Mormon Island State Recreation Area

This park is right off I-80 off one of the Grand Island exits.  This park was actually a surprise to me.  It was pretty clean, especially for as packed as it was.  The spacing between camp site were pretty good.  The lakes for swimming, fishing,, and nonpowered boats were clean.  The trees, and grass areas were pretty as well, and had modern restrooms and showers.  There are playgrounds, volleyball court, disc golf and nature trails available.   There are camping for rvs, tent, and generator camping.  And honestly if it weren't  for the interstate noise (which was not bad) I would of forgot I was next to one. 

Surprisingly nice 

Mormon Island is a nice, clean State campground along Interstate 80 at the Grand Island exit. There is a store right before the entrance in case you forgot anything or need to purchase firewood. There are 3 different areas for campers, a tent area, a Rv area, and an area for generator use. The Rv area has Electric and the sites are evenly spaced on black top and are level. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There is also plenty of day use areas. The restrooms are clean and have water fountains. There is a separate shower house and laundry that is also well kept. The grounds are maintained and are attractive.

There is a playground for children, a fishing pier, biking, and nice trails to explore. This is a nice area with lots to explore including the Platte River. Just beware of deer ticks. Spray,Spray,Spray..my husband left with 32 visitors that needed to be pulled out.

Nice fishing area and camping along I-80

While camping at Morman Island, we went through one of the worst storms! 85 to 90 mile an hour winds with hail! It was bad enough to go through the storm but it really was bad that not one person from the campground came around to check on us the next morning! They really just concentrated on the clean up. The priorities were messed up. At the time of the storm there were only 25 campers in the whole place. How long would it have taken to check on the well being of those 25 campers! There was no prior warning of the storm from anybody at the campground. 
Other campgrounds that we’ve stayed at, we always have had a heads up.
The pictures are from the morning after. Not just a little blow!
Overall the visit wasn’t the best with the storm and all. 
There are several rules that are clearly posted throughout the grounds and at the pond. 
Dogs on a 6 ft leash. No floaties in the swimming area. No dogs on the beach. No parking on the grass.  All of these were being violated and not one person from the staff could be seen addressing any issues. People were doing whatever they wanted to. I would have loved to let my dog go swimming but it was against the rules.
The section we were in was a new section, but we could not even let our dog out in our camp site because of an abundance of stickers and burrs! She at one point just laid down because of her paws filled with burrs and could not walk any more. This was in our site. I’m not sure if anyone else had the same problem. 
The facilities were very clean. (They need a shower house in the new section). Making the reservation was very easy. The people we did talk to were very nice. 

Aug 5th-11th

After a long drive, I was looking for somewhere easy to get into and out of, near the interstate.  I stopped for gas and saw the sign for the sites and decided to give it a look.  

When I got there around 5pm, I was able to have my choice of sites.  By 8pm, every site was occupied in the tent area.  This seems to be a good stopping point for transient campers as they pass, like myself.  This does cause an issue with the noise from I-80 just outside of the grounds, but the trees and a dirt berm help to keep that down to just a low drone.

Great campground location, and inexpensive.  The site, and amenities, are very nice.  The campsite itself is very well maintained and level.  The tent area restroom was very clean.  The showers are located over in the Cottonwood Campground, and are adequate.  This was my first encounter with the pay showers though, and I had to scrounge around for quarters to feed into it. 

The only small problem is that at approximately 5am, I started hearing the air/fan boats from a local launch on the Platte River.  I was wide awake and had actually already packed my Jeep by 630am.  I am not sure if this is a normal occurrence, or just something that happened that one day.  Other than that, I would definitely say to give this place a try.

  

Edit:  The Bosselman Travel Center is a great place to pick up a little food as well as fuel up for your trip.

Be prepared to wake early

I’ll start off by saying it’s pretty decent fishing. Some sides of the lake have a lot of moss but I caught a few decent sized in just a few hours. Besides that very crowded and would not consider camping at this location.

Mormon island review 

Spacious and well maintained campground. In March, the campground was still in WINTER season so only one bathroom location open and no showers open in winter, and limited water access points, but we had a electric hookup. Our campsite loop bordered vegetation, was spacious between campsites, and fairly protected from Interstate noise. Had a fire ring and picnic table. Several lakes and pretty trees. Camp hosts were friendly and helpful with questions! Don’t forget to visit sandhill cranes in March/April.

Easy access from I-80

Great one night spot. Easy access to the Interstate so there was noise but it still was a great site because of the breeze, shade and variety of trees. The bathroom was clean and close by. Easy to walkup and pay using the drop box. I would stay here again if we need a one night place.

Glorious Trees

Nice campground
- paved &amp; level parking pads
- decent bathrooms
- Showers could use a cleaning. 
-  very few campers on a Tuesday in Oct
-  nice paths for an after dinner stroll with the dogs
- att cell service is good
- no internet
- easy acces from the Highway
- lots of Highway truck noise 

Nice but loud

Stayed here for a weekend when we purchased our new travel trailer.  We wanted a camp ground that was close to a city and only a 2 hour drive from our home if we needed to get something or an accessory that we forgot to pick up before leaving.  Location is the big benefit of this location.  Literally right off the interstate and all the amenities of the city of Grand Island are only 5 minutes away.  Its rare that I can go eat at Texas Roadhouse or ice cream at Cold Stone and its a 5 minute drive from my campsite.    

  

This is a nice and well kept campground.  Good shade on our section that is away from the lake and close to the shower houses.  Shower houses are clean and typical for NGPC camp grounds.  Electrical hookups on each campground with water spigots spaced through the campground.  Good access for backing in.