the campground is next to a huge open pasture with lots of cows grazing. We didn't notice any smell, though. We would stay again

Pulling off I 80 we saw RVs park around a pretty lake in a nice park. We drove over and asked someone in an RV if there was an honor box or if somebody would come collect a fee. He said “no the rule is just leave it cleaner than you found it.”

Be sure to drive your tent stakes deep in the sandy soil as the wind can blow pretty hard in the Nebraska panhandle at times.

We were absolutely desperate to find a spot late last night so we figured we could trust a KOA to stop at in Nebraska. We’ve stayed at numerous other KOAs where they were conveniently/inconveniently next to the highway. Usually happy that it’s a close drive to get back on the highway but if you’re in a tent at this one it sounds like you’re about to get hit by a truck every 30 seconds. We pulled in around 11:30PM after driving for 11 hours and set up our tent and woke up before 5 to absolutely insane traffic going by. Also if we had realized it was going to be $45 for the site we would have found a hotel for another $20. Waste of money...should have risked just pulling over and sleeping on the side of the road somewhere. But at least the bathrooms and showers were VERY clean

We stayed one night at "Big Mac" on July 6th on our way out to Colorado in beach area 12. We were able to pull right up to the shore. There was a heat wave coming through so it was very hot. The bathrooms (In our spot they were just biffy's) are a bit of a walk from the spot we were at. 

We had 3 setups, a roof top tent, inside the 4runner and a ground tent. All parties slept pretty happily including a 6 year old. We cooked right on the beach and had a campfire. 

Towards midnight we saw some amazing stars that the pictures I included don't do justice. We would stay here again but I would caution anyone coming here to bring some sun screen and ensure you drink a lot of a water. There are some tent spots among the trees that provide more shade.

If you're from a state (Like we are from MN) with lots of beaches and Lakes, it's really "just ok". Don't get me wrong, It's cool you can camp right on the beach and it's probably the most exciting place to be in Nebraska, but that's not saying much.

We never thought we would be staying on a beach in Nebraska! It was so clean and pieceful!! A wonderful camping experience!!

Extraordinary location given that you are in the middle of Nebraska. I didn’t expect to be camping on a beach! Beautiful scenery. You can camp anywhere on the beach, so I was able to find a quiet spot. Expensive given basic facilities. Coin operated shower. No potable water

Stayed here on my cross country drive. Real calm at dusk on this reservoir, it picked up real fast into a certified windstorm by 2AM when I felt like my tent was about to be blown away into oblivion. LOTS of RVs.

I stopped at this campsite on a cross country road trip from NY to NV, as I didn’t know anyone who resided in the great state of Nebraska. Talk about a total hidden gem!! This campground is one of the most beautiful, quiet and serene campgrounds I have ever been to. There are lots of sites right along the water and perfect for fishing!! Absolutely some gorgeous views here.