American Adventurer
Agency-listedNGPCFee

Calamus Reservoir SRA

Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 41.85424, -99.26009
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 →
Nebraska Game & Parks 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.

Nebraska State Recreation Area (NGPC), Garfield & Loup County. The park's own page says: "Calamus SRA offers Electric Plus and Basic camping spread over three campgrounds. Shower houses are available at Homestead Knolls, Nunda Shoal and Valley View Flat campgrounds. All three areas offer mature shade trees, water and modern restrooms and each area is within walking distance of the lake. A dump and fill station is available at Little York Point. Additionally, camping is permitted in the parking lots of the Valley View Flat and Hannaman Bayou campgrounds in designated spots. Hannaman Bayou and Valley View Flat campgrounds offer Basic non-pad campsites with access to water, restrooms and shower houses. There is a group campground that accommodates up to eight tents in the Valley View Flat Campground. Reservations are available for this area. Beach camping is not permitted at Calamus SRA. Camping reservations are available during peak season for half of the electrical campsites up to 180 days in advance. All other camping is all first-come, first-served; campers must register their nightly camping fees in a raised, locked box called an Iron Ranger. Self-service envelopes are provided at each station and accept cash or checks only." The park's own page lists 'water' among campground amenities without saying whether it is potable. Confirm on site; treat all natural water as NOT potable. NOTE FOR REVIEW: our map already carries 'Calamus Reservoir WMA' about 1.44 mi away (published) -- check these are genuinely different places to camp.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Calamus Reservoir SRA
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Calamus Reservoir SRA
XFacebookReddit
Weather outlook — at Calamus Reservoir SRA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,274 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Calamus Reservoir SRANIFC · 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 Calamus Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Conoco · Fuel · 9 miFConoco · Grocery · 9 miGRock County Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 52 miRxQuick's Ace Hardware · Hardware · 24 miHMechanic · 37 miMAir-up · 54 miANorth Central District Health Department · Urgent care · 52 mi+Burwell Post Office · Mail · 8 mi@NPPD EV STATION ONEILL CUB DCSW · EV fast charger · 53 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • @Mail8 mi
  • FFuel9 mi
  • GGrocery9 mi
  • HHardware24 mi
  • MMechanic37 mi
  • RxPharmacy52 mi
  • +Urgent care52 mi
  • EVEV fast charger53 mi
  • AAir-up54 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: fuel & food sit about 9 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 53-mi run (and back).

Not within 60 mi: Water, Dump, 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 — Calamus Reservoir SRA

Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks
Elevation
2,274 ft
State
NE
Coordinates
41.85424, -99.26009
Cost
Fee

Nearby & resupply — around Calamus Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE (OpenStreetMap)

  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelConoco · ~8.6 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesConoco · ~8.6 mi
  • HardwareQuick's Ace Hardware · ~24.4 mi

EV charging — from Calamus Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Calamus Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Calamus Reservoir SRA elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps near Calamus Reservoir SRA

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Calamus Reservoir SRA

Permit
A valid park entry permit is required for all vehicles entering a state park area. Nebraska licensed vehicle: daily permit $7, annual permit $35. Non-Nebraska licensed vehicle: daily permit $14, annual permit $70.
Source
Nebraska Game & Parks (state parks and recreation areas)
Confidence
Agency-confirmed — The managing agency's own record names this as a campsite and puts it at these coordinates. About as good as it gets short of standing here.
How it was placed
Camping confirmed on the park's own NGPC page, https://outdoornebraska.gov/location/calamus-reservoir/, read 2026-08-17. Point from the NGPC Parks_Locations FeatureServer (https://services5.arcgis.com/IOshH1zLrIieqrNk/arcgis/rest/services/Parks_Locations/FeatureServer/0), the layer behind the agency's Public Access Atlas; it is a park-level point and may not sit on the campground loop. NGPC statewide rates, https://outdoornebraska.gov/parks/park-pricing/ (read 2026-08-17): camping Primitive $10/night year-round, Basic $15, Electric $25, Electric Plus $30, Full Hookup $35; off-season (roughly mid-Oct to Apr) all tiers $5 less except primitive, which stays $10. A park entry permit is required on top of the camping fee: $7/day or $35/year on a Nebraska-plated vehicle, $14/day or $70/year otherwise. Lake McConaughy and Smith Falls are the two parks priced off this card. Stay limits are posted per park -- several NGPC pages state 14 consecutive days in any 30-day period; confirm on site. Modern facilities (showers, dump/fill, full hookups) are generally closed mid-Oct through April. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go. | nightshift-verified 2026-08-18: RE-FETCHED the park page https://outdoornebraska.gov/location/calamus-reservoir/ today (HTTP 200) and it STILL states camping. Camping detail read off that page today: Electric Plus and Basic camping spread over three campgrounds; Hannaman Bayou and Valley View Flat offer Basic non-pad sites with access to water, restrooms and shower houses; group campground for up to 8 tents at Valley View Flat; camping also permitted in designated parking-lot spots. Beach camping is NOT permitted. NGPC statewide rates were NOT re-read this fire; the rate text already in this note dates from 2026-08-17 and should be re-checked before it is quoted on a page.
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 Calamus Reservoir SRA

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.

Before you go — Calamus Reservoir SRA

Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Dumping grey & black →Reading your camp page →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →