We all love roasting marshmallows over a campfire—and you can often still do that while cabin camping in Arlington. Finding a place to cabin camp in South Dakota is easier than ever. You're sure to find the perfect cabin rental for your South Dakota camping adventure.
Shaded campgrounds and picnic areas complement the park's excellent swimming and boating facilities. The park was once used as a summer camp and an annual gathering spot for American Indians. Later, Samuel Mortimer arrived in 1869 and built the log cabin that still stands at the park.
$26 - $55 / night
Shaded campgrounds and picnic areas complement the park's excellent swimming and boating facilities. The park was once used as a summer camp and an annual gathering spot for American Indians. Later, Samuel Mortimer arrived in 1869 and built the log cabin that still stands at the park.
$26 / night
Camp on the Open Prairie Camping at Ingalls Homestead is a unique way to experience the prairie. All sights are located on the land Charles Ingalls homesteaded. With just a handful of sites - 4 covered wagons, 1 bunkhouse, 4 RV sites, and tent camping - the prairie doesn't feel crowded.
Open: Year-round. Between Oct. 1 and April 30, showers, flush toilets and other water systems may be closed. Please contact the park directly for current status. Vault toilets usually remain open.
Park Size: 103 campsites, 5 camping cabins, and group lodge
Directions: 6 miles southwest of Lake Preston off US Hwy 14
Nearest Town: Lake Preston
Fishing, boating, swimming, & water skiing keep everyone entertained. Visitors enjoy hiking, the archery range, multipurpose trail, & hunting. Camping pads & Electricity are available year-round. Camping cabins are available. For thrill-seekers, there’s snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and ice fishing in the winter.
Two campgrounds at the park offer both electric and non-electric sites. Showers and flush toilets are found in the comfort stations. You can stay any time of year in the camping cabins, furnished with beds and heating/air conditioning. The one-room, log-style cabins sleep four. Cooking is not permitted indoors, so bring utensils for use on the outdoor fire grate. The large expanse of water at Lake Poinsett Recreation Area invites you to swim, water ski, boat and fish for walleye, bass, perch, northern pike and bullhead. The Lake Poinsett Visitor Center and Museum is a fascinating place to learn about the history of the area. During the summer, neighbor Harlan Olson's artifacts are on display. The exhibits will take you back in time from prehistoric days to the late 1990s. Hike or bike along the Poinsett Potpourri Trail through wooded area, grass and wetland and the lakeshore. A fun sight is the rearing pond for perch, which is also used for kids' fishing tournaments.
$22 - $55 / night
Welcome to North Shore Lodging and Campground We invite you to come out and experience our new Lodging and Campground while relaxing and enjoying the view of one of the largest natural lakes in South Dakota. North Shore Lodging and Campground is located on Beautiful Lake Thompson.
If you are looking for a great family vacation or reunion we offer clean, comfortable accommodations with modern amenities while providing a fun, authentic lake getaway. Our Rusty Lure Lodge will accommodate sleeping for up to 20 guests. The Bobbers Down Cabin we have available for rent will accommodate sleeping for up to 4 guests.
We look forward to hosting you at North Shore Lodging and Campground on the Beautiful Shores of Lake Thompson.
Open: Year-round. Between Oct. 1 and April 30, showers, flush toilets and other water systems may be closed. Please contact the park directly for current status. Vault toilets usually remain open.
Park Size: 17 campsites and 2 camping cabins
Directions: 5 miles west of Watertown off US Highway 212
Nearest Town: Watertown
Guide
Super cool hiking trail around Scout Island! Great history at Ol Mortimers Cabin and the old military fort. Kayaking, boating, fishing, and swimming are excellent!
Ranger
We stayed here in Aug 2019 - although it was a short visit, we had a nice time. Wasn’t busy, kids liked playground, walking path, and checking out Mortimer’s cabin. Electric hook-ups.
RangerGreat place for horseback riding and canoeing, plush boating and fishing. In addition to natural beauty there are games to rent, playground, etc.
Yay: Choice of traditional campsites or cabins.
Nay: campsites are very open and unshaded. Only a few are by the water.
Surprise: the park seems small but there is sooo much to do here.
