Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Platte, SD

This was a very pleasant surprise. I normally do not go to campsites (that is put in for context) but was passing through on a business trip and needed a place with electric hookups. After a Harvest Host disaster I found this. Like I said, very pleasantly surprised. While there were a lot of campers who seemed to be setting up elaborate sites with everything you would need to live there for a year (laundry lines, flag poles, pens for their dog), I was able to get a spot that backed right up to the beautiful river and had plenty of space on all sides. The campsite was surprisingly quiet for how large it was. The sunset paddle boarding on the river was a real treat. Kinda cool to say you SUP'd from South Dakota to Nebraska with a beer on the board. 

Bathrooms were clean and had showers. Garbage and recycling on premises. AT&T signal was strong.

Leave no trace.

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.