Agency-listedLoup River Public Power DistrictFreeOpen today

Tailrace Park

Drive-up · public land · NE · 41.40196, -97.28421

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The land manager 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.

WALK-IN ONLY -- do not plan to sleep in your vehicle here. The Loup River Public Power District is explicit that Tailrace Park is 'Entry via foot traffic only, no motor vehicle access', so this is a carry-your-gear tent site, and it is best thought of as a stop for paddlers, cyclists and anglers rather than for anyone in a van or an RV. With that understood, it is free: 'A limited number of primitive camping sites are available during the summer at no charge.' The park is 9.5 acres where the district's canal system meets the Platte River, about 3.5 miles east of Columbus, Nebraska on 8th Street and then a mile and a half south -- a quiet spot on the water that most people driving US-30 never hear about. Everything is primitive: no dump station, no direct water hookups anywhere in the Loup system, so carry your own water in with you. The season is May 1 to November 1, weather permitting, no reservations are taken, and the limit is seven days per month across the whole Loup park system, not per park. Facilities are alcohol free and there are no lifeguards. If you need to park a vehicle and sleep beside it, go to the district's Lake North Park instead -- also free, and with free electric hookups -- or Loup Park on Lake Babcock. Confirm the current rules with the district before you go, spend a little money in Columbus on the way through, and leave it better than you found it.

Can I go now? — Tailrace Park · public land · NE

Open today Season May 1 – Nov 1. Closes after Nov 1. Weather can shorten it.

public land record: “Open to the public from May 1 to November 1 (weather permitting)” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-17; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Weather outlook — at Tailrace Park

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,418 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Tailrace ParkNIFC · 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 Tailrace Park · public land · NE

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

MMechanic3 mi
FFuel3 mi
GGrocery3 mi
HHardware3 mi
@Mail4 mi
RxPharmacy4 mi
EVEV fast charger5 mi
+Urgent care16 mi
OOutfitter32 mi
ShShower36 mi
WWater36 mi
LLaundry37 mi
DDump37 mi
AAir-up50 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 36-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 3 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 — Tailrace Park

Access

Drive-up

Land

public land

Elevation

1,418 ft

State

Coordinates

41.40196, -97.28421

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Tailrace Park · public land · NE (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureLost Creek (river) · nearby
Nearest townCountry Mobile Villa · ~2.8 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelFuel · ~3.1 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
GroceriesStore · ~3.1 mi
PharmacyWalgreens · ~4.5 mi
Hospital / clinicColumbus Community Hospital · ~6.4 mi
HardwareMenards · ~3.4 mi

EV charging — from Tailrace Park · public land · NE — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearest public DC fast charger5.1 mi straight-line NW — RUSS'S MARKET SUPER SAVER 1, Columbus, NE · 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 reach2 within 25 mi · 20 within 50 · 84 within 100 · 114 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)43.9 mi — Norfolk, NE - Tesla Supercharger, Norfolk
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.7 mi — NPPD EV STATION NPPD CG0E L2, Columbus, 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 300565 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Tailrace Park · public land · NE — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

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

Open Tailrace Park elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps near Tailrace Park

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Tailrace Park

Open season

Open to the public from May 1 to November 1 (weather permitting)

Stay limit

7 nights (Limit of seven days per month (30-day period) in Loup Park system)

Source

public land records

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

Source (FREE stated by the OPERATOR): Loup River Public Power District's own page, loup.com/recreation/tailrace-park/ (read 2026-07-28), verbatim: 'A limited number of primitive camping sites are available during the summer at no charge.'; 'Entry via foot traffic only, no motor vehicle access.'; '3.5 miles east of Columbus on 8th Street and then 1.5 miles south.' The park is described as sitting at the confluence of the district's canal system and the Platte River (9.5 acres). THE WALK-IN RESTRICTION IS THE HEADLINE and leads the field_note -- this is NOT a drive-up site and must never read as one. District-wide rules printed on the page: 'open to the public from May 1 to November 1 (weather permitting)', 'Limit of seven days per month (30-day period) in Loup Park system', 'No reservations accepted.', 'There are no dump stations or direct water hookups.', 'There are no lifeguards on duty.', 'All facilities are alcohol free.' COORDINATE: OSM node/357785067 'Tailrace Park' (leisure=park, gnis:feature_id=1880926 -- the federal GNIS record) -> 41.4019563,-97.2842065. INDEPENDENTLY CORROBORATED by nearest-POINT geometry (not centroid): 0.09 mi to the Loup Canal and 0.17 mi to the Platte River, matching the district's own 'confluence of the District canal system and the Platte River' description exactly. Nearest existing lead 8.32 mi (Loup Park / Lake Babcock). GUARDRAILS: camping expressly allowed by the operator; NO entry fee, access pass, day-use fee or permit to be on the land (utility land, not a state park -- no Discover-Pass-style trap). fee=0; dispersed=0 (designated sites); camp_type NULL for Dave to set on review. water NULL -- 'There are no dump stations or direct water hookups'. SEASONAL: May 1 - Nov 1. Ingest 2026-07-28.

Season

Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.

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 Tailrace Park

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
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 — Tailrace Park

Finding water out here →Dumping grey & black →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →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 →