Best RV Parks & Resorts near Watertown, SD

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.

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.

Although an envelope system is in use and we were told we didn't need one, reservation slips made out by the park (ON ORANGE) take precedence over the white slips (which are the duplicate layer of your registration form). After we came, found a pull- through spot open that night, filled and posted our form, we we left - and returned to a filled spot- THAT camper reserved by phone just hours earlier (perhaps while we were selecting). Fortunately we saw another spot where we could still stay hooked up. This is a really pleasant (under big oaks) electric only sites campground. 2 handicap shower/bathrooms. Picnic tables and fire rings. Little free library.

This park is a nice little stop in a super small town. We came through just to visit the Ingall’s homestead and enjoyed this peace and quiet so much we decided to stay for four days.

It’s self service, so first come first served. We were the only ones here for a day or so and then a few others came, but it never filled up. You just put your cash in a lock box.

All the sites have electrical and there’s water available in a few sites. Splitter on the spout makes it easy for two campers to share the water.

The back in spots have plenty of shade. The pull throughs are in direct sun. But all the spots are freshly graveled and we’ll maintained.

There’s a playground for the kids and clean bathrooms with showers.

The town is super small, so don’t expect to have a touristy experience or anything. But if you’re on your way to the ingall’s homestead, or just need a place to park for a night or two, the spot is great.

We have traveled in a RV for 6 years and been to 48 states (3 or 4 times each), visited 300 plus small towns and I can say this was one of my favorite camp spots. There are only 4 RV lots, and they are pretty close together, but we stayed before season, so we had the place practically to ourselves. For $30, we had W&E, fire pit (firewood not sold), picnic table and free access to the homestead. Bathrooms were so clean and smelled like cedar wood.  There is a dump station but be fore warned it's on a slope, so emptying your tanks completely will be a challenge. Also a sign says grey water only, this is not true, you can dump your black water too. Since we were off season, during the day, they had school trips daily, so there were a lot of children, having fun playing right behind our rig. But it was only for a short period of time during the afternoon. There's a museum right next to the sites, which is always open. There's also is a tower you can climb to get some really great views. Several houses and buildings are on the property you can explore and hay rides are available. They also have a nice country store where you can by your souvenirs. If your a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, like me, this is a must stop, if only for a night! I also want to mention that the camp hosts and gal that ran the store, couldn't have been nicer.

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.