Sheridan Lake South Shore Campground

Spaced camp sites in the Pines. New vault toilet! $28 a night has gone up in price for non-electric Federal forest camping. 30 minutes to Rapid City. Fishing & swimming beaches. Lower elevation usually means warmer temps. Our visit was unseasonably cool.

The camp sites were very spread out and decently flat for tent camping

Check in with ranger- has bathrooms and nice boating/fishing spots. Picnic table and fire ring. Good night sky viewing.

Reserved a site in the Chipper loop for a last minute trip to SD, worked out pretty well and snagged #86 by the lake. Great views, although it was a little close to other sites for my personal preference.

The campground itself is ~25 mins away from Custer State Park, which was a point of interest for me and my group. Pretty close to Rapid City and other local stores. No service except for the beginning of the campground.

Bathrooms were nearby and for the most part was pretty clean.

Downsides: site #86 is on a slope to the lake. No true flat ground and might not be so great if you’re tent camping but we didn’t mind.

Beautiful campground. Camping spots were well dispersed with majority of them having great shade. We stayed at 43 and 42. Fishing was great just a walk down to the backwaters and kids can catch bluegills all day. We spent a lot of time kayaking and fishing, hiked the centennial trail, collecting rocks, and swimming. There are two beaches available which would be great for families with little kids. Fire rings have cooking grates.

Nice campsites. Good distance from neighbors.

The Rocky loop is the furthest from the entrance and closest to the public boat launch. Many of the sites in this loop are smaller than advertised and extremely uneven. The sites directly on the water are nice. This loop is also very close to the trailhead, which connects to multiple trails.

Loved our spot right on the water. We definitely took advantage of the east access to the lake and close proximity to Hill City. Had a tornado warning out first night here.

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!

This is a HUGE campground, but the spaces are large and pretty spread out. The campground is clean and trash is kept away from sites. The location has great access to Sheridan Lake, Hill City, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc.

The biggest problem was communication when there was a major medical emergency. With ZERO cellphone coverage and no way to access a camp host after hours (they said they had a phone for emergencies), we would only camp here again with some sort of sat phone or Garmin InReach, which we plan to get. I know this issue is common in many National forest campgrounds, but we have usually been able to at least text. In our group of campers, we had Verizon, T Mobile and AT&T...non of us had any coverage.

Site is wonderfully located for access to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse as well as windcave. Sites are a great size with fire rings.

Biggest issue was the condition of the vault toilets. Not very clean, tons of flies and odor. Good door with either better vault ventilation or more regular cleaning.

No recycling available either despite what the map says

The pricing for this campground is a little steep for what you get. There are vault toilets, but no showers. There is no rv dump, you'll have to drive about 5 miles back to town to dump at an rv resort, which will charge you. The campground is very nice, but the pricing is just too high.

The facilities are clean and well maintained, and the lake is beautiful.

Very nice campground not too far away from popular destinations like spearfish canyon, Custer state park, and the crazy horse memorial. Most sites were very spacious and had some privacy but were clearly more so meant for RVs and trailers rather than rent camping. Site 17 where we stayed had a few decently flat spots for tents while still being fairly private and with nice views of a little valley behind it.

Stayed here over the summer when sturgis was in full swing so it was a bit noisy with the bikes. Besides that, it was a great campsite with access to the water and a fairly secluded site depending on where you end up in the campground.

We nabbed a spot last minute and enjoyed our time there. It's a pretty, forested area and the lake is really nice. I wasn't a fan of hearing the generators, but the nights we were there, people shut them off by the required time.

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.

Had a fun time at the south shore campground of Lake Sheridan. Hosts were great. Beach for the kids, quiet and peaceful. Camped in our 38’ motorhome. Reserved our site well in advance. Quiet time for generators was observed by all. Location was great for visiting nearby attractions. No cell service in the campground. Found one area where I could get cell service while walking the dogs and that was on the main road overlooking the beach area. If coming in from Rapid City, our GPS had us turning onto a gravel road telling us to drive 4 miles. We ignored and ended up on a paved road leading into the campground. Took our Jeep down the gravel road after a trip to Mt Rushmore and it wasn’t bad, just not a good road for a motorhome. Looking forward to another trip to the Black Hills for more exploring.

