Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Selby, SD

 Driving down muddy, rural roads brought up thoughts of this year’s extra snow and rain totals. It’s nice to immerse yourself in the results to open viewpoints. 

Michael met me and walked me over to the camp area- after letting his 3 dogs greet me. He has a large gravel lot with an electric hookup. He spent time leveling it off so set up was a breeze. Nobody was staying in the guest house so we were able to use a bathroom that reminds me of a fancy hotel. 

Looking around you find yourself surrounded by farm life. An old barn houses a group of cats. Hay is in this one for their horses to add to their diet. The land goes forever and life slows down. 

Michael walked over with his dogs and invited me to walk the property line. This ended up being a couple hours of education and conversation. Michael has worked with government programs to make portions of this retired farm natural grasslands. He planted rows of cedars, plums, chokecherry and pear to attract pheasants- deer appreciate it too. He showed me his endless battle with wormwood crowding out the native species. Water formed a lake where there never is one and almost flooded out their neighbor. Lazy Sy is elevated but they are still fighting the water off this year. My dog found companionship with the farm dogs and we felt welcome and right at home. 

Besides walking around the farm, we stopped in town right on the Missouri River. There are a number of restaurants and stores as well as a few State Recreation Areas to explore. 

Our stay was very comfortable and easy. Welcomed into another lifestyle, conversation bridged the gap quickly. You will love this simple slowdown of life.

Please note that this is NOT the designated Sage Creek campground but the wilderness area that allows for very primitive tent camping. You park off of Rim Road where there is a small lot and a place to register (whether you're day-hiking or staying over night). You hike down into the high prarie and keep wide eye out for bison ( there are over 600 in the badlands!). Make sure that when you do come across wildlife, especially bison, that you give them ample space, do not appear aggressive and definitely don't try to pet them. You must hike in with your food and plenty of water, because the water in Sage Creek is not able to be filtered. It is very easy to spend hours and days exploring the beautiful land and jagged rock, but you must be prepared. From what we saw and what we researched, rarely do people go out and backpack and camp in this wilderness area. I would recommend this to only those who have enough experience backpacking and who know how to prepare themselves, as you will not be near any people or amenities.

This campground has 18 sites. 1 - 13 are 30 - 20 amp service. Sites 14 - 18 are 50 - 30 -20 amp service. Located centrally in the park is a tornado shelter, kind of a nice touch. There are 4 fire pits to share between 18 sites. There is no sewer at locations. No water at locations, but they do have a hydrant located near the garbage dumpster. Bathrooms are OK clean. Showers are free. Campground is located next to high school athletic fields, so was very busy on Friday night. There is a beautiful Veterans Memorial across the street that was nice to walk through. Also across the street is a boat ramp and parking for a nice little lake. Grounds were mowed nicely and fairly clean of litter.

This location used to be called Indian Memorial Campground but now it is operated by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It is now called “ the Bay at Grand River Casino & Resort”.

The campground is beautiful. Lots of large trees offer shade to most of their 81 RV slots. Grass surrounds each site and a picnic table and fire ring complete the accommodations. There is 30/50 amp service at every pad. They have recently added water to 28 of the 81 sites. No sewer hookups are available on any of the sites. There is a dump station available on the premises. Most of the pads are of good size. Our RV is a 32 foot, 5th wheel and we had no problem with parking it and our long bed truck. On the property are two bathroom facilities with showers that extremely clean and up to date! Some tent sites are available along a large park within the campground. A resident flock of wild turkeys reside at the campground and are regular visitors as it gets dark. Nearby boat ramp gets you on Lake Oahe is just a few minutes. Across the lake is the town of Mobridge SD. Everything you might need is there. The staff are awesome and very welcoming!!

Regular charge per night is $25.00 but the charge for seniors 55 and older is $15.00. That’s a bargain for what you get in return.

This is an extremely nice campground and the price is right.

We highly recommend “the Bay at Grand River!!