American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedMunicipalFree

Chilvers Park (Plainview)

Drive-up · public land · NE · 42.35140, -97.79074
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on public land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

Plainview offers four paved, level camper pads on the north side of its city park, and the city's own parks page says plainly that it offers them for free for a limited three-day stay. Each pad has a power pedestal (listings report 50, 30 and 20 amp), a picnic table and a trash can, and there are restrooms in the park. Plainview is a Highway 20 / Highway 13 town in northeast Nebraska and calls itself the Klown Doll Capital of the World -- the museum is worth the stop. Honest caveats: several campground listings mention a suggested $10/night donation, which does NOT appear on the city's page; treat it as a courtesy rather than a fee, and if there is a donation box, use it. Three days is the stated limit. 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
USGS topographic map of Chilvers Park (Plainview)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Chilvers Park (Plainview)
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,684 ft.
Fire & smokeNIFC · 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

Services & drive-time data covers the public-lands states we've mapped so far — not this camp's region yet. Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
1,684 ft
State
NE
Coordinates
42.35140, -97.79074
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureDry Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townPlainview · ~0.2 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelJerry's Hilltop Services · ~18.6 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~31.0 mi
  • GroceriesStore · ~0.1 mi
  • Hospital / clinicCHI Health Clinic Plainview · ~0.6 mi
  • HardwareAce Hardware · ~18.6 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open this spot elsewhere

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

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

Source
municipal park records
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Coordinates: OSM way 447597248 'Chilvers Park', leisure=park; pin verified INSIDE the way by point-in-polygon test against node geometry from api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/way/447597248/full.json, 2026-07-20. Camping rules: City of Plainview OFFICIAL page https://www.cityofplainviewne.com/gallery/parks-recreation , fetched 2026-07-20, which describes four camper pads 'the city offers for free for a limited three-day stay'. Site count/hookup detail (four paved pads, 50/30/20-amp pedestals, picnic tables) corroborated by campground listings; a suggested $10/night donation appears on those listings but NOT on the city page, so it is described as suggested, not required. Not visited. Verified 2026-07-20.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Researched until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres 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

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →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 →