Mormon Island State Recreation Area — Attraction in Nebraska

This is a really nice park. It’s situated right off I-80 on the north side of the highway just before Grand Island. There is a gas station/convenience store right on the corner as you enter the park. It’s an easy walk of less than a mile from the furthest point in the campgrounds to this store. There is a very nice concrete path from the Cottonwood Campground to the check in station at the park entrance. We stayed at Cottonwood where the road and site pads are paved. The Cedarwood Campground has gravel roads and pad sites. Our site was very level and within easy distance to the dump station, which is actually conveniently placed in the middle of the 2 campgrounds. There is no WiFi but phone and data service is excellent. Our antenna allowed us to get 20 very clear TV channels. This park is right next to I-80 and there is traffic noise, but surprisingly it was not terrible and quickly became “white noise”. We found this park to be exceptionally clean and well maintained. There is a wonderful mowed path around all the lakes, including a truly lovely spot about a half mile east up to the next lake over. The beach here was open, clean and also well maintained. Many people were enjoying it. It appears lots of people who are not campers come to the beach for day use. It’s a nice place for locals, I imagine. The bathrooms were always clean and had toilet paper. There needs to be shelves installed in toilet stalls for folks to put cell phones. Many women now carry their phones in a pocket and do not have purses. A shelf would be great, so I don’t accidentally drop my phone in the toilet. Also, note: there are NO stall doors in both the men’s and women’s bathrooms nearest the check in station. Sorry that’s just not cool. The showers in Cottonwood were nice and had well sized stalls with a bench and a hook. These were free showers while the ones at Cedarwood were pay showers! Please note also: you must have a Nebraska park pass in addition to your campground fees. It’s $8/day or $35/year for residents and $45/year for non residents. Overall the price is good and this is a...

This might well be a great campground, I have no way of knowing...

When I arrived, the tent sites were empty and I asked if I could go in to lookabout and pick a site. Oh no, can't do that, you're risking a 74 dollar fine.

Add on a 12 dollar fee for out-of-state license plate. Sure jack the guy who's probably not coming back, just to make sure he's never coming back.

When I wanted to pay for a site, there was no samsung pay capability (probably apple pay, etc., too). The "gatekeeper" put in my Canadian card number and the machine asked for a postal code for the card holder. The machine would accept only US numeric codes. "Don't you have cash?" Not enough. (I didn't think I was travelling in a third world state)

Overall impressions: A way out-of-date payment system Designed by someone who thought the US was the only country in the world at the time. Maybe still does. Can't think outside the box Rules rule

Remember Nebraska, YOU lost out on a quiet night customer, for your underutilized facility, who would have been happy to pony up a non-resident user fee of say 20%, not 40 something %.

It's the 21st century. Any competent IT geek could fix this in less than a week. ALWAYS regularly update your means of taking payment from any customer. Including crypto... Have a means of billing later, so that you are not turning anyone away. (Like someone who just lost their wallet and needs a safe haven to get their act together.)

It's your money...if you...

This place is beautiful. Hosts were friendly and offered us access to the free showers near the electric sites. Everything was so clean I had to wonder if people camped here at all. We came in at 6pm and rented a tent space and it was really nice. People complain in these posts about the truck noise on 80. We heard the doves singing, and the cottonwood trees clattering. The beach is one of the best sandy lake shores I ever saw and the water is clear and in July it was like a bath. The grounds were covered in little purple blossoms and sweet clover . There were butterflies. I saw an eagle. Last night of our stay there was a wreck in the lake. Though they had no power and no water or flush bathrooms, the hosts let us stay and they even cut a path to the outhouse. I was shocked it was a privy, because it was as clean as a hotel bathroom in there. This place is just fun. Fishing, swimming, swings and monkey bars, open space to play. Close to attractions and town. Like Lake Pepin or Whitewater, but...