Willow Creek State Recreation Area Campground

Willow Creek is a 700 acre lake with 933 acres of land adjacent. This area offers modern latrines, showers, electrical camp pads, primitive camping, power boating, fishing, picnicking, a swimming beach and 7 handicapped fishing piers.

Willow Creek, 1 1/2 miles SW of Pierce, has 1,633 acres with a 700-acre lake. Facilities include: 100 camping pads, 64 with 30 amp electrical hookups, 19 with 50 amp electrical hookups. Picnic tables and shelters, fire grates, water, showers, modern restrooms, accessible fishing pier, archery field course, unsupervised swimming, two playgrounds and an 8-mile hiking/horseback trail around the lake. Seven rock jetties provide some fine fishing access.

Willow Creek offers camping, fishing, boating and swimming. Picnickers will find shelters along with an ample supply of tables and fire grates. An 8-mile hiking and horseback trail winds through the area, with a limestone trail meandering from the swimming beach and proceeding to the west edge of Pierce. Park roads may also be used by horseback riders. Come winter, roads and the lake surface (ice permitting) are open to snowmobiles.

A few miles north and west of Grove Lake is Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park, a fascinating area. Here visitors can watch ongoing excavations of prehistoric animals preserved under layers of volcanic ash deposited eons ago.

Camping reservations may be made a minimum of three days in advance of arrival and a maximum of 180 days in advance of arrival.

CHECK IN AND OUT SCHEDULE- If you check out early, the unused portion of your payment will be forfeited.

There are 100 pads in the campground, 84 with electrical hookups, which includes a handicap accessible camp pad. The modern shower house has laundry facilities, and there is a dump station. Fees are charged for camping, Campers are asked to self-register on arrival to the first-come, first-serve sites and deposit the appropriate fee in the drop box. Drinking water and vault toilets are available at the campground, as well as other sites around the lake.

Non Licensed motorized vehicles are not allowed in the areas.

Only one camping unit is allowed per campsite in the modern area. An extra tent may be used for dependant children only. Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Generators may not be operated during these hours. Pets are allowed, but they must be kept on a leash that is no longer than 6 feet. Campers staying over must re-register by 2 p.m. Check in time is 4 p.m. and check out time is 2 p.m. Campers must vacate their campsite no later than 2:00 p.m. on the date the camping reservation or registration expires. All persons entering the campground must be registered. Upon arrival, campers MUST have their camping equipment and be prepared to set up.

When a reservation is made one year to the date in advance, the arrival date must remain the same within that reservation. No cancellation of that arrival date is allowed.

A Nebraska State Park Permit is required to enter this park area. A Nebraska Licensed Vehicle Park Entry Permit is $30 for an Annual Permit, $15 for a Duplicate Annual Permit (used for that second vehicle in your family) or a Daily Permit which is $6 per day you are staying. A Non-Nebraska Licensed Vehicle Park Entry Permit is $60, $30 for a Duplicate Annual Permit or a Daily Permit which is $12 per day. You may purchase your Park Permit prior to your stay by shopping online at OutdoorNebraska.org. All vehicles entering a Nebraska Park Area are required to have a valid park entry permit.

See Reservation Policies details