Best Glamping near Black Hills National Forest

This place was one our favorites on our western US tour last summer. The Black Hills National Forest is a beautiful area with stunning peaks and lakes. We stayed at Custer Trail campground for one night on the way to Wyoming. The site is a bit of a long drive around the lake and through some neighboring cattle ranches to drive down to the site. It can be reach by trailers and no problem for our Sprinter Van. You park in a line of about 5 or 6 sites next to each other with self checkin. The lake is great for swimming, kayaking, and fishing. The fishing from the shoreline north of the site was particularly good. We shared the site with one other group and appreciated the peace and quite. I would definitely recommend this one. They also have a few tent sites as well. Beautiful setting. We could have stayed longer.

The first feel of this camp was a bit off. We waved to a couple sitting beside their camper and they just stared. However the campground winds around in some fun loops with many sites to choose from. The host has firewood available for purchase but it’s too warm for a fire for us. Several clean vault toilets are in different places- garbage cans too. 

Reuter is close to Sundance if you need supplies. It’s also on the way to Devils Tower. There are some other draws here too. A nice hiking trail has a couple options. There is a parking area at the trailhead or just leave from camp. I love that they have a trail map at the check in sign. If you want to be taller, continue driving down the road to the end of the pavement- about 10 or so miles. Warren Peak sits at 6656 feet and has a fire tower you can climb up. Spectacular views of the Black Hills and beyond. Along the drive you pass a few spots for dispersed camping giving you the option to camp for free. 

This was another nice stay in the Black Hills National Forest.

I absolutely LOVE the Bulldog Creek Campground!   Nestled against the Black Hills National Forest, it is scenic, relatively quiet, peaceful and entertaining! First, the Rates...$40-50 per night with full, 50a hookups,$30 for 30a full hookup,$10 for tent camping, if you're just going to stay a night or two. If you just want a safe, quiet place to dry camp overnight, it's$20.

Now the really good part; if you want a base camp for a month or more and enjoy exploring the Black Hills, Sturgis and Rapid City, you can get 50a full hookup, pull-through site for just$550 per month plus electric! That's a bargain in this area. I was at the Ellsworth AFB famcamp who had just raised their rates to a whopping$54 per day, with no discounts available for long-term stays.

The campground is just off I-90, but set back farther than most, so not a distraction. There is an active rail line along the highway, but so far, I've not seen more than two trains in a day, and none at night. So even if it's for just a week or two, and not a month.. call Aaron, the owner. I'm sure he'll work the numbers a bit, just to have your business!

And as for entertainment, on my first night here, there was a heard of at least 2 dozen deer grazing through the campground. Several of them came within a few feet of my door as I talked to them! This mornings sunrise, accompanied by a hot cup of coffee, was exceptional. You just have to come visit!

We camped here two nights to do a couple of things in the Black Hills before heading west across Wyoming.

Everyone who worked here was very friendly and helpful. The facilities were great and the showers were the cleanest I've used at any campground. For those tent camping, there were no designated pads that I saw at any site. We have a larger tent, and our site was smaller and sloping away from a short rise, so we weren't able to situate our tent as well as usual. This wasn't a big issue, but it did storm both nights we were there, and after the first night we did have some water between our tent floor and the footprint that had ran down from the rise. 

The fire pit was very sunken, to the point that they provided an above ground iron bowl for fires, however we did not make a fire during our stay. Our site was to the rear of the campground adjacent to the national forest boundary, so the Wifi was poor and often was better to rely on the 1-2 bars we had on Verizon LTE. But it did mean that this part of the campground was very peaceful. There was an opening in the fence along the boundary near our site with a trail leading to the expansive network of trails throughout the Black Hills National Forest. 

Overall, this is a very good campground in a great location in the Black Hills, but it does seem that the majority of the sites throughout the campground are definitely better suited for RVs than tents.

*Quick note for Dyrt Pros: They do not provide a 10% discount as advertised on the Dyrt site. I checked at the time of making my reservation as well as upon arriving and was told the only discount they currently offer is to retired and current military members.