Traveler
Large spots maintained very well. RV spots have electric. Many spots have shade, some are near the lake, and some with lake views. They have small cabins for rent, as well as paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes. There is a lower park that’s great for families, with activities on the weekends , a large playground, and easy lake access. The other park is mainly spaces, with a large grassy area in the center. They spray regularly for bugs, which is extremely important to me! The area has many geocaches as well!
Legend
This is a truly magical place, and if you’ve ever read any of the Little House on the Prairie books and are anywhere near De Smet South Dakota, do yourself a favor and swing by.
The Campground
The Ingalls Homestead consists of two main parts. First is the "campground," which is a basically a large grassy slope where you can set up your tent for just $10. It includes hot showers, flush toilets, and a few picnic tables and fire-pits throughout the field. There's also fairly basic RV parking for $30 with electric and water hookups and a dump site as well as some basic but cool covered wagons for $60. We arrived just as the sun was setting, found a lovely spot for our tent, and then paid in the shop the next morning. The bathrooms were clean, the showers were a little strange but also clean and hot (basically a large room cordoned off by several shower curtains).
The Homestead
De Smet is where the Ingalls family lived during the "Long Winter" of 1880-1881, and the Ingalls Homestead is a "family run business" that brings to life many activities from the 1880s such as visiting a one-room schoolhouse, making a corn on the cob doll, going on a covered wagon ride, etc. It's truly hands-on and some of our favorite time was spent hanging out in "Pa's" lean-to barn with the barn kitties and riding horses and ponies. My oldest son also learned how to drive the covered wagon to the schoolhouse down the road (another treat). Each station on the self-guided tour has an activity with incredibly nice and informed hosts. Most of the buildings are based on the original plans and descriptions from the Ingalls family, though no original buildings remain on the site. Visiting the homestead is an additional $15 per person over the age of five, and while you could camp without visiting the homestead, it was definitely worth a half or full-day visit.
GuideOne of the best campsites I've been to! Large lots, campfires allowed, lakes, trails, friendly people and sooo incredibly quiet.
ScoutThis state park in eastern SD is a great t place to camp, there are two modern camping areas, a swimming beach several boat launches, handicap accessible fishing dock. There is a a horse trail and trail campsites.
TravelerBig mowed lots,trees or open spaces if you want.
GuideCamped in the more open area (72E in campground 2). Large grassy sites with fire pit and picnic table. Clean bathrooms with hot showers. Nice path around lake for walking the dog. Lots of families having a good time! Very pleasant evening.
GuideThe bathrooms are amazing for a campground. One of the few places I've ever camped where you get a full bathroom to yourself. Plus it was very clean. Seems to be a family oriented place rather than a "nature/wilderness" type of camping experience. Lots of groups gathered and up late hanging out, kids running through campsites. I got very quick responses via email from this place too which was great.
TravelerDespite being close to Brookings this park is quiet and i didnt find it very full. Nice place to go camping, especially if you are looking to go birding for waterfowl or fishing one of the nearby lakes.
TravelerWe visited during the week so we pretty much had the campsite to ourselves!! They have a playground which my 4 year old son loved! He can’t wait to go again! Bathrooms were clean and nice!
Guide
We stayed at campground 1 number 36 it was the perfect pull through spot to set up for the weekend! The bathrooms were very clean which made the stay 10 times better:) we celebrated my birthday there for the weekend and it was just PERFECT!
ScoutVery nice, our spot was large with electric. Quiet this weekend. 50 Amp service.
RangerNice place to stay! We visited on our family vacation in Aug. 2019. Lots of frogs here! Playground was at the other camp loop, but we spent some time playing before we left. Found some geocaches in the park, which was fun! The swim area was nice, no sand, but a nice place to swim where the water was clean! Camp site was a nice spot with privacy. Electric hook ups.
Guide
This campground has both electric standard sites for campers and tent sites. Two shower houses and multiple vault toilets throughout the campground for accessibility. Walking trails in grass or gravel. Three walkways down to the water’s edge with one being a large swimming area. Boating is permitted as well. Be sure to use bug spray as mosquitoes were all over- maybe due to wet weather. This is a natural lake formed by farmland that flooded in the 1980s.
TravelerLove that there are only 4 sites. We stayed here with family and had 3 of the sites. Beautiful land! Our suggestion if you stay here is, pull in the parking lot and back up the driveway to the camp sites. Unless you have a small vehicle and camper, it is tricky to get turned around if it is full. $20pp to tour the property for the whole time you are staying. Check out the dugout, house, barn, schoolhouse, church and garage.
