Best Cabin Camping near Garretson, SD

We camped here over the weekend with our dogs. The campground is within 10 miles off of I90.

The park is not very big so there are not many campsites. Some have electric hook up, others are just for tent camping. All of them provide a picnic table and a fire pit. They also have little log cabins. We stayed at campsite 6 which was a very good spot. Some of the other sites seemed very close together without much privacy or shade.

The park staff (rangers, camp host and volunteers) was extremely friendly. They always made sure that we had everything we needed. The rangers also offer different programs on the weekend like learning about geocaching or how to make campfire desserts.

There is one bathhouse for the entire campground. It seemed a little old but got cleaned daily. There are also several vault toilets around the area. From the campground you have access to the water. There are also several short hiking trails from where you can see the rock formations.

It was just a very short ride to the Devils Gulch (Jesse James historical site) or Split Rock Park. There is also a Dollar General close by. We would definitely recommend the campground.

Our party consisted of two adults, and three children under 12. The cabin consisted of bunk beds with double beds on bottom and twin bed on top. With our gear for four days we found the cabin had just enough room for our party. Any longer or more kids and the cabin would be too small.

The cabins are close to the lake. In early October the leaves are mostly fallen and you have an unobstructed view of the lake and surrounding hills. During the day take in the great vistas across the lake, at night look up and see stars that can only be seen in the wilderness.

The area has several good hikes of 3 - 7 miles in length. If you are looking for heavy wooded off trail hikes you can forge your own way otherwise we found the trails great for family hikes, and a morning run.

Bathrooms, and showers are clean and better than I have experienced at other state parks.

We stopped here on our way through south Dakota headed back to Colorado. The staff were really friendly when we pulled in. Got us checked in right away, gave us directions to our site and sent us off. Thry also sell firewood for $5 a bundle. We are in tent site 4. There are only 4 strictly dedicated tent sites. you park across the street and walk a very short distance, maybe 200 feet to the site. The bathroom is in the parking lot along with a water source. The lake is on the other side of the parking lot. There is also a dumpster there in the parking lot.

The camp site is extremely spacious. plenty of room for tents if you have more then one. It's nice and mowed out with the bordering area still long providing an edge to the site. The four sites are clustered fairly close but the way it's landscaped, you won't see your neighbornuntil you step out to the path to your car. They all have fire rings with a grate to cook on. The picnic table has a nice shade canopy over top. The bathroom surprised me a little. most pit toilets are dark at night but this one has a light! it also has a trash can and hand sanitizer! it smells decent and it's very clean. it will quickly become BYTP but we are only here the one night so hopefully it won't run out. The lake is gorgous! it's a huge long lake and seems to be a favorite boat spot. water skis were abundant, which also meant it got pretty loud with boats buzzing, people partying and music blaring. this is why it lost a star. it was pretty loud up until probably 9 pm. The mosquitos are bad, bring bug spray!

I spent the night here and had to pay the entrance fee to the park as well as the camping fee for my tentsite. They had only a few tentsites available amid all the RV sites, but they were right on the edge of the playground, so the families had to walk right through my campsite to get to the play area. Not too big a deal as no one wanted to use the play area at night while I was sleeping, but still.  I also looked over at the power lines. There was a flush toilet facility close by but there was a very bright light on all night. Good for families needing to navigate in the dark but not wonderful if you like sleeping in darkness. And though I was told that quiet hours began at 10PM, the site next to me was quite loud through the trees until at least midnight so the quiet hours are not enforced. Meh. I don't think I'll be going back.

We happened upon this park during the 50th anniversary of the park so there were lots of park events happening. This is a very clean and well maintained park. We tent camp so much of my observations are geared for the tent camper. We stayed at site 34E, a long but narrow and slanted site. We were lucky to find some awkward somewhat flat place for our two tents. This site would be just fine for RV camping but I’d steer clear for tent camping. I’d estimate that 50% of the sites are flat and suitable for tents.
Here are some key take aways from our 3 night stay in late July 2022. -clean and well maintained park

• fair wireless service for Verizon
• well placed and clean shower / restroom houses
• nice playgrounds
• great options on the park for paddle boarding, kayaking, water play as well as additional options at near by Devil’s Gultch and Split Rock parks.
• Very well shaded park
• Grocery store less than 10 min away.
• Mosquitos weren’t a problem during out stay with a little bug spray prevention.
• Nice aluminum picnic tables at all sites. Standard fire pits with grilling attachments.
• employees will enforce local approved fire wood use Negatives:
• lots of biting flies
• if you like private sites this isn’t for you The interesting:
• this is easily the most heavily staffed state park I’ve ever stayed at. If you like a constant park employee presence you’ll like it. I found it to be excessive however. During a 30 min time period we counted 8 employee vehicles to two park visitors driving by. It seemed to create unnecessary road traffic and noise at times. Park employees walk the park on foot in the dark at the 11pm to enforce quite time. There aren’t going to be any site reservation mix ups there either. Park employees constantly check sites and make sure reservations are correct. The camp host was very nice and makes the round frequently.

This Recreation Area is large and  located off the Sioux River, which was slow flowing when I visited. It’s not the most picturesque river I’ve seen, so if you’re looking for that look further. However, because it was slow moving it made for a nice round trip paddle. 

Easy access from 90W, not much road noise and close to the town of Brandon for supplies. 

There’s a fantastic disc golf course complete with a creaky suspension foot bridge that spans the fiver. 

Great hiking and biking trails too. I hiked the Valley of the Giants trail, which earns its name because of the many old, “giant” oaks in this river bottom area. It’s an easy hike with one slight incline/decline, but the loop was curtailed by a giant felled oak tree.  The path was completely covered and no matter which way I tried I couldn’t see the trail it had become so overgrown. Sadly it seems that this has been the fate of several the the Giants, perhaps due to the river flooding.

The campground has gravel pads. My site backed up to the river but there was a bushy berm and the bike/walking bath between the site and the river. No problem to access the river though because there are little paths worn through the bushes. Lots of trees for shade and good space between sites. There’s electric but no water at site. Fill up by the restrooms or before you come. Picnic table and fire ring with grill connected. Fire ring is on a cement pad. I’d never seen that before. 

There are also  cabins for rent and when I was there the restrooms looked clean and functional.  Picnic shelter and gazebo are on site as well as the Bergeson’s Homestead. It’s always nice to see history being preserved like this! When I’m passing through this area again, I’ll revisit this recreation area.