The Dyrt – find campgrounds for tents, RVs, cabins, glamping and more.
Open in App

Best Tent Camping near Whitewood, SD

1,285 Reviews

Dispersed tent camping dominates the landscape surrounding Whitewood, South Dakota, with several free primitive options in the Black Hills National Forest. Mount Roosevelt Road Dispersed Campsite and Mount Roosevelt Camp offer tent-friendly sites with ratings above 4.8 stars, providing backcountry camping experiences without developed amenities. These primitive tent areas serve as gateways to the broader Black Hills region, with RD 356 Dispersed Site and North Pole Road Dispersed Camping offering additional options within 30-45 minutes of Whitewood.

Most dispersed tent sites require campers to be self-sufficient, as amenities are minimal or non-existent. Pack-in, pack-out principles apply at all backcountry tent locations, with no trash service, drinking water, or permanent toilet facilities at most sites. Mount Roosevelt Road includes vault toilets near the trailhead, but other areas lack even basic facilities. High-clearance vehicles are recommended for accessing many of the tent sites, particularly after rain when forest roads become rutted and challenging. Fire restrictions vary seasonally, with several reviewers noting fire bans during dry periods. The standard 14-day stay limit applies to all dispersed camping in the national forest.

Walk-in tent sites at these locations offer greater privacy than established campgrounds in the region. The Mount Roosevelt area provides access to hiking trails, including a path to Roosevelt Friendship Tower with panoramic views. Tent campers at RD 356 appreciate the proximity to attractions like Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park while enjoying the seclusion of forest camping. Tree cover varies by location, with some sites offering shaded tent pads and others situated in more open areas with mountain views. A visitor commented, "We camped nestled in the trees in the second campsite on the right. There is room for multiple rigs in that area, but the spot just to the left when you pull in had the best service and was our favorite." Wildlife sightings, including deer and coyotes, add to the primitive camping experience.

Map showing campgrounds near Whitewood, South DakotaExplore the Map

Best Tent Sites Near Whitewood, South Dakota (19)

Show More
Showing results 1-10 of 19 campgrounds

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win

Whitewood Contest

Enter to Win

Recent Tent Camping Photos near Whitewood, SD

56 Photos of 19 Whitewood Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Whitewood, SD

1285 Reviews of 19 Whitewood Campgrounds

  • GoWhereYouAreDraw N.The Dyrt PRO User
    Apr. 30, 2021

    Black Hills National Forest Bear Gulch Campground

    Primitive but comfortable group camping

    A former individual campground now turned group campsite. Eight individual tent sites (each has a picnic table and fire ring) around a central camping area. Vault toilets and a hand pump for drinking water. There is no electrical hookup.

    Vehicles must travel down nine miles of dirt roads to reach the facility. Hill City is the nearest town for additional amenities, and Rapid City is 20 miles away. Nice fishing and kayaking. 3 stars because it's groups only!

  • Sarah H.
    Jul. 23, 2016

    Sylvan Lake Campground — Custer State Park

    Primitive Camping in Custer

    Our family stayed in a walk-in primitive tent site located on a woodsy hill at the top of Custer. Campsites have a decent amount of privacy, but you are still aware of your neighbors. Portable toilets were available at the bottom of the hill near the parking lot with shower facilities a short walk away. Showers and laundry facilities were well maintained. Sylvan Lake is beautiful and provides a full day of activities without having to drive anywhere else in the park. Our family enjoyed hiking, paddle boating, and swimming with gorgeous scenery all around.

  • Tonya Y.
    Jun. 25, 2017

    Horsethief Lake Campground

    Cute, Quiet, and Close to Everything

    We arrived at Horse Thief Lake late on a Wednesday afternoon. Actually VERY late. It was around 7:00 pm on June 7, 2017. We were on a road trip and didn't have a firm schedule. We arrived without a reservation and were thrilled that they had three or four walk-ups available.