TravelerWe had a wonderful experience dry camping here. There are only a few sites with water and electric. There are no dedicated sites and they asked us to park our pop-up at the far end/bottom of the parking lot next to the grass. It was quite level and the tent campers next to us were very nice. A few other tents were further out in the field. The bathrooms are simple, but very clean. Little Horse on the Prairie fans, you MUST stay here!
GuideWe have traveled in a RV for 6 years and been to 48 states (3 or 4 times each), visited 300 plus small towns and I can say this was one of my favorite camp spots. There are only 4 RV lots, and they are pretty close together, but we stayed before season, so we had the place practically to ourselves. For $30, we had W&E, fire pit (firewood not sold), picnic table and free access to the homestead. Bathrooms were so clean and smelled like cedar wood. There is a dump station but be fore warned it's on a slope, so emptying your tanks completely will be a challenge. Also a sign says grey water only, this is not true, you can dump your black water too. Since we were off season, during the day, they had school trips daily, so there were a lot of children, having fun playing right behind our rig. But it was only for a short period of time during the afternoon. There's a museum right next to the sites, which is always open. There's also is a tower you can climb to get some really great views. Several houses and buildings are on the property you can explore and hay rides are available. They also have a nice country store where you can by your souvenirs. If your a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, like me, this is a must stop, if only for a night! I also want to mention that the camp hosts and gal that ran the store, couldn't have been nicer.
LegendA very cool and unique campsite on the grounds of the Laura Ingalls Homestead near De Smet, SD. Unique in that you can camp right on the open prairie and for only $10 a night. Just pick a spot of grass and you’re good to go. There are some picnic tables you can choose to be near or just head out on the frontier. There are also options to camp in a covered wagon as well as a bunkhouse. RV spots are available and include water and electric hookups. Well appointed and clean bathrooms (electricity and flush toilets) are on site with showers.
The other really cool thing about this spot—especially for families—are all of the fun activities at the homestead itself. There’s a one-room school house with tours, a barn with animals, a covered wagon ride where you (or your kids) can lead the horse-drawn wagon, opportunities to learn how to make a jump rope, twist hay, wash clothes—all things the Ingalls family had to do on a farm from long ago.
A night or two in the summer is great though with no shade for the campsites field, it can get warm but evenings on the prairie are gorgeous. All in all, a great spot to set up that is cheap but with nice facilities and staff.
ScoutFriendly folks and simple camping. Lots of things for the kids to do and play just like its 1880.
GuideGreat place to spend the night. Only a few campsites. Workers are great. Dirt road going to it.
Only “issue” is the Grey water dump is on a slight hill, with the ground washed away, and people sometimes park around it.
GuideWe stayed here for one night in September. The park was filled up. All RVs. We stayed next to the lake. Bathrooms were decent.
ScoutHad a great week time here! The staff was very nice and helpful!
GuideGreat campground with a lot to do. Nice beach and walking trails and outdoor excessive area. Nice fishing dock.
GuideNice pebble beach, playgrounds, and walking areas. Flat camper parking. Power was great and showers were clean. Electric only. There is an area to dump waste on the exit. Stopped on Sunday on the way westward and the place was empty, stopped Friday on the way home and it was packed. Lots of kids and families, and almost every spot was full. Happy to see folks having fun. It was just a little busy for us. On the second time through one of the three bathrooms was very dirty, sad before the weekend- the showers remained clean. On the Friday stop there were a lot of people, some spots had 3-4 cars parked in the grass- it was too bad they allowed that. If one was to go here to find some quiet do so during the week or late weekend. It worked just fine as a quick overnight stop on our route. Lots of families having fun. Slept well. Well groomed area. Pretty views of lake. A little windy.
Scout
Camp host greeted us upon arrival and helped put water on. We stayed 2 nights, in town for a wedding. Most of the sites were flooded with only 3 available, we were the only TT along with the camp host. Showers were clean and ADA. The beach was mere feet out the rear of the trailer. Watertown is close with plenty to do if one needs to wander.
Cabin camping near Arlington, South Dakota, offers a unique blend of outdoor adventure and cozy accommodations, perfect for families and nature enthusiasts alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Arlington, SD is Campground 2 — Oakwood Lakes State Park with a 4.6-star rating from 5 reviews.
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