Agency-listedUSACEFee
Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
Drive-up · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE · 40.08694, -99.31556
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 →U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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.
US Army Corps of Engineers park on Harlan County Lake, the second largest lake in Nebraska, on the Republican River in Harlan County. Camping fee per the Corps: $18.00 - $28.00. Designated campsites, utilities, modern accessible shower facilities, playground and picnic shelter; gate attendants handle registration. Reservable through recreation.gov.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,948 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)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 Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- EVEV fast charger2 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- FFuel19 mi
- GGrocery19 mi
- RxPharmacy23 mi
- HHardware23 mi
- LLaundry23 mi
- DDump23 mi
- MMechanic24 mi
- +Urgent care25 mi
- ShShower34 mi
- WWater34 mi
- OOutfitter45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 34-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 19 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 — Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
Access
Drive-up
Land
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Elevation
1,948 ft
Nearest rail line
~0.9 mi · industrial lead
State
NE
Coordinates
40.08694, -99.31556
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureHarlan County Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelCenex · ~19.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~22.9 mi
- GroceriesPit Stop & Shop · ~19.3 mi
- PharmacyRexall Drugs · ~22.8 mi
- Hospital / clinicFamily Medical Specialties · ~25.3 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~22.8 mi
- Nearest rail line~0.9 mi · industrial lead
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger2.5 mi straight-line W — CITY OF ALMA STATION 2-3 · 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 reach1 within 25 mi · 6 within 50 · 30 within 100 · 74 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)42.9 mi — Kearney, NE - Tesla Supercharger, Kearney
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)2.5 mi — CITY OF ALMA ALMA BAY 1/2 · 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 440958 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · NE
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Harlan County Lake as a perennial lake or pond, under 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.
- Rail line mapped ~0.9 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as an industrial lead. No track the atlas classes as a main line is mapped within 10 mi. 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 Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake) elsewhere
Other camps near Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Hunter Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)~4.7 mi · fee
- Gremlin Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)~5.4 mi · fee
- South Sacramento WMA~16.6 mi
- Southeast Sacramento WMA~18.4 mi
Who holds the land at Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Harlan County Recreation Area, manager on record: Army Corps of Engineers (federal). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
Source
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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
Source: US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, Harlan County Lake, https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Lakes/Harlan-County-Lake/, read 2026-08-17. The Corps page states: "Six parks around the lake are managed and maintained by the Corps of Engineers" and "Due to fluctuations in lake levels, the Corps of Engineers at Harlan County Lake will not be collecting day use fees." Camping units are limited to one per campsite. Corps open seasons, same page: Hunter Cove and Methodist Cove 1 May - 30 Sep; Gremlin Cove, North Outlet and South Outlet 15 May - 15 Sep. Coordinate from RIDB (https://ridb.recreation.gov/api/v1/facilities), the federal recreation facility database. | 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: Corps page re-read today (HTTP/1.1 required -- the host 403s an HTTP/2 request). Still current: "Designated campsites located in Methodist Cove and Hunter Cove parks are available for use from May through October. These parks offer sites with utilities, modern handicap accessible shower facilities, playgrounds and picnic shelters." Campground Open Seasons table: Hunter Cove and Methodist Cove 1-May thru 30-Sep. The page notes that due to rising lake levels the boat ramp at Methodist Cove has become usable again. Camping units limited to one per campsite.
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 Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
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 — Methodist Cove Park (Harlan County Lake)
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Fire rules & restrictions →Leave no trace →All field notes →