Best Cabin Camping near Philip, SD

I am very pleased with this Campground . As I drove through the Badlands today and saw people setting up their tents in the totally exposed Park campgrounds I was sad for them . The KOA has great shade at every tent site . The sites are spacious and there were was no overcrowding . I opted to rent one of the small Rustic cabins with AC ( no bathroom or kitchen ) in order to give my elderly dog a respite from the scorching afternoon heat . The little camping cabin is clean and comfortable, there is a small front porch with a swing . Outside there is a picnic table and fire ring . We walked through the campground this evening and there was a cool gentle breeze . Most of the tent sites were unoccupied while I believe absolutely every RV site was occupied . Definitely worth checking out this campsite and hands down better choice than the exposed unshaded sites with in the Badlands .

Perfect location for visiting Badlands National Park. Jussstttt outside the park entrance and the Ben Reifel visitor center. Could not ask for a better location. The campground is a no frills, perfectly adequate base for exploring the area. 30 amp (some sites have 50) and water with a dump station. The staff is super friendly and there is a small store and cafe. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Sites are gravel and pretty level. Can’t beat it for $38/night! We had a spot at cedar pass for one night and extended here because it wasn’t worth moving (see pic of how close they are to one another) and CP doesn’t have water hookups.

The views are spectacular from the campground. Great spot for sunrises, sunsets and stargazing.

Pros: The location is perfect for visiting the Badlands! We really liked that there was lots of trees, even though our site didn't have a big one. The campground was large with lots of amenities and activities. They had a huge variety of different style campsites, cabins and teepees!

Cons: This place was PACKED! I get it, its right outside of a National Park, it's summertime and families are on vacation. I just never understand why campsites are right on top of each other! I also don't like that I can't pick my own site. When we showed up, we were escorted to the site we were assigned. Our site backed up to the mini golf course and our campsite shared a power box with our neighbors. The problem was that the power box was on the wrong site of the camper and it was at the front of the campsite instead of the back. We had to reposition the camper so that we could stretch the cord to reach the power box. Also, the fire pit and table was on the wrong site. I sucked it up and just felt grateful that we were vacationing in the Badlands!

Campsite Review:

I was definitely out of my zone here. I am used to backcountry camping, no amenities, and sleeping with no one to be seen. This was almost the opposite of what I usually do.

Amenities: General store, water, electric (30/20 amps), showers, flush toilets, laundry mat, basketball court, swimming pool, mini golf.

See what I mean. There wasn't anything I could think of that would make my camping here more comfortable, but it did mean that it was packed and with some RV's that I have no doubt cost more than my net worth (but i secretly loved seeing those)

This was my first time at a KOA and it was a nice to be able to relax and kind of "glamp" for a couple of nights.

One thing that was pretty cool was an area called the "wagon wheel". It was an area for tents that is walled off and has a kitchenette area available.

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Product Review:

During our road trip around the US, I was able to try out the GO camper from SylvanSport. We were blown away with this camper. It is easy to see why so many people call this the Coolest. Camper. Ever.

I could spend all day talking about what we loved about this camper, but I'll try to limit it to just a couple of the highlights. Let's say.....two things we loved about the GO and one thing we think could be improved on.

The first positive was just the amount of room you had when you had to GO completely set up. When we had it in "sleep" mode we easily had our queen sized air mattress in there and still had about another twin sized area to put our stuff. I had no trouble standing up in the tent (I'm about 6') and slept pretty great during the trip. It could easily sleep 4 adults and probably even up to a family of 6.

Second positive, light weight. At roughly 800 lbs, this thing could be pulled by anything. The light weight also lets you pack it down with gear and still be able to pull it through the mountains without stressing your vehicle. We would frequently get the camper close to where we wanted it, and then unhooked it to move it by hand into final position. Easy Peasy.

For the negative there really wasn't anything huge, but more nit-picky. The thing that kept coming up was how you stored the privacy screen and water proof screen when you had them unzipped on the windows. There is a small mesh flap with elastic that really wasn't strong enough to keep the screens inside it when you unzipped, as a result the screens often got caught underneath things and you had to keep moving them out of the way.

At the end of the day, we loved our two weeks in the GO!

Click to see video reviews on TOWING, SET-UP, LOOK INSIDE, and AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT for the GO.