Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lake Preston, SD

This is just off the highway, but you wouldn’t know it when you’re in the rig. Super quiet and the owners were so sweet. They spaced us out with a beautiful pull through and plenty of room. They also gave us treats for the pups and cookies for us. Nice little thoughtful dog park with water and toys. Sunflowers right there for you to enjoy. The flies were definitely out, so had to manage getting in and out of the rig quickly as a few got in.

We’d definitely stay again.

The super nice and informative couple who own the campground (CG) checked us in and then we were escorted to pull through site 41 with FHUs. The site was more than long enough for our 39’ 5th Wheel and F-450 truck. WiFi was average but there were not many RVs in the park for our 3 nights stay, and we got 4 bars on Verizon. They do not have cable and not being too far from Sioux Falls, we got a good amount of OTA channels. The CG was well taken care of and very clean. We did experience flies this time of year and they were aggressive about getting inside our RV. I had some insect fogger and that worked well spraying before entering our rig. There is no formal dog park, but plenty of area around the CG to walk. The town of Salem down the road has your basic amenities and we enjoyed playing a round of golf on their 9 hole course that is decently priced.  Well run little CG that we would definitely stay at again.

We had a reservation and told them we would be coming in late due to a family reservation in another campground. The woman I spoke with said that wasn't a problem and that, if the office was closed, she'd be in the house next door. The office WAS closed so I knocked on the door. No answer. I called and left a message that we had arrived and needed help finding our site. No return call. We finally found our site only to discover a truck parked in front of the pull through. Once the owner was found and moved the truck, we had to make a sharp turn between two trees on either side of the drive. We didn't even unhook as we had to be out at noon the next day. The next morning, we discovered the site had dead birds with flies buzzing around them, dog poop that hadn't been cleaned up, and cigarette butts on the ground. The dead birds had been there a while as had the evidence of dogs (we have a dog we always clean up after and follow leash rules). The park is nothing special but it is on the lake and may have some decent fishing access. The neighbors on one side had a dog off leash and it came over to check out our on-leash dog. Rules are not enforced and the hosts apparently don't check on things. We never did hear from them. The campground is a winding ways from I29 but we have Google maps so it wasn't a problem finding it. It just wasn't very convenient at all. We were not impressed with the service or lack of.

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.

This is very new campground. Opened in July of 2024. It is close to two lakes. Lake Whitewood and Lake Thompson. Very good fishing at both lakes. You are within 10 minute drive from fishing, swimming and boating on 2 fun lakes. I will be staying here for the summer of 2025 and looking forward to it. The owners are very friendly.

Great 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.

We 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!

Love 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.

We 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.

A very utilitarian campground in Arlington, SD. Best feature aside from the shade is there is a laundrymat in the same lot! Electric, shade and a shrub row separates you from the road. This would be an ideal spot to stop overnight or stay at to attend a local event or visit relatives in the area. Stop by the Municipal Bldg\ Firehall at 202 W Elm St to pay your fee , after hours use the drop box.

We visited Arlington, SD on our way west and easily located this cute little campground on the main drag. The sites back right up to a cute little park with a lake/pond complete with bridge and small island. Nothing fancy , very functional though with electric and nice shade. Not much in the way of privacy however you also shouldn’t be bothered and no reason for the locals to drive through. It just seemed very peaceful. Amenities nearby , good for overnight or visiting local events, relatives. You pay at the Municipal Bldg/ Firehall 202 W Elm St.

Nice 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.

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!

Very nice, our spot was large with electric. Quiet this weekend. 50 Amp service.