Johnson Lake Recreation Areas

Thanks to your donations, Johnson Lake Recreation Area has been able to add more activities to the annual Halloween event and upgraded our life jacket loaner program. Future plans pertaining to the life jacket loaner program will be to add kiosks for the life jackets, buy vest-style life jackets, and signage. We plan on relocating these life jacket stations closer to the Inlet dock and future courtesy dock for better public access.

Donations for our annual Halloween event help keep it free for guests as well as help with prizes and supply support. Currently, this event has campsite decorating, pumpkin painting, face painting, trick or treating, and educational talks put on by naturalists. This year we are planning on adding kid's games to this event.

Johnson Lake SRA’s archery range at the North Inlet will see completion in the Fall of 2023. Currently, there are seven targets for guests to use, four at different marked-out yards and three down in a draw. A low-to-the-ground shooting deck was added with railing for the targets in the draw, and timber edging and white rock are being added to the shooting lanes to finish this project.

Johnson Lake State Recreation Area’s new playground was completed at the end of July 2020 at the Main area campground and was immediately a huge success with the younger visitors to the park. Thank you all for your support in making these much-needed improvements become a reality. 

Our current goal is to raise funds to help add modern water bottle-filling stations to the park. One for the new playground area and another along the hike/bike trail.  

Johnson Lake State Recreation Area

Excellent camping, fishing, and water sports are hallmarks of this ever-popular area 7 miles south of Lexington.  Johnson Lake is the heart of a complex of lakes on the Tri-County Canal south of I-80 between Lexington and Elwood.  Though relatively small at 68 acres, it is one of the most popular recreation areas managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.  The SRA offers a lot of outdoor fun and provides three access points to the 2,068-acre lake.

 Outstanding facilities include 112 pads with 30/50-amp electrical hookups, 60 basic campsites, showers, modern restrooms, dump station, water, picnic tables, grills, shelters, vault toilets, boat ramp, fish-cleaning stations, unsupervised swimming beach, ADA-accessible fishing piers, and hiking trail. The public swim beach provides a place for families to enjoy the water close to amenities and has many great areas to gather for a cookout or picnic. The lake offers picnic tables, grills, and five shelters. 

 Johnson Lake has many community and lake events. An annual Independence Day boat parade followed by a fireworks show is always popular with park guests. Other events include eagle viewing, bird watching on the Larry Roper Trail, fishing tournaments, and more.