Agency-listedNGPC · dispersedFree

Red Willow Reservoir WMA

Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 40.36905, -100.69934
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 Wildlife Management Area (NGPC) — 5,216 acres, Frontier & Red Willow 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 Red Willow Reservoir WMA
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Red Willow Reservoir WMA
XFacebookReddit
Weather outlook — at Red Willow Reservoir WMA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,684 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Red Willow Reservoir WMANIFC · 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 Red Willow Reservoir WMA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 29 miWDump · 51 miDFuel · 12 miFWalmart Supercenter · Grocery · 12 miGShopko · Pharmacy · 47 miRxBrown's True Value · Hardware · 43 miHHauxwell Motors · Mechanic · 12 miMLaundry · 42 miLShower · 29 miShCurtis Medical Center · Urgent care · 21 mi+Minnow Bucket · Outfitter · 52 miOMail · 12 mi@Gothenburg, NE - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 47 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel12 mi
  • GGrocery12 mi
  • @Mail12 mi
  • MMechanic12 mi
  • +Urgent care21 mi
  • ShShower29 mi
  • WWater29 mi
  • LLaundry42 mi
  • HHardware43 mi
  • EVEV fast charger47 mi
  • RxPharmacy47 mi
  • DDump51 mi
  • OOutfitter52 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 29-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 12 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 47-mi run (and back).

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 — Red Willow Reservoir WMA

Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks · dispersed
Elevation
2,684 ft
State
NE
Coordinates
40.36905, -100.69934
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Red Willow Reservoir WMA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureRed Willow Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townQuick · ~5.6 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~12.0 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesWalmart Supercenter · ~12.0 mi
  • Hospital / clinicCommunity Hospital - McCook · ~12.3 mi

EV charging — from Red Willow Reservoir WMA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Red Willow Reservoir WMA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Red Willow Reservoir WMA elsewhere

Other camps near Red Willow Reservoir WMA

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Red Willow Reservoir WMA

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.
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 Red Willow Reservoir WMA

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 — Red Willow Reservoir WMA

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 →