    This campground serves both RVs and tent campers. The walk-up are was beautiful and quiet. We were in site 34, which is the closest to the road that circles through the campground, but it was above our site and we never noticed traffic.

    It was early in June so many sites had reservations on them for the weekend, the walk-in area was less than half full. The sites are far enough away from each other that we were not bothered by any other campers.

    The site had a great pad and nice wooden picnic table with a great fire ring. The fire ring was great in the morning as it was still pretty cool in early June.

    Firewood was sold at the campground by the hosts for $5 a bundle. The hosts were very kind and kept the campground immaculate.

    The vault restrooms were very clean, but there were MANY flies by the afternoon outside of the restroom.

    We had some HEAVY rains while camping here and the people in the site closest to the lake, and near the top of the hill (amazingly) were flooded out and had to dry everything in the morning and move to another site.

    We had no problem with critters bothering our camp. There are no bear boxes and the camp hosts told us they had never heard a report of bears being in their campground.

    This was a great base camp for us. It is only 2 miles to Rushmore and we went to Custer's campground (and drove though TONS of animals including buffalo, prong horns and others, the Crazy Horse memorial and the Iron Road.

  • Jessica F.
    Aug. 20, 2016

    Bismarck Lake Campground

    Natural and Beautiful

    Beautiful camp sites. They are mostly gravel so pack a nice sleeping pad or blow up mattress. The pit toilets were very clean and the water spouts were plentiful. Many of the sites have natural rock formations as natural boundaries of the site. Many tent camp sites have raised platforms to pitch your tent. There is a small trail around the lake that was lovely in the evenings. The lake is very quiet and great for fishing or kayaking.

  • Alissa V.
    Aug. 6, 2020

    Sheridan Lake South Shore Campground

    Can’t wait to go back!

    Great campground with kind hosts and staff. The pit toilet was well maintained. We had lots of space in our site (#21) for our vehicle with rooftop tent, a separate shade tent and table, and large picnic table. We could have for a lot more! People were respectful of quiet hours and felt safe with lots of families, but spread out enough there wasn’t too much noise. We definitely want to try a site on the lake side next time, it’s beautiful over there. The swimming lake was great for bathing. Because of the shade and elevation it never felt too hot, even in late July.

  • Krista K.
    Nov. 12, 2021

    Sheridan Lake South Shore Campground

    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

    My sister and I spent 7 days here, tenting. I even brought along my best friend that passed away 2 months prior (her ashes). So close to so many places to visit, which we never did (we loved every minute being disconnected). The weather was mostly perfect, besides some hail and rain a couple nights. We took our paddle boards out almost every day. Our site was right by the lake and right by one of the vaulted toilets. There is no electricity, only potable water, and neither one of us had cell phone service. If you ask me, IT WAS PERFECT!! These sites are FCFS, and the weekend fills up fast. The hosts are awesome and helpful. The toilets were always clean, the cleanest I’ve ever experienced! There are no showers, but there is a campground close by that lets you shower for $5. Might sound expensive, but when you’ve gone 5 days with no shower, it’s so worth it! We had neighbors nearby and everyone was friendly. I have only positive things to say about this place. It was an experience that enlightened my soul. I most definitely will be going back again!

  • Cynthia W.
    Jul. 25, 2017

    Grizzly Creek Primitive

    Beautiful but nosy and smelly

    Let me start by saying the campground itself is beautiful! There was plenty of shade and the creek provided nice ambiance. However, don't camp here if you want some peace and quiet! Iron Mountain Road runs right by and it a popular with motorists and motorcyclists. Also, starting a 9am until probably 6pm there are helicopter tours for Mount Rushmore and it flies right over the campground. We used this spot as a jump off point for all our adventures so we weren't bothered too much by the noise as we were gone for much of the day.

