One of Nebraska’s largest reservoirs, this area offers some of the state’s finest recreational opportunities. Take time out to visit the rolling Sandhills which are unique to only Nebraska in the United States!
The Setting
This State Recreation Area, located six miles northwest of Burwell provides any visitor enough to do for several days. There are abundant wildlife viewing opportunities, including nesting bald eagles. Fantastic Sportfishing is available as well as great hunting opportunities for grouse, pheasant, deer, mourning doves, cottontail and waterfowl in season. There are extinct town sites such as Valleyview that were founded in the early 1900s on the railroad grade of the never to be completed Lincoln and Black Hills Railroad. The grade was constructed in the late 1880s and a historical marker details the town’s history. Besides this, the 5,123 acre lake is available to all water lovers!
The Facility
RV and primitive camping are offered at Calamus with 122 modern camping pads with electrical hookups and 55 non-pad sites available. The park had a 5,123 acre lake, 1.2 miles of the Calamus River, 3.5 miles of other streams going through the park and it is surrounded by 4,958 acres of gently rolling land covered with native grasses and forbs. This water oasis has plenty to do for the water lover in you!
- Top Ten Sport Fishing Areas in Nebraska (walleye, white bass, wipers, channel catfish, carp, drum and crappie, along with rainbow trout that are stocked at Gracie Creek Pond)
- ADA fishing facilities
- Fish cleaning stations
- Hunting
- RV Camping
- Tent camping
- Modern restrooms
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- Dump station
- Boat Ramps
- Boating
- Picnic shelters/areas
- Swimming beach
- Wildlife Viewing Areas
- Calamus Fish Hatchery/Visitor Interpretive Center
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Park Features
Calamus State Recreation Area offers six different areas to visitors to enjoy. Most all of the areas allow for camping except for Buckshot Bay. Calamus is an area where staff is present, but allows you to enjoy the solitude and peacefulness of the area and the joys of being with your family. The beaches are clean and great for swimming, lounging and relaxing in the sun. Both motorized and non-motorized boating is allowed on the reservoir and the excellent fishing opportunities from the shore or a boat will appease the fish lover in anyone.
A stop at the Calamus Fish Hatchery is intriguing for most visitors. Located below the dam, the hatchery has self-guided tours and displays on raising fish and other topics. There are 51 rearing ponds with 24 concrete raceways and hatching tanks, all of which allow extensive culture of warm, cool and cold water fish species. Among common species raised here are walleye, northern pike, wipers, muskellunge, rainbow and brown trout, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish. Some 20 to 30 million fish are produced here annually.
Address
HC 79 Box 20L
Burwell, NE 68823
Learn more about this park and book your reservation online 
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