Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area — Hotel in Ogallala

We camped here in a 30' 5th-wheel in site 018 on Lone Eagle Loop at the end of August 2022 for 1-day as we were passing through. The cost was $45 with tax with W/S/E.

PROS: Check-in was easy. Gorgeous mature trees with easy to back-in sites. It is right next to the beach area that has beautiful sand and the water is clear. Pets are allowed to splish and splash without reservation (we kept ours leashed). Spots are spacious with plenty of room for kids to roam and play although not many amenities.

CONS: In order to check-in, you have to check-in at the main office if you are later than 4p. This isn't anywhere near the actual campgrounds. We had concerns about whether they had a procedure for late check-ins because we were almost at the cut off time. There are no easy ways to get from the campgrounds above to the beach below - you'll have to navigate rocky areas and very soft sand to get there. It is a bit of a distance. The loop maps are misleading as to the location of the beach as compared to your actual campsite (ours looks like it is very close to beach access and it isn't anywhere near it). Wifi access is very poor and we didn't end up using it. I would suggest either having your own hotspot or a satellite link instead. The water hookup was in a very odd location for this site (and several on this loop as we went around) and it required extra hose to utilize it.

It was a relaxing stay for passing through and the beach made it even...

The State Recreation Area surrounds and includes Lake McConaughy, which is 22 miles long and 4 miles wide. Camping, boating, jet skiing, fishing, swimming, hiking trails, paragliding, and seasonal hunting are just some of the park activities. Pontoon boat and jet ski rentals available. Our experience was RV camping. We stayed at Little Thunder Campground on site 8, which offered full hookup, 50 amp, a picnic table, and a fire ring. The RV pad was asphalt and was surrounded by weedy sand. We did have a bit of a problem on our campsite with small burs that got stuck on shoes and on the dog. We could not see the water from our site, but the park has quite a few other campgrounds for different experiences - 26 camping areas ranging from tent or RV beach primitive to full hookup for RVs. Many beach areas from which to choose. Cabins are also available to rent. Multiple shower/bathroom facilities. A few campground stores are located between campgrounds. Nice visitor/water interpretive center housing the park office (check in required for camping), a gift shop, public restrooms, two large aquariums, and...

We stayed in Little thunder campground near beach seven. The camp host was wonderful and friendly and did her best. The other employees at the park were polite and helpful. Unfortunately, this SRA allows people to camp on the beach. Which means on the weekend instead of people from 40 campsites using the bathrooms and showers, you have many more. Although the campground itself was clean, the showers and bathrooms quickly became dirty although the host was doing everything she could. A positive was that hand soap was available!

There were no bathrooms or trash receptacles on the beach area and so trash was everywhere. We saw diapers on the beach and whole bags of trash in the lake. On Monday, the weekenders were gone, and it was nice and quiet, but the trash on the beach remained.

The showers in the campground were pay token showers, which I assume was to cut down on the amount of people from the beach area using them. The water was mostly cold and you could not...