Best Equestrian Camping near Spearfish, SD

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 lake is beautiful, its one of my favorite places inside Custer state park. There are a ton of trails, all within easy walking distance. Make sure you pack plenty of water. Some of the hikes are pretty steep and South Dakota in notorious for fast changing weather. The lake itself can be pretty busy, especially during the weekend. Lot of people swimming and kayaking. Needles highway is a must if your in the area

Definitely one of the best campgrounds that we have been to. Horse stable on site, ice cream shop, coffee shop (YES), restaurant, and nightly activities. The kids loved the pool and water slide, they also enjoyed the concert that happened while we were there. We will be staying again.

Pricey (entrance fee plus campground fee) but worth it. Beautiful lake with great access to hiking trails, and just a short drive to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Nice campground, trailer lots seemed more level than tent sites. Some, not all, had tent pads. Nice clean shower house. Great starting point to hike Harney Peak and Cathedral Spires.

This is a huge campground with tons of options which is nice, it also is in a great Central location for Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Needles Highway, Windcave National Park and Mammouth Site so be sure to book a long enough stay.

These were the least nice camping cabins on our road trip but nothing to complain about. Laundry facilities were good, great camp store and restaurant on site.

This campground is very clean, well kept, and VERY Large! There are UTVs that you can rent to go out on the trails, there's a fun zone for the kids that has bouncy houses, the pools, Mini Golf and more! There are over 500 sites at this campground plus cabins, a restaurant, a hotel, riding stables etc. It is also just 5 miles from Mount Rushmore and 15 minutes from Crazy Horse!

Very close to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Rapid City and Hill City. Lake Sheridan was a great place to go cool off. Very dispersed camping. Pack in Pack out. No cell service. At first we didn’t think there was a spot to pull off and then found a perfect circular area for us in our travel trailer and our friends car camping. No fires allowed when we were there. We stayed 2 nights and planned to sight see so left our stuff and was never bothered.

One of the largest KOAs in the US. It’s basically a small town with two pools, a village of shops and restaurants, tons of activities, and a large horse stable with trail rides. We had a nice back in site on the edge of a hill with plenty of privacy. However most the full hookup sites were really tight and had no shade.

Very close to Mount Rushmore and within about 30 minutes of most of the Black Hills attractions. If you want the resort RV experience it will be tough to find somewhere better.

This campground is one of the best . We snagged an awesome site that was large , wooded , secluded , and quiet . The area was beautiful with the Needles and the wildlife drives that were spectacular with buffalo , pronghorn ,and deer in your face. Very close to major attentions such as Mt Rushmore , Crazy Horse Monument , Wind Caves National Park , and the Badlands . The lake is a jewel with a great hike and granite spires bordering the end of the lake - postcard perfect . I also hooked 5 wild rainbows !! We will return

The Mount Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch was our first experience at KOA and really set the bar for activities and organization. From what I can tell, this is a very large KOA with a wide variety of sites. 

Upon arrival, you can tell right away that they operate the campground well. We were directed to a staging area while we checked in. The buildings are all well maintained, and there is plenty of staff on hand throughout the campground.

One recommendation is to look for the horses when they are brought to the corral in the morning (usually between 6:10 and 6:30 am) and then returned to where they bed down for the night (usually around 6:30 pm). It's quite the site to see roughly 30 horses running free and being guided by two people on horseback!

The only issue that we had was with our connectivity to the outside world. We had NO cell connectivity anywhere in the campground (Verizon) and their Wi-Fi was essentially useless unless you were right next to the bathrooms. Even at the main building, there was no connectivity through Wi-Fi. Trying to connect to work was impossible, and we ended up leaving a day early because of it.

Clearly, if you can be disconnected for your time there or are fine with trekking to Grapes & Grinds in nearby Keystone, then this is a fabulous campground. 

3 stars only because of the Wi-Fi (cell coverage is out of their control) and only until Starlink goes live for us RVers.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Palmer Gulch KoA. We have two kids ages 3 & 7 and we never ran out of activities at the campground. We rented a full day UTV, rented “banana bikes” and utilized all of the fun zone. Unfortunately, all the horse rides were booked for our weekend.

