Agency-listedNGPCFee
Johnson Lake SRA
Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 40.68418, -99.82977
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), Gosper County. The park's own page says: "Johnson Lake SRA offers Electric Plus, Electric and Basic campsites. Most of the campsites have 50-amp service, while 24 sites offer 30-amp service. Other amenities include modern restrooms, dump and fill station, shower house, picnic tables and fire ring/grills. In additional to electrical hookup sites, Johnson Lake offers first-come, first-served Basic campsites without electricity. Camping reservations are available for half of the campsites in the Main and South Inlet campgrounds. Reservations may be made up to 180 days in advance during peak season (May 1 to Oct. 15) for half the campsites in the Main and South Inlet campgrounds. All other campsites are 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 does not mention water. Assume none and carry your own; treat all natural water here as NOT potable.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Johnson Lake SRA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,625 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Johnson Lake 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 Johnson Lake SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- DDump0 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- MMechanic6 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- @Mail7 mi
- WWater15 mi
- RxPharmacy24 mi
- HHardware24 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- +Urgent care24 mi
- ShShower27 mi
- OOutfitter42 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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 — Johnson Lake SRA
Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks
Elevation
2,625 ft
Ground slope
0.7% · flat
Nearest rail line
~5.6 mi · main line
Nearest highway
~5.3 mi · Interstate 80
State
NE
Coordinates
40.68418, -99.82977
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Johnson Lake SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBossung Lake · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSinclair · ~6.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~0.1 mi
- GroceriesNebraskaland Truck & Travel Center · ~6.0 mi
- PharmacyShopko · ~23.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicGothenburg Vision Clinic · ~24.1 mi
- HardwareDo it Best · ~24.1 mi
- Nearest rail line~5.6 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~5.3 mi · Interstate 80
EV charging — from Johnson Lake SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.3 mi straight-line NE — Walmart 637 (Lexington, NE) · Electrify America · CHAdeMO, CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 9 within 50 · 26 within 100 · 57 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)7.5 mi — Lexington, NE - Tesla Supercharger, Lexington
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.5 mi — LEXCHARGE01 LEX CHARGE 0304, Lexington, 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 190444 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Johnson Lake SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaCozad Rest Area Westbound · ~9.6 mi NW
- Highway rest areaCozad Rest Area Eastbound · ~10.1 mi NW
- RestroomTrail 12-Restroom Building · ~27.7 mi SW · BoR
- RestroomTrail 12-Precast Restroom Building · ~27.7 mi SW · BoR
Coming out here — Johnson Lake SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Bossung Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 0.7% — 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 ~5.6 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. 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.
- Interstate 80 is mapped ~5.3 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Johnson Lake SRA elsewhere
Other camps near Johnson Lake SRA
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- East Phillips Canyon WMA~2.8 mi
- Elwood Reservoir WMA~4.4 mi
- Darr WMA~7.1 mi
- Gallagher Canyon SRA~8.6 mi · fee
How we know this — Johnson Lake 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
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
Camping confirmed on the park's own NGPC page, https://outdoornebraska.gov/location/johnson-lake/, 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.
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 Johnson Lake 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.
- 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 — Johnson Lake SRA
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Fire rules & restrictions →First-night troubleshooting →All field notes →