Best Campgrounds in South Dakota

We had read that this campground (CG) could be confusing to find, but following our GPS and the confirmation email instructions, we had no major issues. Coming off I-90, we turned right at a Food Mart and followed the road and“River City” sign through a small industrial area that borders the CG. Per the email, we drove straight in and went to our assigned pull-through site 90 with full hookups. The gravel site was level, with utilities placed toward the rear and the sewer hookup at the very end. We needed 20’ of sewer hose. Water pressure was decent (~45 psi) and the 50-amp electric worked well. After setting up, we picked up an envelope from the info board that his additional CG info by the one-room shower house and paid the required $50 cash for our overnight stay. The email mentioned we could contact the camp host if needed. We had 2 bars on Verizon and 3 on T-Mobile. There would be no issues with satellite reception—there are no mature trees. There’s no CG Wi-Fi. There’s one row of pull-through sites that are packed tightly together. This seems to be where the overnighters go. Each has a metal-wheel fire pit, but if your neighbor lights a fire, it could be dangerously close to your rig. Our site had no picnic table, although most others did. This is a newer CG still under development—some grass and patios were going in, likely catering to seasonal boaters and full-timers (based on the number of older rigs). There’s no designated dog area, and green space is limited. The grounds currently feel more like a dusty parking lot, and we noticed heavy truck traffic on the entry road during the day. Most of the CG sites are back-ins with better spacing between sites. The CG is a few miles away from the interstate so none of that noise. There’s a pleasant view of nearby hills. We often travel through South Dakota and were hoping River City could be a destination stop. This time we were here to see the Dignity of Earth and Sky statue. At $50, and with the current layout and conditions, it wasn’t worth it—even just for an overnighter.

We followed our GPS getting off I-29 at exit 79 in Sioux Falls and going straight west on hwy 42 for about 20 miles to the sign for the right turn to go up to the recreation area. It would have been just as easy to catch I-90 west as well. At the main/west campground, we followed the sign for the East Campground and turned left at the white recreation sign right at the bottom of the hill. Passing the boat ramp, we saw the pull-along sites (49-62), which are small and close to the road accurately described in forums as not big-rig friendly. The fresh water fill spigot is in a large pull-out on the right, past the boat launch and just before the 10 mph sign. The dump station is in the West Campground. We continued to the end loop and backed into site 43 (50/30/20 AMP), which was easy thanks to its corner location. As soon as we had settled in, the very friendly camp host come over to check us in. We had already paid the $30 a night plus $10 nonresident reservation fees, to find out starting this year we needed to pay a non-resident $15 a night state park fee or $60 for a year pass. We were able to purchase, choosing a yearly, online and the host gave us a temp sticker for our window. Our site was spacious enough for our 40 5th wheel and F450. The electric hookup is at the back; we needed about 30 of cord. All sites here are electric only and nicely spaced apart. Site 43 offered a beautiful lake view, which we enjoyed during our peaceful four-night stay in early May. Verizon had 3 bars, T-Mobile had 2, and our T-Mobile house internet clocked 207 Mbps down/ 3.49 Mbps up. Satellite reception should be fine in most sites except site 45, which is heavily shaded. There's both a shower house and vaulted toilets in the east area. Spring was coming alive with gobbling turkeys and cackling pheasants; we even got a show from a strutting tom turkey. Overall, a quiet and scenic stay with great wildlife viewing and lake views.

May 10th stopped in to tent camp on motorcycle. Yes it is old as is Deadwood. 15 tent sites up the hill in the far back all in a row. They flattened out places for table and tents (except for T13). Has steel fire pit and wooden table, a few were missing a table this early in the season. To me it looks like all the sites have at least one level spot for a small tent and most had more space. My site T12 could fit both a large and small tents. The men's bathhouse was decent, they are updating the 4 showers with new tile etc. The grounds keeper guy was super helpful, the owners were gone after 5:00. Late check-in was easy. $32 for tent site if cash. It is a hike down the hill to the bathroom and pool. No spigot up here in these parts. I left at 8:45am and never saw an owner or host.

This is a wonderfully maintained city campground. This campground is on the Missouri River. The city of Fort Pierre has put a lot of money into its parks. Campgrounds are really clean and beautiful. The Griffin site has electric at the sites but not water, though there is potable water available. On the upside for Griffin, there is a wonderful tornado shelter/rec room/bathroom with showers. the showers are warm enougg. On the other side of the river, and also a Fort Pierre city park campground is Fisher‘s Lily Park campground. The sites at Fisher Lily Park Campground, are little larger, the view is a little nicer, and there’s water and electric at the sites. But the bathrooms are not as convenient and do not have showers. We stayed Fischer Lily Park campground, but went over to Griffin Park to shower. You really can’t go wrong with either campground. The Price during the season which starts 1 May is now $25. Sites are available first come first served. I added pictures of where the showers are (distal end of campground before the marina)