We had site 303 which was a patio pull-thru, there was plenty of space between our neighbors and right by the fun zone. Our kids were able to play on the playground or basketball court while we watched from our campsite.

If you have children, highly recommend this KoA.

We stayed here on a long road trip this summer and really enjoyed it. It is a large campground with a variety of sites. This is a resort KOA so they have a lot of things to do. They offer ATV rentals, car rentals, and bikes. The location of the KOA is within minutes of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The area is one of my favorite places that I have ever stayed. There is a ton of stuff to do in the Black Hills and surrounding area. The campground had plenty of bathroom and shower facilities. They were clean and well maintained. Overall it was a very pleasant experience.

The drive to Black Fox is along quite a few ranches and follows a river. The drive is enjoyable and not very difficult to handle. The campground is right along the river. The rapids made music that is peaceful and inviting. 

A large group of ATVs drove in to picnic. Along with one other family, the campground was pretty empty. 

What better camp than right along a bubbling river? Off road trails are the closest draw. The Michelson trail has an access point a few miles down the road. Pay the access fee and enjoy the trail with hikers, bikers, and horses. 

Although some of the sites had a bit too much water and were muddy, the bulk of the 9 sites were perfect.

Easy access and nicely laid out.  Being able to ditch the car and walk to hikes, the lodge and lake was so nice after a long drive.  The campground must be full from day one that it opens in the spring, but there is plenty of privacy.  If you have a larger trailer, some of the spaces required some expert level maneuvering to get into, but everyone managed to do it.  There was recycling available at the rubbish bins, so we were happy to unload them there.  Didn't see a lot of wildlife inside the campground, but enjoyed seeing the bison on the far side of the park.  Easy drives around the area and up to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  We were in a minivan, so we fit easily through the smallest tunnels on the road.  I am not sure about our F250, and certainly NO motorhomes.  We plan to go back eventually and would definitely camp here again.

One of the nicest KOA's we have stayed at with SO many amenities! However, it was VERY crowded and almost felt like we were stacked on top of each other (reason for 4 stars). We were so tight in our RV site we barely had room for one tent and  we really needed space for two.....but next time we would reserve a bigger site earlier in the season.

But the bathrooms were nice and clean, there was plenty to do like a pool, nice store, breakfast, horseback riding, games and movies and even a chuck wagon dinner (reserve in advance).  It also was is the best location to visit a variety of historical and nature sites like Mount Rushmore, Black Elk Peak Trail, the Needles drive in Custer SP along with various caverns, the 1886 train and nearby Wall Drug & Badlands NP. By far my favorite thing every morning was the "cowgirl wake up call" when they rounded up the horses and herded them to the front of the campground along a channel near our campsite.

Stayed for 2 weeks and the amount of activities to do is enough to keep my 17 month old toddler busy!

Highlights: -Splash pad & jumping pillow we loved! -Taco and Margaritas in their prospectors tent on Wednesday as well as a daily pancakes breakfast. Didn’t do the breakfast but did do the tacos. Not the best tacos but Margaritas pretty good :) -5 parks located within the campground so my little guy never got bored of playing at one for to long. The park in the front by registration was our favorite! Turf flooring and very toddler friendly. He loved climbing on and through the logs. -two pools! Pool in the front was our favorite because it had a nice shallow kiddie area and seemed less crowded.

• loved being able to grab coffee and lattes from the fudge/coffee shop in front. -main store and small outpost store by pool had anything you could possibly need including endless toys and souvenirs. Only carried Monster energy no red Bull if your into energy drinks. Both shops sold liquor by case or cans. -fun to watch the draft horses pulling the wagons for the chuck dinner rides. -loved watching the end of the night round up of the horses. -mining for stones was a fun 10 minute activity for the little. Cost $9 for the bag of sand and rocks you buy at the outpost store. -live music in the evenings -water slide ( we didn’t do it but looked awesome!) -hourly kid activities-(some at an additional cost ) movie nigh & popcorn, ice cream social etc. -great location to get to all local attractions quickly.

Bummers: Our first site was extremely small #435 back in. Our neighbors black tank lines basically ran right beside our fire pit.
These sites are all up a very large hill and they are all cramped in there. -Second site we moved to #345-back in. It was a beautiful site had a LARGE open field in the back with fire pit behind camper was able to pop a tent up for baby to play and he had endless space to run. -Verizon = no service -Wi-Fi hardly ever worked even with our booster. Not a huge deal for me but husband works from home so to work he sometimes had to go sit in front and even then it is very glitchy and logs you on and off.

Will returned because we loved it. Really is a resort. Extremely kiddie friendly.

We stayed here twice on our trip out west during August 2023. The first time we ate at their restaurant sitting on a hill. The staff was more concerned with talking to our friends while we waited to see our waitress. It got to the point where I had to go over and ask how to place and order and she totally forgot about us (although we were like 10 feet away). We did the chuck wagon. I took the wagon and the rest of my family rode the horses. It was a good experience. The food was excellent but the entertainment was eh . It really wasn’t long or anything special. But I would say it was worth it for the food and the ride. I got no cell reception here between Xfinity, Verizon, and t mobile. The first time we came we got a pull through and it was really tight for our 42 footer. The second time we got the patio pull through and it is a little better. We were nervous the first time about the space to pull out but we were ok. The second visit we rented the side by side. We did the 3 hour rental. Because everything is so far apart here we could have easily had it for the whole day. The location is about 1/2 hour from 90 but close to Mount Rushmore.

This campground has everything your kids will need or want for a memorable camping experience. If your traveling with out kids it’s a bit busy/noisy and tightly spaced. Overall it’s a very good place to stop for a night or two if seeing Mt Rushmore. On the first night, after we finished hooking up, it was a welcome to have a hot meal right on the property. We enjoyed tacos and margaritas in the Prospectors tent while watching all the families come and go from the camp activities. It’s a huge campground, and they lease all manner of transportation for your stay, bikes, four wheelers and dune buggies. They have a full stable of horses and guided horseback tours. They also have two pools, one with a water slide, mini golf, a snack and ice cream stop, a few little stores for your firewood and camping needs, play grounds, basketball courts, a sand volleyball pit, activity pavilion, bounce pit, water fun zone and so much more. The views of the mountains are beautiful and the grounds are kept spotless. I’m sure with a campground this large that’s no easy feat. The abundant staff were friendly, and helpful and on their collective toes to make sure all this ran smoothly. We are empty nesters, so we didn’t take part in the activities much and moved on after our two nights, but would highly recommend this campground if you have kids and are looking to create some memorable days in camp. I will add It’s very pricey and the spaces are extremely tight... we’re a 36’ so we got the pull through costing 130 a night. Over all a nice experience, but a looking for a less expensive, less crowded spot next time we come through. We had no Verizon service here and the internet was very spotty. Overall Technology failure.

Small campground close to the street. We had a dry campground ($28) close to the office, but Wifi was not working good. Clean and spacious showers and restrooms. Right across the street is a hotel with restaurant which offers breakfast (also lunch and dinner).

Nice view but that’s where it ends. The owner was terrible. They don’t hardly ever answer there phone and they don’t take messages. The sights are small and very Unlevel, a picnic table could not be used and was in poor shape. The grass area was completely full of weeds and dandelions but they go crazy if you had a tire on it. The whole Campgrounds what is in poor condition and the pool was dry no maintenance anywhere. We would never stay there again.

Awsome

First off allow me to set the scene. We came into town for the rodeo so we knew it would be busy and lodging would be sparse. We liked this option for its location to downtown deadwood and the trolley. We opted for the camping cabin as we knew it would be warm. Upon arrival I received the key (this is where I should have known cleanliness was out of the questions) the key chain was SO gross! We opened the door to the cabin and bugs were everywhere! The window sills looked as if they hadn’t been cleaned in years. There is a small bathroom with a toilet in a building down by the cabins that looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in months. We are in a post pandemic times and this is totally unacceptable. After addressing it with the front desk they shrugged and said “sorry, no refunds” we were booked for two nights. I would have been totally understanding if only one night had been refunded but their inability to recognize their wrong doing....sickening. When your livelihood is the patrons of your establishment visiting and enjoying their stay and safely at that....you meet your customer in the middle with a solution. Gross gross gross....stay as far away as possible.