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.