American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedNGPCFree

Thompson-Barnes WMA

Drive-up · Nebraska Game & Parks · NE · 42.30431, -97.04219
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) — 160 acres, Wayne 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 Thompson-Barnes WMA
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Thompson-Barnes WMA
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,578 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

Services & drive-time data covers the public-lands states we've mapped so far — not this camp's region yet. Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access
Drive-up
Land
Nebraska Game & Parks
Elevation
1,578 ft
State
NE
Coordinates
42.30431, -97.04219
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureDog Creek (stream) · nearby
  • Nearest townWayne · ~5.3 mi
  • Drinking waterDrinking water · ~4.3 mi
  • FuelG's Quick Stop · ~4.6 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~26.3 mi
  • GroceriesCat's Corner · ~4.5 mi
  • PharmacyU Save Pharmacy · ~4.9 mi
  • Hospital / clinicProvidence Medical Center · ~4.6 mi
  • HardwareCornerstone Storage · ~5.0 mi

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

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.

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 →