Agency-listedMunicipalFree
Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
Drive-up · public land · NE · 41.76269, -103.32294
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
Bayard sits in the North Platte valley in western Nebraska, and Chimney Rock -- the landmark that told Oregon Trail emigrants they were a third of the way to Oregon -- is a few miles southwest and visible from town. The city maintains three gravel RV sites at the Swimming Pool Park with both 30- and 50-amp electric and water hookups (no sewer), first-come first-serve with no reservations. The city's own page is refreshingly blunt about the deal: the first two nights of any stay cost nothing, the next eight are $25 a night, and there is a 10-day maximum -- and no, moving to a different site does not reset the clock. So this is a genuinely free two-night stop and a fairly expensive one after that. Pay at the city office, 445 Main Street. Across the narrow street is the main city park with mature shade, a covered pavilion and picnic tables, a playground, and a seasonal pool and tennis courts. Scotts Bluff National Monument is a short drive west. Honest caveats: watch the fee cliff -- several camping websites still say $10 a night after the free nights, but the city's current page says $25, so budget for the city's number. Our map pin is the park next to the municipal pool, which is where the city says the sites are, but the RV pads themselves are not mapped, so expect to look around a block or so when you arrive. The deal these towns offer is simple: camp free, and they hope you buy fuel, groceries or dinner in town. Be a good guest and it stays free for the next traveler. Town rules change often and we have not visited -- confirm current rules with the town before you go.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 3,836 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) · public land · NE
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- @Mail0 mi
- GGrocery1 mi
- FFuel1 mi
- MMechanic17 mi
- HHardware17 mi
- LLaundry18 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- +Urgent care18 mi
- WWater18 mi
- EVEV fast charger19 mi
- DDump40 mi
- OOutfitter49 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 1 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
3,836 ft
Ground slope
0.6% · flat
Nearest rail line
~0.6 mi · other track
State
NE
Coordinates
41.76269, -103.32294
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) · public land · NE (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureNinemile Canal · ~0.2 mi · USGS: canal or ditch, no flow class
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~0.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesBayard Grocery · ~0.6 mi
- PharmacyU-Save Pharmacy · ~17.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicSweet Dreams Sleep Services · ~18.2 mi
- HardwareMenards · ~17.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.6 mi · other track
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) · public land · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger19.2 mi straight-line W — NPPD EV STATION SB SINCLAIR DCS, Scottsbluff, NE · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 4 within 50 · 23 within 100 · 100 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)48.7 mi — Sidney, NE - Tesla Supercharger, Sidney
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)18.3 mi — WNCC MAIN CAMPUS, Scottsbluff, NE · ChargePoint Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 359949 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) · public land · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomSunrise Beach Restroom Building · ~13.7 mi NW · BoR
- RestroomLake Minatare Vaulted Restroom - Primitive Campground Building · ~14.2 mi NW · BoR
- RestroomButte View South Restroom Building · ~14.3 mi NW · BoR
- RestroomButte View Restroom Building · ~14.6 mi NW · BoR
Coming out here — Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) · public land · NE
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Ninemile Canal as a canal or ditch (no flow class in the record), ~0.2 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). The record carries no flow class for it. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 0.6% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~0.6 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as other track. The nearest track the atlas classes as a main line is ~0.7 mi from the pin. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park) elsewhere
Other camps near Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Arnold Trupp WMA~5.5 mi
- Chet and Jane Fliesbach WMA~5.8 mi
- Williams Gap WMA~10.2 mi
- Nine Mile Creek WMA~10.9 mi
How we know this — Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
Stay limit
10 nights (10-day maximum)
Source
municipal park records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Camping rules are OFFICIALLY confirmed: City of Bayard official site, https://www.cityofbayard.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/Departments|Parks%20and%20Recreation%3E%3ECamping , fetched 2026-07-20: three RV sites at the Swimming Pool Park, 'No cost for first two (2) nights of any stay', 'Next eight (8) nights are $25.00 per night', 10-day maximum, first-come first-serve, payment at the city office at 445 Main Street, and moving between sites does not reset the fee. NOTE: several aggregators state '$10 per night after two free nights' -- that figure is STALE; the city's own page says $25. THE COORDINATE IS THE WEAK LINK -> confidence='med'. OSM has no park or campsite object anywhere in Bayard and Nominatim would not geocode 'Bayard City Park'; a targeted Overpass around:2500 query found the mapped municipal swimming pool (OSM ways 1291861735/1291861736, leisure=swimming_pool) with an adjacent unnamed leisure=park polygon, OSM way 1291861734, which matches the city's stated 'Swimming Pool Park' location. The pin is that park polygon (verified inside by point-in-polygon against api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/way/1291861734/full.json), NOT a mapped RV pad -- treat it as accurate to about a block. Not visited. Verified 2026-07-20.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Bayard City RV Sites (Swimming Pool Park)
Water on public land →Dumping grey & black →Fire rules & restrictions →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →