Best Cabin Camping near Watertown, SD

Super cool hiking trail around Scout Island! Great history at Ol Mortimers Cabin and the old military fort. Kayaking, boating, fishing, and swimming are excellent!

We stayed here in Aug 2019 - although it was a short visit, we had a nice time. Wasn’t busy, kids liked playground, walking path, and checking out Mortimer’s cabin. Electric hook-ups.

Great place for horseback riding and canoeing, plush boating and fishing. In addition to natural beauty there are games to rent, playground, etc.

Yay: Choice of traditional campsites or cabins.

Nay: campsites are very open and unshaded. Only a few are by the water.

Surprise: the park seems small but there is sooo much to do here.

Very friendly staff, very well kept. The showers & other facilities we're cleaned every morning. Maybe more. It is clean At 21.00 it is a bargain. The sites all have electricity, picnic tables & fire ring. Lots of firewood available for donations. Nice place on South Dakota side of Big Stone lake.

What an amazing little gem of a place! A former resort, now home to just 12 full hook up RV sites, a couple of cabins, and an amazing supper club that opens at 5:00 daily. On the shores of Big Stone Lake. A nice beach and a boat landing. There are normally no open sites, we are told, as they are all rented for the season. We got lucky because there was a site available, said Elmer. So we showed up and we’re greeted by the super- friendly residents who helped us into our site. At five we went down for supper- enjoyed a cocktail, a fantastic steak, then another drink while we watched the sun go down. Just perfect. If you can’t camp here, check out the state park - then come over for dinner!

I spoke with a man who remembered when he used to come here to fish with his Dad. That was enough to encourage a stop here. We followed the signs and ended up at the west campground. There is another one on the eastern shore. It seemed like there are only a few campers here but a group of kids and their chaperones showed up later at night. They were loud enough to be heard but kept together politely- good to see programs bringing people out into nature. It also looks like they had a full weekend due to the reservation slips still on the posts. Well tended grass abounds and the openness leaves room for the breeze. It might be different in a heat wave but the sun and breeze combo is quite relaxing and is keeping the bugs away. 

We walked around camp and found cabins sprinkled throughout. A vault toilet is right next to the shower house leaving me wondering why they’re so close. A book exchange, playground, volleyball and horseshoe pit give entertainment options. A groomed trail leads right out of camp- bug spray needed for the trail. A boat launch and day use area is around the bend. This State Recreation Area has plenty to do and is beautifully maintained. 

This is a great option for tonight!

This is a truly magical place, and if you’ve ever read any of the Little House on the Prairie books and are anywhere near De Smet South Dakota, do yourself a favor and swing by.

The Campground

The Ingalls Homestead consists of two main parts. First is the "campground," which is a basically a large grassy slope where you can set up your tent for just $10. It includes hot showers, flush toilets, and a few picnic tables and fire-pits throughout the field. There's also fairly basic RV parking for $30 with electric and water hookups and a dump site as well as some basic but cool covered wagons for $60. We arrived just as the sun was setting, found a lovely spot for our tent, and then paid in the shop the next morning. The bathrooms were clean, the showers were a little strange but also clean and hot (basically a large room cordoned off by several shower curtains).

The Homestead

De Smet is where the Ingalls family lived during the "Long Winter" of 1880-1881, and the Ingalls Homestead is a "family run business" that brings to life many activities from the 1880s such as visiting a one-room schoolhouse, making a corn on the cob doll, going on a covered wagon ride, etc. It's truly hands-on and some of our favorite time was spent hanging out in "Pa's" lean-to barn with the barn kitties and riding horses and ponies. My oldest son also learned how to drive the covered wagon to the schoolhouse down the road (another treat). Each station on the self-guided tour has an activity with incredibly nice and informed hosts. Most of the buildings are based on the original plans and descriptions from the Ingalls family, though no original buildings remain on the site. Visiting the homestead is an additional $15 per person over the age of five, and while you could camp without visiting the homestead, it was definitely worth a half or full-day visit.

Nice pebble beach, playgrounds, and walking areas. Flat camper parking. Power was great and showers were clean. Electric only. There is an area to dump waste on the exit. Stopped on Sunday on the way westward and the place was empty, stopped Friday on the way home and it was packed. Lots of kids and families, and almost every spot was full. Happy to see folks having fun. It was just a little busy for us. On the second time through one of the three bathrooms was very dirty, sad before the weekend- the showers remained clean. On the Friday stop there were a lot of people, some spots had 3-4 cars parked in the grass- it was too bad they allowed that. If one was to go here to find some quiet do so during the week or late weekend. It worked just fine as a quick overnight stop on our route. Lots of families having fun. Slept well. Well groomed area. Pretty views of lake. A little windy.

This is a welcoming experience with hosts who are happy to make your stay comfortable. It is near a very small town and close to the Interstate (less than one mile). The pull through sites are somewhat close together with no foliage to offer privacy but it is clean and well kept. We decided to stay in a back-in site further away from the office and pull through sites. Before we were even set up the host had brought us a beautiful, little picnic table and set it out front for us. They gave us leaflets about the area and we talked fishing possibilities with them. They have laundry and showers available as well as bait, ice, and I think even propane. We extended our stay here as it was a great place to just chill and take some exploratory drives. Although there isn't much shade to offer protection from the sun, they do have full hook ups so we could run air conditioning. We would definitely stay here again.

We visited during the week so we pretty much had the campsite to ourselves!! They have a playground which my 4 year old son loved! He can’t wait to go again! Bathrooms were clean and nice!

The bathrooms are amazing for a campground. One of the few places I've ever camped where you get a full bathroom to yourself. Plus it was very clean. Seems to be a family oriented place rather than a "nature/wilderness" type of camping experience. Lots of groups gathered and up late hanging out, kids running through campsites. I got very quick responses via email from this place too which was great.

Despite being close to Brookings this park is quiet and i didnt find it very full. Nice place to go camping, especially if you are looking to go birding for waterfowl or fishing one of the nearby lakes.

This state park in eastern SD is a great t place to camp, there are two modern camping areas, a swimming beach several boat launches, handicap accessible fishing dock. There is a a horse trail and trail campsites.

Big mowed lots,trees or open spaces if you want.

One of the best campsites I've been to! Large lots, campfires allowed, lakes, trails, friendly people and sooo incredibly quiet.

Camped in the more open area (72E in campground 2). Large grassy sites with fire pit and picnic table. Clean bathrooms with hot showers. Nice path around lake for walking the dog. Lots of families having a good time! Very pleasant evening.

Very nicely maintained campground and facilities. Mid week stay so nearly empty.

Vibe: Almost empty on Monday night. Quiet natural lake setting. 

Cleanliness: Exceptional. 

Facilities: Updated and well maintained. 

General spots: Good size, good spacing, ok privacy. Lots of trees 

Our site: 20. Across from our site was a little trail down to the lake. In the evening we saw tons of fish and an otter. The electric hook up is pretty far from the picnic table/fire ring area. Have a long cord. 

Noise: Only 4 sites were occupied out of 30 or so. Completely quiet all evening. 

Cell signal: Good (Verizon)

Other: Spectacular sunsets and sunrises. Cell phone pictures do not do it justice.

Great camp ground with things for everyone to do. Upper and lower campground are both very nice with big sites.

There are 2 separate camp areas with 2 completely different types of sites. The sites near the lake are very wooded, a bit smaller and pretty uneven. The sites themselves are even but your canopy might be overhanging a slope. That being said, we really liked the sites near the lake because we like the trees and lake views. The upper sites are HUGE and very near nice! The bathrooms where clean as well as campsites. We will be going back!