Grizzly Creek Primitive

Was looking for a site to base out of for a few days of exploring the Black Hills. Most of the reserved sites in Custer state park and the forrest service sites were booked up with reservations so we went in looking for FCFS sites and when we arrived at Grizzly Creek at 10am on a Weds morning we had at least 5 sites open so we took one. 

THE GOOD. This is a very scenic spot with lovely tall pines, the sound of the creek, good access to Iron Mountain Rd for a scenic drive, as well as short drives to Rushmore and Custer SP. The sites near the entrance are wide and flat enough to put a few small tents on.

THE BAD. Sites on the southeast side of the grounds were on slopes and looked difficult to put a tent on. The flatter sites closer to the entrance had less privacy. The toilet was clean, but the solar light and fan didn't work. But the worst part was the noise. Obnoxious Rushmore helicopter tours go all day from about 9am to 8pm and lots of motorcycle traffic on the nearby road. It was a real shame because the campground otherwise checked a lot of boxes. 2.5 stars. 

Also, its $24/night as of July 2023

NOT FREE. Host will find you. Tents mostly. Small site's. No towed vehicles allowed. Camper Van's okay to 24ft. ,$24. Dogs $2

Nice place for a great price!

We ended up with a campsite right next to the creek, I am at a loss for words over how gorgeous this entire area is. The campground is down in the middle of a valley and could not be more relaxing. Will definitely be back again.

$24/day + $2 for pets. New campground hosts. They are doing a good job for first timers. Some sites are reservable, others FCFS. It was rainy and cold but this is a nice campground. Few helicopters d/t weather. Very convenient. Lots of water stations. The CCC buildings are amazing. Some cool rocks behind my campsite and lots of wildlife to tease the dog (birds, chipmunks, squirrels, whitetail deer).

This is a small primitive campground nestled in the forest about 10 minutes from Mt Rushmore. The host sells firewood and the sites are clean and quiet.

This sweet spot is right up the Norbeck Byway coming North on the 16 from Custer State Park’s East side. It’s a few miles south of the intersection for the 244 (towards Rushmore) and Keystone.

John, the host, is very sweet and even pointed us into a direction for a waterfall hike (4 mi. RT) from the campground.

The spaces are not all flat and some are quite close together. It seems as though the campground is divided equally into reservable spots (online) and day use spots. Although it’s not clear if the day use spots can be reserved on a day to day basis for the night as we did see some folks sleeping in them with a reservation sign on the campsite number post.

Horsethief Lake Day Use is just passed Rushmore, a few miles or so. Although it’s mostly a fishing lake, using a paddle board, canoe, and/or kayak is permitted. Since no motorized vessels are allowed, having a nice swim in the lake adds to the charm of the lake.  You can park in the day use area (free), or near the steps on the roadway pull-out.  Horsethief Lake Trail is supposed to be a beautiful hike, too.

The only two downsides to this campground is that the road traffic echoes rather loudly into the grounds from midday to early evening, but worse than that is the helicopters that just circle Rushmore all day long.

This campground was a relatively small loop with primitive amenities. The host was friendly, but make sure you follow all the rules. His camper is on the right when you enter and that's where you check in. We were able to visit several places while camping here because it is very close to Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park and the The Black Hills National Forest. The campground offers many trees for shade and for hanging hammocks, a picnic table, firepit with grill, vault toilet (extremely foul odor in the summer), clean water spout, and firewood for sale. We even had access to Grizzly Creek at our site on the left, which was a nice place to cool off in July. We would stay here again, the only negative is that you can hear helicopter tours throughout the day.

This campground is mostly for tents or Class B RVs. We are the latter and were excited to camp somewhere where we weren’t dominated by large towables and Class As. There are no hookups and it would be rude to run your generator. Sites are clean and amply spaced. The helicopters overhead are a bit obnoxious but it’s great to be close to Mt Rushmore and Keystone without being with all the people. The campground was full even after Labor Day so I would suggest getting a reservation or arriving early.

We stayed here one night on our way to Montana. Really close to Mount Rushmore. It was quiet and the hosts were extremely friendly. If we’re ever in the area again, we’ll definitely stay here.

Small (20 sites) primitive campground located only one mile from Keystone SD. Great for seeing Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Site and Custer State Park. Mostly tents as large RVs and trailers have difficulty with tight curves. Some sites small but we reserved #19, it is very large and offers best privacy. Well maintained vault toilets and potable water available. Quiet at night but some road noise and helicopter traffic during the day. Friendly hosts.

This was a great campground. Friendly host. Close to mt Rushmore and bear country drive thru zoo both worth checking out. Primitive campground away from the crowds. Quite and private.

This campground is amazing. If you're heading to the Mount Rushmore/Keystone area I highly recommend you go here. Pulled into camp when it was dark out but when we woke up we got to see the true beauty of the Black Hills. The campsites are spaced far enough apart that you aren't bothered by other travelers. Each stall has a picnic table and level ground for easy tent set up. If you hammock camp like us you will be pleased to see tons of trees that are perfectly spaced for hammocks. Prices were completely reasonable and the grounds are kept clean.

This fairly private and secluded campsite just a few minutes from Mount Rushmore is a great spot if you don't need showers or other KOA-style amenities.

We stayed at the campgrounds for two nights while visiting the Black Hills in early August. We stayed for a Friday and Saturday night. The campgrounds are tucked back in the woods which makes for a beautiful morning, though because it's located off a pretty busy road it's probable that it may not be as quiet during more busy seasons of the year. The camp hosts are very kind and helpful and can gladly recommend local sites depending on the visitors interests.

The campgrounds is located about 5 minutes from Mount Rushmore and is a great central point for other popular sites, such as the Black Elk Wilderness, Custer Park or either Wind Cave National Park or Jewel Cave National Monument.

Despite being out in the woods, the campsites are located very close to each other meaning that if you're stuck next to three noisy men, as we were, you're going to hear their entire conversation about car engines and their friend Mike's relationship with his wife.

This place was so serene. So many beautiful trees. Just a few miles from Mount Rushmore. A nice little stream runs along one side. The road to get there is narrow and winding, but wasn’t too long. No showers, but the vault toilets were clean. It does say primitive. I felt so at peace camping here. Large spaces.

The campground boasts 20 sites but a 1/3rd of them are Day use only. Half are by reservation and only 3 are first come, first served. It was a lovely spot, easy to access and the camp hosts were very nice. A creek runs by the campground and there are several trails for hiking, including one across the main road that goes pretty much straight up a hill but offers an incredible view of Mt Rushmore.

No Rvs are allowed but if you are camping in a van (or Jeep in my case) you fit in just fine. There are lots of trees appropriately distanced for hammocking.

There are no showers at the campground but you can head into Keystone (7 min drive) and there are showers in town.

overall it was a very nice campground. right off iron Mountain road, which is cool but can be noisy with motorcycle traffic. there was also helicopter noise every single day starting at 9 and a new one would come through about every 15-20 minutes. however, both helicopter and motorcycle traffic stopped come night fall. the vault toilet stunk pretty bad, but we camped right next to one and didn’t have any foul wind come our way, it’s just going into them to use when you’ll have problems. very nice and shady campground. don’t let smell and noise steer you away. it’s absolutely beautiful and the hosts are nice too!

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!