Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Huron, SD

Great campground right on Lake Kampeska. Lots of sites for RVs that need electric, some with water, fewer with full hookups... There is a dump station. The walking path through the trees and campground is nice and long, same for the bike path. Multiple jungle gyms scattered throughout. Pet friendly, keep em on the leash. Seems like the put-in could get busy since it's free parking. Beware, the lake does have zebra mussels.

Best KOA we’ve been at. The bathrooms are colorful and the shower benches are nice and the showers are rain shower heads. It was raining and the bathrooms were dry and clean. The shop was well stocked with needs and wants. We almost adopted the stray cat there too. Good luck Mr Fuzzy Popcorn!

Campers were mostly in RVs, I was in a tent and not surrounded by many others. Bathrooms and showers were very clean and well maintained and the owner was nice and gave us tips on things to do in the rest of South Dakota!

Great city campground and super peaceful spot. Not too far off of I-90 (30 mins.) when traveling through South Dakota. 

Tent camping center of town without electric is free. Pads with electric are$15. Free pool, nice small lake across from site, concrete sidewalk around lake. Bathrooms in pool house, water on site. Picnic tables on site. 1-5 campsites available.

An excellent choice for staying if traveling across South Dakota. The sites are gravel, but are all pull through. Most are full hookup, but there is a on site dump station for those with electric only. The swimming pool was an absolute total plus for a hot July day. The park owner Nancy is a fantastic host. Definitely a stay again park

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.

Stayed at Mitchell KOA in our way to the Black Hills. Large, level sites. Pool and mini golf. I didn’t see it, but my wife and granddaughter said the shower on the women’s side was FANTASTIC! Nice dog run. And the Corn Palace!

Stopped at Mitchell KOA again this year when we had car problems on I-90. Spent 3 days stuck at the campground. Lucky they have nice shady sites, lots of room and a friendly staff. Unfortunately, they no longer have the nice shower my wife liked!

I stayed here for one night. Online reservation worked well. I had to call to change the date and they were very friendly and accommodating. I stayed in a pull-through site #5 which was mostly gravel and pretty level - about 2" on one side with Anderson levelers. Good electricity, functional sewer hookup. Water pressure was a little low but no problems. Campground is small, wooded with mature trees and shade. Was about 1/3 occupied on weeknight but scheduled to be full over holiday weekend. Many of the campers appeared to be workers rather than vacationers. Campground was quiet, no kids, no barking dogs. Did not use any of the facilities but they appeared well maintained and functional. Verizon connection was good and I could stream live TV on Hulu. This is a utilitarian campground rather than a vacation destination and a great option if you are passing through in I-90.

Overall this park is average the sites are level and grassy limited shade sites tho, showers and bathrooms are close by and it’s quiet except the occasional train. It’s walking distance from the dirt track. Dumpsters close and trash barrels at each site which they empty often. Mostly weekenders here or people passing thru few seasonal workers.

I stayed here with my family over the 4th of July weekend (2021). This is basically the only time of year this campground consistently fills up. There were 2 open spots when we arrived Friday afternoon (in the main camping area, anyway; there are other electric-only sites near the tennis court that we did not look into). As it is first-come, first-served, the spots left had a good deal of side-slope to them, so while we were still able to get leveled, our steps were higher up than usual and made it hard for little ones to get in and out. Another con is the shower house was not air-conditioned, so at that time in July it was like a brick oven in there. Finally, I did notice a few sites had an old charcoal grill and there were a couple of random picnic tables around, but ours did not have any type of grill, fire ring, or picnic table.

Everything else is positive. The value is FANTASTIC: for $15/night you get full hookups, with plenty of space between the sites, which are in a very quiet area of a quiet town. It is easy walking distance to the rest of the city park (playground, picnic shelter, tennis courts, baseball field, and pool). The campsites are located at the bottom of the large sledding hill, which you can walk up and get some great views of the town and surrounding countryside.

Would highly recommend as a weekend getaway or quick overnight stay if you're in the area! The rural town has all basic amenities covered - grocery store, gas station, bar, etc, so it is a great way to get away and slow down your pace a bit, while not being completely cut off if you need a few supplies.

2 fire pits. 1 porta-potty. Open area you can camp anywhere. No water, no electric, no dump station, no potable water.

Town is 2 miles away, and they have a free dump station. Town also offers free showers. The laundry mat is available next to showers.

One mile out of town is a paid campground at the Lake Carthage campgrounds.

In town at the city park is a paid campground ss well.

A 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.