Agency-listedNGPCFee
Swanson Reservoir SRA
Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 40.14911, -101.06617
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), Hitchcock County. The park's own page says: "Half of the park's campsites can be reserved during peak season and the other half are first-come, first-served. Campers at first-come, first-served sites 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 Swanson Reservoir SRA
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,762 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Swanson Reservoir 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 Swanson Reservoir 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
- +Urgent care3 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery22 mi
- MMechanic23 mi
- LLaundry23 mi
- HHardware24 mi
- RxPharmacy47 mi
- WWater49 mi
- ShShower49 mi
- EVEV fast charger54 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 49-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 54-mi run (and back).
Not within 60 mi: Dump, 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 — Swanson Reservoir SRA
Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks
Elevation
2,762 ft
Ground slope
3.7% · gentle
Nearest rail line
~1.8 mi · main line
State
NE
Coordinates
40.14911, -101.06617
Cost
Fee
Nearby & resupply — around Swanson Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSwanson Lake · ~0.2 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSinclair · ~3.7 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- GroceriesWalmart Supercenter · ~22.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicTrenton Medical Clinic · ~3.4 mi
- HardwareBrown's True Value · ~23.6 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.8 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
EV charging — from Swanson Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger54.1 mi straight-line S — 24/7 Travel Store - #2, Colby, KS · EV Connect · 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 reachnone within 25 mi · none within 50 · 25 within 100 · 56 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)54.4 mi — Colby, KS - Tesla Supercharger, Colby
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)49.1 mi — CAMBCOBBLESTONE STATION 1, Cambridge, 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 303029 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Swanson Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomSwanson State Recreation Management Area-Precast Restroom 9 Building · at this camp · BoR
- RestroomSwanson State Recreation Management Area-Precast Restroom 10 Building · at this camp · BoR
- RestroomSwanson State Recreation Management Area-Precast Restroom 8 Building · ~0.4 mi W · BoR
- RestroomSwanson State Recreation Management Area-Block Restroom 1 Building · ~0.4 mi SW · BoR
Coming out here — Swanson Reservoir SRA · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Swanson Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.2 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 3.7% — gentle. 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 ~1.8 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak service on it. 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 Swanson Reservoir SRA elsewhere
Other camps near Swanson Reservoir SRA
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Swanson Reservoir WMA~3.0 mi
- Frenchman WMA~14.4 mi
- Red Willow Reservoir WMA~24.6 mi
How we know this — Swanson Reservoir 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/swanson-reservoir/, 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 Swanson Reservoir 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 — Swanson Reservoir SRA
Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Dumping grey & black →Power off-grid →All field notes →