Category: State Parks

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – Nice! – Shower in the evening knocked down some dust

Facilities

• Notes:
  • Full service campsites in the Alice Lake area.
  • Gravel drives – dusty no hard pack pads
  • Nice camp host!
  • It seems to have a lot of ‘perma-campers’
• Park Map

• Showers
  • Only showers at visitor center with 7a-7p hrs.

What we liked / disliked

• †Wildlife
  • Bears were active and bear boxes were recommended for non-hard-side campers and tents.
  • Deer were at the camp site
  • Hummingbirds everywhere
• Media
  • No TV and No cell service

Photos

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – Excellent

Facilities

• Notes:
  • After hrs entry requires a phone call prior to 3pm. This information is only posted on their web site. Not the reservation email!!!
  • Enter via Morrison Road
  • Great camp host who was very helpful.
  • This park is tucked against foothills and a a great launching point into the city or the mountains.
  • Only 47 camp sites in a huge park… however, no shaded slots.
  • Beautiful area and quiet.
  • Great walking and biking trails. Paved and dirt for miles!
  • Pay showers
  • Bring bug spray
• Park Map

What we liked / disliked

• Notes:
  • Small campsites with gravel base and close to neighbors
• Wildlife
  • Limited, but found a gopher snake!
• Media
  • Full TV and Excellent cell service

Photos

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – Generally good! Rain in the evening

Facilities

• Notes:
  • We stayed in the Sylvan Lake area, (note map below)
  • This camp area has a narrow one-way drive with limited maneuvering room.
  • It has a fairly new and clean restroom building, However hot water was variable. We spoke to the camp host and they indicated repairs are due the day we left!
  • There is a nice walking trail to Sylvan lake and the general store. The trail is off the road and safe.
  • Easy mountain drives to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse memorials.
  • One dump station in entire state park by the Visitor Center!
  • The Wildlife loop had nice scenery.
• Park Maps (Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park)

What we liked / disliked

• Notes
  • ONE dump station in the entire park!
  • Water not on site, only community spigots.
  • The parking pads are not level. Or only small portion of our assigned pad was level for the trailer.
  • No trash receptacle at dump station.
  • As mentioned, big rigs will have a problem in the narrow one-way drive in this camp ground.
  • The General Store is limited in product selection and pricey… more like what you would expect in a tourist destination than a State Park.
• Wildlife
  • Yes! Marmot, Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Deer…
• Media
  • No TV and NO cell service

Photos

Badlands Photos

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – Beautiful!

Facilities

• Notes
  • Hiking trails available throughout the park.
  • Clean restrooms and showers.
  • Cabins are available if you are not in a travel trailer, RV or tent.
  • A lot of amenities: swimming pool; disc golf; tennis courts; horse stables and more.
  • The park hosts were great!
  • Sites are large. Although pads are shorter than some camp areas we have visited.
  • Really quiet! Just off the highway but the trees provide a nice buffer.
  • This park is a hidden gem in the NE state park system
• Park Map

What we liked / disliked

• Notes
  • Water not at every site so you need to fill before parking.
• Wildlife
  • Deer and turkeys everywhere!
• Media
  • Better bring a movie for the evening!
  • Cell service was limited

Photos

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – Very pleasant!

Facilities

• Notes
  • This is a huge camping area, clean and grassy.
  • Clean shower and restrooms centered in the camping area.
  • Plenty of room for tent or screen room use at every site.
  • Nice fire pits, (even a little wood dumped at our site.
  • Many partially shaded sites, but you would need to drive the area to choose an available site first.
  • Reservations required for multiple nights on the Nebraska State Parks web site.
  • Walking paths to the lakes, windmill and gazebo Handicap accessible.
• Park Map

What we liked / disliked

• Notes
  • No water at individual sites, only community spigots.
  • Not easily accessed during construction through the end of 2019!! Eastbound I-80 access forces you to go 5 miles further east and return on the westbound side. This was NOT noted on the state parks website.
  • A constant noise of I-80 traffic and trains.
• Wildlife
  • Turkeys seemed to have a run of the place! 🙂
• Media
  • Some TV and good cell service

Photos

Location & Map

• When – June, 2019
• Weather – generally pleasant

Facilities

• Notes:
  • Lots of tent areas and picnic areas in this park.
  • A nice playground and swimming area with lifejackets available for use.
  • The pads are level but close together. During peak season and weekends, it will be noisy.
  • Dump staton is a single use station so be patient on the weekends.
  • This too is a quiet park… save the power boats… two or more boats were so loud you could hear them even after they had crossed the lake!

