Found · unverifiedNGPCFree

Pawnee Prairie WMA

Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 40.03354, -96.32421

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

Nebraska Wildlife Management Area (NGPC) — 1,140 acres, Pawnee County. Free primitive camping is allowed — no park permit and no fee — for up to 14 days in any 30, unless the area posts otherwise. Facilities are minimal (parking, sometimes a boat ramp); bring water; fires only in provided rings/grills. Confirm on-site; the mapped point is an area centroid and may sit off the access point on long river-corridor WMAs.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Pawnee Prairie WMA

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,446 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 — measured from camp

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

FFuel12 mi
MMechanic12 mi
@Mail12 mi
HHardware19 mi
GGrocery19 mi
DDump22 mi
RxPharmacy22 mi
+Urgent care22 mi
WWater22 mi
OOutfitter44 mi
ShShower46 mi
LLaundry57 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 22-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 12 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). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access

Drive-up

Land

Nebraska Game & Parks

Elevation

1,446 ft

State

Coordinates

40.03354, -96.32421

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureWater · nearby
Nearest townSummerfield · ~2.9 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelFarmers Cooperative · ~8.0 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump stationDump station · ~21.7 mi
GroceriesWalmart Supercenter · ~19.9 mi
PharmacyAR-EX Drug Store · ~21.7 mi
Hospital / clinicPawnee County Memorial Hospital · ~10.6 mi
HardwareBinder Bros Ready Mix & Lumber · ~15.6 mi

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

No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.

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

Nebraska Game & Parks (wildlife management areas)

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

NGPC NPGCProperties FeatureServer (AreaType='WMA', Status='Active'), WGS84 centroid + acreage. Camping is category-wide (no per-site flag). Broad-scope ingest 2026-07-19 14:49:09.

Field check

Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Likely 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.

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

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 →