Chappell Lake Dispersed Camping

The spot itself is beautiful. Lake, grass, good gravel roads, pavilions, picnic tables, bathroom. Excellently manicured. The north and south/east sides of the lake are accessible by two separate roads at the entrance to the park off of Highway 385/Link 25A. There's a concrete walking/biking trail around half the lake.

There might be 1 or 2 spots on the north road for small rigs. Large rigs might have a hard time turning around in the teardrop at the end of the road. The south and east sides of the lake have the most opportunities for pullouts and will accommodate rigs of any size. The entrance on the south/east side is steep so watch for dragging equipment.

The downside is the constant drone of noise. The interstate is about 3/4 mile to the south and the train tracks are 3/4 mile to the north. Because of the flat terrain, the noise really carries here. The level of noise is similar to the noise experienced in a Cracker Barrel or Cabela's parking lot that sits a lot closer to the freeway. The drone is pretty consistent so it's more white noise than bracing. Bring ear plugs if you might be bothered by that after a long day of driving.

Chappell itself is a neat little town on the historic Lincoln Highway and a great place to spend a little money to say thank you for the free camping spot.

I stayed 1 night, it was an amazing overnite location with lots of locals coming through to fish or swim. The lake is some of the clearest water I’ve seen, with lots of fish. Maybe stop in nearby Sidney for a fishing license at Cabela’s world headquarters. There is highway noise and some trains but I didn’t hear the trains during the night. This is a great one night stop.

The exit off I-80 was closed, so we had to turn in on a detour 10 miles in advance and drive 10 miles to Chappell on the Lincoln Highway. This was very opportune as we had stopped at the exit near Laramie with Lincolns memorial which covered the history of the Lincoln highway and how I-80 followed its route. My travelling team of young ladies enjoy history, one of them being a history major. The town of Chappell is historic and a step back in time. We arrived near sun set and pulled in behind a local fisherman who saw us pulling up and moved his truck up the road so we could park on the flat spot under the trees. (the locals are SUPER friendly.) and he knew exactly where to park the rig making it spot on level.

The other side benefit I feel of the I-80 road maintenance was only one other RV parked directly around the lake. (and the big parking lot was empty) Either that or this is just a passed on gem. There is a boat dock in the tear drop and you can launch stand up paddle boards from there or your front door.

Cell booster (we-boost) on AT&T brought the signal right up to useable. (useless at this site without it.).. Thanks Wilson! -

Bugs.. yes. and Noise Yes, as other reviewers have noted, noisy as a parking lot or other spot near the interstate, but being able to watch the sun rise over a lake, and jogging the circumference in its pristine beauty is well worth the stop and is absent the drone of tractor trailers and their refrigerator trucks running at other interstate stop.. trains.. yes.

Additional Thanks to the reviewers as well for describing in detail the tear drop and the steep grade, its a good note for any low rigs and we will definitely. be stopping in here again!

We stopped here heading west on I-80. I saw a post two weeks ago saying the exit was closed but it’s open now. There are not many spots but they are well spaced and it was a great overnight break. 3 spots down the road going around the back of the lake. More on the other side but we didn’t explore much over there. There was very little litter in our site. Only a few pieces glass, which were easily picked up. The site wasn’t 100% level but it wasn’t off enough for us to worry with leveling blocks. Down the road there is a turn around at the 3rd space but it was small and there were overhanging trees. We opted to back into the 2nd space and head back to the 1st and it was no problem for our 29’ travel trailer. The interstate is close. So, you will hear it but we weren’t bothered by it. We had a great breeze coming off the lake that was refreshing. We felt safe and slept with the windows open. There is a paved pathway going around the back of the lake. There are restrooms but we didn’t go in them. I would stay again anytime passing through.

Obviously if you’re stopping here it is bc you are driving on I-80 and for that this is clearly convenient and probably primo if you’re here in the daytime. Lake is soo sexy at sunset, however, that happens to be synchronous with the time the bugs get banging!! In addition to the mosquitos—the raisins on Halloween of bugs—there are streams of tiny little noseeums which don’t bite but are powerfully annoying. Impossible to crack windows without them swarming in, and though it got cool at night, our sweet baby camper stayed hot from the steamy day for hours.

Yes, we stayed here on a Friday night, and yes, local teens deserve to have a local lake to go get trashed by! But having cars drive down to your little campspot all night and then turn around when they see you is noisy and distracting and they didn’t even invite us to party with them so frankly rude! Honestly noise from I-80 is whatever and kind of soothing.

Bathrooms were closed. Rip (rest in pee). Also this lake is weirdly squashed up against a golf course so unless you wanna flash some early morning 9-hole-hounds, it’s a little tricky to piss in the wild. The boaters were out early too (and flocks of father-child fishing duos at sunset), but everyone was friendly (though they also did not invite us to party :( ). Also my boyfriend did not catch a fish on his first try with a $15 fishing pole from ace hardware adjacent to a gas station so the lake must be broken.

Local destination is the giant soft serve ice cream cone. Hard to explain but don’t miss getting a lick of this oversized frozen plastic dairy delicacy? It’s hard...and yet soft? It’s hot...and yet icy? It’s a sweet little cruise down the road in the town of Chappell and you probably won’t regret it!

Huge recommendation is downloading Paper Moon (1973) and watching on your hot boyfriend’s laptop while keeping a lantern on low to distract the platoon of bugs ready to go nutty (again, it’s a Friday night! So fair). Frankly I think you’re doing this campsite wrong and dirty if you neglect this cornerstone of road trip buddy-con comedy. But maybe you’ll catch a fish and that could be huge for you too.

There is a lot just off the road Rd 14 into Chappel where larger rigs could park. We drove back the dirt lane that runs along the north side of the lake and stopped in the turnaround. Nice view of the golf course and lake. Truck and and train noise, but this was a late arrival and early departure so not too bothersome.

We stayed her last night in our 36ft Motorhome. It was easy to access off of I-80.We came in what looked to be the main entrance on the west side of the lake. We parked in the large flat parking area and dropped our Jeep to see if it was ok to take our Class A around the lake. We found a nice pull out on the east side we were able to do a 3 point turn and park by some trees, without our toad on. We were surprised this was where the town set off their firework display, we were just far enough out of their way. The locals were all friendly. And all left by 1030. A few cars came in throughout the night but no issues. There are trains and road noise for those sensitive, it didn’t bother us. Woke to golfers on the golf course behind us and few fishermen. It was a lovely place to camp clean and fairly level with some shade. We would stop again.

The smell of cow manure from the local farms is so bad, but I’m considering not staying here… But unfortunately the sun has set and I must stop after 14 hours of driving. I see one other truck camper here, I guess after a while you become nose blind.
Also there was a loud train track just be on the lake…

We arrived in the dark which made things a little tricky but we found our way to a great spot. This is a hidden gem overnight spot, right off the highway. Woke up to a beautiful pond.

I sleep in my ride and there was only spot I found that I could back into to get some privacy, all the rest seemed to be horizontal pull offs by the road. Would be great for trailers or campers. Stayed only one night and free so I can’t complain too much. Slight road noise and an occasional train but nothing I found distracting.