    Our only other complaint is that the vault toilets smelled terrible. I know they're not supposed to smell like roses, but we've experienced many other vault toilets that we "pleasant" and we rarely saw a fly. These would have flies swarming as you used the facilities and we could often smell the toilets from our site. I'm not sure if the treatment is different in SD, as we're from CO, but this was out biggest complaint.

    High point is that you're only 5 to 10 minutes from Rushmore and close to Custer State Park and it was an easy jumping point for many other destinations.

    One more note...more of a soapbox speech...the Vermont people next to us were terrible campers and broke all the basic etiquette camping rules. They washed dished in the creek, they bathed at the water pumps and left trash and food all over their site and in the fire pit when they left. This is NOT ok. Camping involves a very high level of respect for nature and if you can't follow leave no trace rules, you shouldn't be out there!

  • Melissa E.
    Dec. 13, 2020

    Whitetail Campground

    The Spot I Had Been Searching For

    Date of Stay: 10/13/2020 Length of Stay: 1 night Type of Stay: SUV Camping Price: Free

    My stay was right after camping became free, though I do not know if this was because of Covid, staffing, or the norm. The water was turned off, no trash service, vault toilet still had TP, but with a sign saying there would not be servicing. There were only 5 other campsites in use in the whole campground and only two others in my loop. I had almost the entire bottom half of my loop to myself. My campsite had all that I need, a fire ring, a level place to park, a picnic table, tall trees, and a perfect view.

    This was an amazing campsite. I was doing travel through camping as a method of safe but necessary travel during quarantine, and this was my first ‘favorite’ camping spot. I got a beautiful spot in the lower loop that had it’s own trail to the lake. In the middle of the night a light storm rolled through, so I took down my window insulator and rolled down my window; as the lightning illuminated the lake and surrounding hills I found that beautiful feeling of being one with nature. The next morning as I left on those beautiful back roads I saw the evidence of one of the first snows at a higher elevation.

  • Paula C.
    Sep. 11, 2021

    Oreville Campground

    GREAT campground in the Black Hills Forest

    This is a no hookups campground, but it’s on the Crazy Horse Memorial Highway…so it’s close to the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, Custer National Park and the two little towns of Custer and Hill City. (It is a heavily traveled highway, so if road noise bothers you, ask for a site toward the back of the campground.) Very dark skies here…beautiful star gazing. Lots of bike and ATV trails in The Black Hills and forests.

    Hill City has an 1880s steam train you can take to Keystone, and lots of quirky little shops downtown. Custer is genuine South Dakota with Trading Posts, Western Art Galleries, and Buffalo statues all over town. (I’ve no idea how many, I am still trying to figure that out).

    The Camp Hosts are super friendly and helpful, and gave us a great deal of local info. They were very knowledgable about the area. There are pit toilets right down the hill from our site. There is a common water spigot beside the pit toilets, but none at sites and no electric.

    I reserved the place for two weeks online…it seems most folks stay only a night or two, but we have solar that keeps the lights on and the fridge and freezer running, so we are good. Generator hours are 8am to 8pm. Spacious, fairly level gravel sites with picnic tables, and fire rings. Lots of trees if you want them or few if you have solar (leave a note when you reserve or call and ask the camp host.) There have been sites available (1 or 2 at least) most days but it’s Friday and it’s filling up. Cell phone coverage is pretty impossible without a hotspot or antennae to help pull the signal to your site. There is good connectivity up the road a mile or so, also inHill City and Custer.

Guide to Whitewood

Tent camping near Whitewood, South Dakota, offers a blend of natural beauty and outdoor adventure, making it an ideal getaway for nature enthusiasts.

Tent campers appreciate these amenities

Tent campers like these nearby activities

Tent campers enjoy these features

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Whitewood, SD?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Whitewood, SD is Mount Roosevelt Road Dispersed Campsite with a 4.8-star rating from 11 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Whitewood, SD?

TheDyrt.com has all 19 tent camping locations near Whitewood, SD, with real photos and reviews from campers.

Keep Exploring