Best Campgrounds near Ponca, NE

Not to far from the Interstate and Lewis and Clark State Park in Iowa. The gravel site we were on fit our 40 ft fifth wheel without a problem but was slightly off level. Amy and Ed are very helpful and friendly, the bathrooms/showers are beautiful and immaculate. Pool and family area won’t open until May, but look inviting to guests. We were able to look in one of the 3 silos for rent. One word to describe: WOW! We will be back!

The campground is part of the town park in Pilger. There are five sites, all with electricity and two of them have water. The two sites with water had occupants but we did not see anyone when we were there. The camper pads and road are gravel. Sites have a picnic table and bbq grill.

The sites back up to Highway 15 and you will definitely hear (loud) road noise from cars and trucks. This park seems to cater more to the activities of the town– there is a ballfield, two covered picnic pavilions, and a pool. The pool looked very nice, but on a Monday before school let out, no one was there.

The restrooms/showers are near the pool and are open even when the pool is not. There is some ancient playground equipment and not sure why they left it (other than for nostalgia reasons) as there is new equipment in the same area. 

We were there on a Monday afternoon in June and although there were three employees in the pool area, there was no one in the park at all!

We found the Scenic Park RV Campground when we were looking for a spot to stay close to Sioux City, IA for a sports event for our sons. We were extremely happy with this city run campground.

The pads are in great shape. They offer full hookups. We did not have a full hookup site, but still had water, electric, and free cable tv. The view from our camper of the Missouri River and the Sioux City skyline was pretty great.

The staff is friendly and welcoming. The location is quiet and everyone staying there seemed very nice as well. Will definitely be back when we’re up that way again next year.

Great overnight stop on our way through Nebraska. This city park has 5 RV/trailer pads with water and electric hookup. Suggested donation of $10/night. Right in the middle of the small town of Osmond. Bathrooms and playground with plenty of space to run. Just off the main road, but was quiet.

We live(my dog and I) on a motorcycle - think Van Life on two wheels. A quiet place to put up a tent is so welcome. There are no amenities. It's strictly dry and pack out but a great place for a few tents or a couple vans. Highly motorcycle travel recommended

Had a grassy & shady tent site. There were vault/pit toilets close and regular restrooms with showers a little walk away (showers needed to be cleaned). Water spigot was close by too. Wish we had more time to explore the park itself because there was lots of hiking/waking trails. Overall no complaints

I found this on Campendium and google maps. It's a great little free park where you basically just park wherever. No designated spots, just park in the grass. The grass was not overgrown or anything, and there's a great little paved path that leads into town. Verizon cell service was pretty good and the park itself wasn't too crowded either. I imagine that the local county maintains it. Also tons of mulberry trees around! And be sure to go into town and pick up a breakfast sandwich and some donuts in the morning, it's a lovely walk in.

Stayed July 2024,

Good: Flat piece of grass to place two tents for only $ 20 bucks. Just what I needed at 10pm 

Bad: One quote from son sums it nicely, "saw the mens room and so used the women's". Also, two miles of dirt road was less than fun. Would have been nice if the pay station had more directions.

Future: I would remember to make a reservation at the KOA 10 minutes away.

This is a 3 site campground. 7 day maximum stay. No water, no garbage. 30 - 15 amp service only. Sites 1 and 2 are shaded until mid afternoon. Site 1 is shaded late afternoon. Locals bring their dogs out to "run." They don't pick up after, so watch your step. We are ¼ mile from highway and semi's Jake break a good deal, so it's quite until they go through. For a one lighter, this is a good cheap place to stop.

They have just recently added 4 more sites. Sites hVe 50 - 30 - 15 amp connections. Bathrooms ate across the playground. Showers at the swimming pool. Picnic house (open) has 15, 110 outlets. Site 3 offers most sun protection. The rest of the sites are sunny all day. Playground is very large for such a small village. Disk golf is also found here.

This is a nice clean campground. Full hookups. 50 - 30 - 15 amp service. Can be noisy next to busy city street. Large shade trees line between the 6 sites offered. Grills at each site, but no open fires allowed. Long cemented drives great for large rigs.

$20.00 a night gives you 30amp service. Picnic tables, grass site. There is only one grill in the campgrounds, and that was located on site L. You have to call the number pictured, and police will come and unlock your electrical box. They will also take your money if you wish to pay them directly. They spray for mosquitoes, and they were not a problem while we were there. Many local dog walkers, they leave many, many land minds around. You can have shade in the morning, but for the most part, all sites see sunshine throughout the day. Nice place. I should mention showers are free. Bathrooms are clean and just across the road from where you can camp. Dump station is also just west of the bath house.

15 campsites all pull throughs. Sites 1 - 7 are in the sun next to the road. Sites 8 - 24 are under beautiful shade treesAll have water electric and sewer hookups. 50 - 30 -15 amp service. Grills at each site. No firepits. No bathrooms. $25.00 a night. You MUST call to get electrics unlocked. Most of the campground was filled with workers. They were gone most of the day. These guys partied hard on the weekend.

CAMPING IS NOW ONLY ALLOWED BETWEEN MEMORIAL DAY THROUGH LABOR DAY. NO WINTER CAMPING IS ALLOWED ANY LONGER.

Gunderson Park is a nice little boondocking location just ½ mile from the downtown area of Centerville. They have 2 fire pit locations, but, after speaking with the official at city hall we found out you can camp pretty much anywhere in the park you would like.

It is free to camp here, you can stay virtually as long as you wish to according to that same official. There are no hook-ups. No bathroom facilities. No picnic tables. No playground for children. You may fish with a South Dakota license in the lazy rolling Vermillion River that skirts the park on 3 sides. They have a cement boat ramp. I will say when we stayed there the river was so low you would have had great difficulties getting a boat launched. On the west side of the park there are park benches at the beginning (or end of the walk depending on your start location) with a cemented walk way along the road to the park and the Vermillion River. It runs close to a quarter mile long with benches about half way through the walk. The city keeps this park mowed during the summer months. This is an old old park dating back to 1800's. The trees are massive and just as old providing beautiful shade. There are remnants of old stone items remaing in the park, grape vine thingy, a stone fireplace and pillars. Our stay favored us with Bald Eagle sightings. 2 hung around the trees on the other side of the river in full view, it was wonderful.

At the city park you can dump your tanks. We didn't need to so we didn't visit this location. At the four way stop sign located at the center of the town, turn west, travel one block and on the south side of the street you will find city hall. There they will tell you how to find the dump site.

This seems to be a favorite location for locals to drive through. Sometimes we found traffic through the park on the heavy side but most of the time very quiet. People are small town friendly. Population is around 900 people. Town has a grocery store, convenience store, bank, medical clinic, pharmacy, restaurant, bowling alley, auto parts store, bakery and other businesses. We noticed 4 churches in our drive around the town. At the city park they have a community swimming pool, Frisbee golf, 2 ball diamonds, tennis courts, playground equipment, volleyball courts, 2 picnic house areas and a location for 4 RV campsites with electrical plug ins [2 50 amp and 2 30 amp) for $10.00 a night with limited stay.

Great place very dog friendly. Spots are spacious and on pavement. Close to the river for your fishing needs.

Spacious site well cared for grounds. Close to everything in the city.

Small park, has some picnic tables, a toilet, and a trash can. Says you can pay to camp but no designated camp sites and limited parking. Does offer access for canoe/kayaking on the river. Camping is $10 a night, pay on site.