The ponderous smelled amazing and the swimming beach was fun. But I just couldn't stand the constant RV generator noise and people were load past midnight in a far off camp site. I think were just in a bad spot (#2) and could hear everything. 

Pros

The camp hosts were very welcoming next to us (#1). 

The camp site itself was well tended and perfect for tent camping. 

The campground was near to everyone you'd want to see in the Black Hills

Not sure you could go wrong with a site on the Woodsy Loop. All the campsites have easy access to the water, but not too close that you need to worry about little ones adventuring down to the water on their own. You can launch a SUP just a short walk to the water. If you want to fish be sure to grab a license in town. We stayed at campground #42 and were happy with it. The campground in general is very clean!

We visited the Sheridan Lake Black Hills National Forest on our 2019 family vacation in August & it was awesome!! Stayed at a primitive site with gorgeous views of the forest & lake. No cell service where we were, which was a nice detachment! Kids enjoyed exploring too. It was so neat listening (& seeing) the wind roll through the trees!!

Beautiful site on the lake. Vault toilets, not the cleanest but expected. Came in September and was very open. First come first serve. Had a nice dinner at Alpine Inn in Hill City (they only have two menu options FYI).... love!

We love the Woodsy Loop. Great view of the lake, which isn't huge. Can walk the shore. The camp hosts are friendly and helpful. Vault toilets are clean. The sites aren't super close together, and you're in the pines. Picnic table and fire pit.

We stayed at site 120 and had good views of the lake. Short walk to the toilet which did not have running water but that was expected. Our site was a little slanted, but we found a spot nearby to play bocce ball. It rained our whole trip and I forgot to take pictures.

Solid Campground with nice gravel pull-ins that made the rooftop tent a breeze. Well kept with clean vault toilets. Nice camp host with plenty of firewood available. Lots of families and every spot was full. Get a reservation in advance. We were lucky enough to draw a spot next to an arguing couple that finally made up around 2am. That's not the camps fault though. I would recommend it again if in the area.

the hosts where not very friendly otherwise it was fine

Great site, great views, just plain great. If you camp without hookups make sure you stay here, you won’t be disappointed.

Was a great weekend to camp. This site is on a loint with great view of lake. Only downside is how close it is to the next site. They have pushed three sites here really close together to get them out on the points.

Sheridan Lake Campground is a great spot to stay that is centrally located in the Black Hills. The sites are wooded and they are fairly large. You are able to see and hear your neighbors but they are not directly net to you. A few spots over look Sheridan Lake and are great if you can get them. Most of the loops were closed when I was there in Early October so I had a site more to the inner part of the peninsula. The campground host was very nice and helpful and has plenty of wood you can buy yrea round.

This campground offers over 90 sites along the shores of a lovely reservoir in the vacation wonderland of the Black Hills of South Dakota. Situated within an hour’s drive of many of the Black Hill’s more famous attractions, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park, this campground provides a great basecamp for all your regional adventures. Back at camp, you can enjoy fishing, swimming, and kayaking too. After a long day visiting both Jewel Cave and Crazy Horse, it was an easy 20 mile drive north as we were headed toward Rapid City the following day.

There are four loops of campsites, 3 of which have lake side campsites – which were the most popular sites even on our early-season visit. However, the campgrounds are along a hill so that there are lake views from many different sites. The deeply forested area also provides much shade for those warmer days. The pit toilets were clean, but on our early visit in May the water was not yet turned on – which got us a great discount and it was only $10 per night! Reservations can be made at recreation.gov. High season cost is $26 with a reservation fee of $10 per booking. Firewood is available from the friendly camp host and there is a nearby swimming beach area within walking distance from the campground.

This is a perfect place to camp if you are in the Black Hills to see the sights. It is not far from Hill City but is still quiet. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Needles Highway, Jewel Cave and other attractions are just a short drive away. There is fishing and a swimming beach is available. We have used this campground as our base camp for sightseeing three times spread out over fifteen years and have never been disappointed. We were warned however that during the Sturgis motorcycle rally this campground gets very busy.