Park Map

What we liked / disliked

• Notes
  • Paid shower in new building
    • Cold shower in old buildings… a good incentive to pay for the showers!
  • Laundry… unfortunately it was out of order.
  • No trails in this park.
• Wildlife
  • Geese everywhere
• Media
  • Limited TV but good cell service

Photos

Location & Map

• When – June 2019
• Weather – Warm and humid

Facilities

• Notes:
• We were in the Ray Roberts Lake State Park – Isle du Bois area which had some partial flooding and a few closed camp sites. One of the other campground areas was also closed due to flooding.
• Because the staff had not been out to the sites, there were unaware of mud filled sites… and unfortunately we were assigned one of these sites! A trip back to the office solved the problem with a move to another available slot.
• We did not see a single park patrol… and it showed from the above point.
• The parking pads are not too level so be prepared to spend some quality time with your blocks! 🙂

Park Map

What we liked / disliked

• Notes:
  • The Showers are adequate but in need of an update.
  • There are walking trails to / from a playground and it appears to be a family friendly area.
  • This a a very quiet park and very peaceful in the evenings.

• Wildlife
  • We had deer everywhere and geese… watch where you step!

• Media
  • Limited TV access, good cell service.

Photos

Location & Map

• When – April, 2019
• Weather – Comfortable 70’s and cool evenings in the 50’s

Facilities

• Notes
  • This is a quiet park! The camping area is in a bit of a hollow and surrounded by trees.
  • The office closes at 5PM and the gate at 10PM so the traffic is minimal.
  • We’re certain the noise and activity will pick up during the ‘camping season’ and on weekends in the summer.
  • The area has some nice trails to and around Sand Creek
  • The spaces are primarily ‘back-in’ with a chart that shows the max length for the pad chosen.
  • Two bathhouses and one handicap accessible.
    • The bathhouses and shower areas were kept clean!

What we liked / disliked

• Notes
  • The park trail maps need to be repainted.
  • All the trails were clean and walkable.
  • The waterfall area is scenic, although it may be very popular in the peak of the summer season.
• Wildlife
  • We saw one beaver rustling through the brush, he/she was not bothered by us!
  • Birds were limited for this time of the year, a few Cardinals and a few Grebes.
  • It was probably too early for other birds.
• Media
  • Four local channels, (two Christian Broadcast, one Spanish language and one ??

Photos

Park images

Location & Map

• When – Feb, 2019
• Weather – 80’s 40’s

Facilities

• Notes:
• This is a small camping/RV area tucked in the Lost Maples valley with only 30 spaces for tent and RV camping. Our advise, Reserve Early!  
• The camping area is fairly open without a lot of mature trees.
• The restrooms and showers are clean and well kept.
• This is a quiet park, with most spaces full, the noise was minimal.
• The park staff were very friendly, helpful and showed a great deal of care for managing this little oasis in the woods.
• There is a single Dump Station near the entrance on the main road. Dumpsters and recycling bins were plentiful and the guests were keeping the area clean.

What we liked / disliked

• This is supposed to be a beautiful park in the Fall with the changing colors of the maple trees. We’ll plan to return to see the colors.
• The trails are dog friendly, (leash required), and seemed to be well marked and maintained.
• Our stay was short, but the birds were at a minimum and no sign of any four legged critters. We did hear two owls talking to each other… but that was it.
• The camping area is disconnected from day-use area by ½ mile park road which was nice to see.
• The day use area is large and there are several hiking trails up into the hills – see map below. The trails follow the Sabinal River and branch off into the hills.
• The river area is pretty, even for early Spring, even though Spring… had not quite sprung – the colors were flat and the trees had not started to bud out just yet, but as mentioned, we’ll be back in the Fall!
  

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Photos

The Camping and Day Use area:

The Trails: