Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Rapid City, SD

This is a great place to stay. Not far from Rapid City but close to all the attractions in South Dakota. The heated pool was NOT heated and the hot tub was NOT hot. That is why I gave the CG four stars. I was really looking forward to using them. Also, both seemed overloaded with chemicals. I have owned lots of pools with blue colored bottoms, but these looked like there was “Ty-d-bowl” added. Brilliant, stark blue. I just don’t believe it can be just the basic treatment. See what you think. ???The laundry areas (3 of them) were clean and tidy, too. $2.00 for each, but 45 minutes on the dryer, so that’s fair. 😀 Our spot was a bit difficult for us to level our rig on because the rocks kept slipping. We had to go purchase extra Xchocks. There is a nice store for basic needs, and alcohol, and an event schedule for evening entertainment. The event center serves wings (no celery or carrot sticks), pizza, etc. There is a playground for kids and they said a dog park. —-I did find a big area there, but no fence around it. ???

If you have an RPI membership, this place is a no-brainer. It’s a huge and well maintained RV resort with tons of family friendly amenities. Onsite restaurant and convenience store with gas station. Large pool with hot tubs. Tennis, basketball, pickleball, and shuffleboard courts. Mini golf and an activity center that will loan you a variety of sports gear and well as rent bikes and golf carts. A massive dog park. Our kids also attended a 2 day horse camp onsite which was very fun for them and very reasonably priced. The list of activities is endless. Tons of kids biking around and playing, so easy for kids to make friends. They also have cabin rentals and a few tent sites. There’s a weekly rodeo held onsite during peak season. It’s 15 minutes from Rapid City and close to the Black Hills. If you are looking for a base camp to explore this area, Hart Ranch is a great choice.

Had a fun time at the south shore campground of Lake Sheridan. Hosts were great. Beach for the kids, quiet and peaceful. Camped in our 38’ motorhome. Reserved our site well in advance. Quiet time for generators was observed by all. Location was great for visiting nearby attractions. No cell service in the campground. Found one area where I could get cell service while walking the dogs and that was on the main road overlooking the beach area. If coming in from Rapid City, our GPS had us turning onto a gravel road telling us to drive 4 miles. We ignored and ended up on a paved road leading into the campground. Took our Jeep down the gravel road after a trip to Mt Rushmore and it wasn’t bad, just not a good road for a motorhome. Looking forward to another trip to the Black Hills for more exploring.

This place is gorgeous, clean, friendly, and serene. We stayed a total of 5 nights and enjoyed it very much. The sites are nice, long pull-thrus with full hookups. There are cabins, an inn, and tent sites as well. The laundry facilities, bathrooms, and showers are all extremely clean and EVERYTHING WORKS!

One of my favorite parts of this campground was the location. You get a great view of the black hills, wide open sky for start gazing, and it’s close to Custer state park and Custer itself. Only an hour from Rapid City. While having the feeling of being completely away from everything you have everything you could need 4 miles away.

Our kids looooved it here. There’s a great play ground and plenty of room to run around. We don’t have horses but seeing them come in and out of camp was a lot of fun.

Our group of four adults and two kids under the age of ten picked did some tent camping at Custer Crazy Horse. Initially we wanted to camp inside Custer State Park but our late planning led us to only a few campgrounds with availability. We chose Custer Crazy Horse because a couple people in our group really wanted the comforts of shower, electricity and wifi and this place had all three! I'm personally use to primitive camping so I was expecting some sort of KOA-like setup. I was pleasantly surprised by how rugged and hilly the area was, how clean and fresh the facilities were, and (my favorite) how kind and hospitable the owners were! Twila is such a doll and allowed our 6 person party and 12 person tent to overflow onto 3 sites! We set up right by thr rocky outcrop which the kids loved playing on and meeting other kids at. Twila has a convenience store on the property with all the things you indeed forgot to bring as well as fresh complimentary coffee and two beautiful dogs that greeted everyone. Like I said, the showers and bathrooms were so clean! And they were always fresh everyday. This campground was also so close to everything! Very close to Custer State Park, Crazy Horse memorial, Mt. Rushmore, Hill City with a bunch of breweries and wineries, an hour out from Rapid City, and about an hour and a half to thr Badlands. And Twila gave us a pass to Custer State Park for the week which was so convenient since we were out there nearly everyday hiking and admiring the wildlife (especially the bison!). I highly recommend this campground! You will not be disappointed!

They advertise that they have Wi-Fi but it's almost like they shut it off at 10 o'clock at night when quiet time starts which is a great time for looking up directions or places to see, we could never connect for long and streaming- which means no Netflix its against the rules(which we never saw only overheard). They allow fires but make sure you get a metal ring because it's illegal to have a fire in south Dakota if you don't have one they have them but they don't leave them at the sites or let you know they are available. Also no petting zoo we specifically came here thinking they had one because they advertised and after we arrived they informed us it was turned into a dog park i have no pictures but there's not much to see here

So you're going to Mount Rushmore.... I discovered during my trip to the area June 2015 that hotel rates in the area are very high for what you get & hard to find availability. The solution is to camp! Make the most of your South Dakota vacation by spending it camping. My group tented and had a great time. Keep in mind though for those coming from other areas of the country, South Dakota does experience rain and thunderstorms. Pack and camp accordingly. This campground is nearby many SD attractions, within easy driving distance and minutes of Hill City, Custer, Keystone, Rapid City, Mount Rushmore. There are many options at the campground such as purchasing firewood to renting bikes. Check out KOA's campground map for campground layout. RV hookups, tent sites, heated pools, splash pad, and much more to keep everyone entertained. Remember that this area of South Dakota hosts high volumes of tourists each season, especially summer and during Sturgis Motorcyle Rally. I highly recommend making reservations far in advance!

This campground offers over 90 sites along the shores of a lovely reservoir in the vacation wonderland of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Situated within an hour’s drive of many of the Black Hill’s more famous attractions, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park, this campground provides a great basecamp for all your regional adventures. Back at camp, you can enjoy fishing, swimming, and kayaking too. After a long day visiting both Jewel Cave and Crazy Horse, it was an easy 20 mile drive north as we were headed toward Rapid City the following day.

There are four loops of campsites, 3 of which have lake side campsites – which were the most popular sites even on our early-season visit. However, the campgrounds are along a hill so that there are lake views from many different sites. The deeply forested area also provides much shade for those warmer days. The pit toilets were clean, but on our early visit in May the water was not yet turned on – which got us a great discount and it was only $10 per night! Reservations can be made at recreation.gov. High season cost is $26 with a reservation fee of $10 per booking. Firewood is available from the friendly camp host and there is a nearby swimming beach area within walking distance from the campground.