Agency-listedNGPCFee

Ponca SP

Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 42.60817, -96.72724
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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 Park (NGPC), Dixon County. The park's own page says: "Ponca State Park offers Electric Plus, Electric and Basic camping. Turkey Ridge campground has 35 Electric Plus campsites that are first-come, first-served. Oak Bluff campground has 37 Electric Plus sites that are reserveable. Riverfront Campground has 10 Electric sites and 10 Electric Plus sites, which are all reservable. Basic campsites are available for those who don't need electricity. Basic campsites are first-come, first-served. Ponca State Park provides three group campsites perfect for Scouting or other group functions. Campgrounds include modern restrooms, showers, picnic tables, fire pits, nearby water spigots (not hookups), a dump-and-fill station and playground. Camping is available year-round; however modern facilities operate from April-October, weather permitting. Camping reservations are available up to 180 days in advance of arrival in the electrical campsites of Oak Bluff campground. All other camping is first-come, first-served. Campers in first-come, first served sites can pay for their stay at one of the four black/metal Iron Rangers located in Turkey Ridge campground near the shower house, outside the Resource and Education Center, in the Riverfront campground near the restroom, or along the park roadway by the pop machines. Only cash or check is accepted when paying at an Iron Ranger. Debit/credit card payments can be made at the park office located inside the Resource and Education Center. Park maps and other detailed information are located on the bulletin boards in the campgrounds and outside the Resource and Education Center." 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.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Ponca SP
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Ponca SP
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Weather outlook — at Ponca SP
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,263 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Ponca SPNIFC · 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 Ponca SP · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 10 miWDump · 0 miDKum & Go · Fuel · 5 miFKum & Go · Grocery · 5 miGDavid's Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 16 miRxAce Hardware · Hardware · 6 miHBrian's Repair Inc. · Mechanic · 6 miMEast Gate Laundromat · Laundry · 16 miLShower · 48 miShAir-up · 13 miAUnityPoint Health · Urgent care · 15 mi+Gare's Bait & Tackle · Outfitter · 49 miOPonca Post Office · Mail · 3 mi@Fareway Store #022 (Sioux City, IA) · EV fast charger · 16 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • DDump0 mi
  • @Mail3 mi
  • FFuel5 mi
  • GGrocery5 mi
  • HHardware6 mi
  • MMechanic6 mi
  • WWater10 mi
  • AAir-up13 mi
  • +Urgent care15 mi
  • EVEV fast charger16 mi
  • LLaundry16 mi
  • RxPharmacy16 mi
  • ShShower48 mi
  • OOutfitter49 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Ponca SP

Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks
Elevation
1,263 ft
State
NE
Coordinates
42.60817, -96.72724
Cost
Fee

Nearby & resupply — around Ponca SP · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE (OpenStreetMap)

  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelKum & Go · ~5.3 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~0.2 mi
  • GroceriesKum & Go · ~5.3 mi
  • PharmacyDavid's Pharmacy · ~16.2 mi
  • Hospital / clinicUnityPoint Health · ~15.3 mi
  • HardwareAce Hardware · ~5.9 mi

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

Nearby restrooms — around Ponca SP · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Ponca SP elsewhere

Other camps near Ponca SP

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Ponca SP

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/ponca/, 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 Ponca SP

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 — Ponca SP

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 →