The granite peaks and rolling plains are calling. The clear mountain waters are inviting and the open ranges are waiting to be discovered. Bring your family to Custer State Park and let yourself run wild. 

Encompassing 71,000 acres in the Black Hills, Custer State Park is home to abundant wildlife and adventure; camping, hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, or relaxing, there’s something here for everyone.

Feeding and disturbing park wildlife are against park regulations. While the animals within the park are used by visitors and vehicles, they are still wild animals. Please remain in your vehicle or stay at least 100 yards from bison, elk, and other animals.

Stockade North Campground — Custer State Park

**Campground Review:**

The Stockade Lake North Campground is located just inside the west entrance to Custer State Park in Custer, South Dakota. This prime camping location is 15 minutes from Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, and just minutes from historic Custer, the Gordon Stockade, and a scenic jaunt to the State Park Wildlife Loop.

The sites at this campground are reservation-only, even on same-day arrival. In order to secure a campground, campers need to call the reservation number. However, once the reservation is made, campers can proceed to their campsite without having to worry about checking in with on-site staff, and no hassle with hanging a tag on the campsite post.

The campground is open for camping from the beginning of May to late September, weather permitting. There are 42 campsites available, many with electricity and several pull-through sites, but no full hook-ups. There are both vault and flush toilets, a shower house, and drinking water available. There is also a nice little playground in the center of the campground and an adjoining amphitheater where they may show informational films in the summer. Campsites here are well-spread among the trees, offering relative privacy and quiet space, with enough room to hang a hammock or two!

The campground is just a quick walk up from Stockade Lake, where you can fish, swim, put your boat in, view wildlife, and enjoy the small beach and playground. Across the small highway is Bismark Lake, in Black Hills National Forest, which is stocked for fishing, and provided us with a delicious fried trout meal our second night! There is also a pair of osprey that are seen frequently between the two lakes, and are a joy to watch as they fish and soar over the lakes.

We stayed on opening weekend in our small RV with electric on site 32E, and the campground was relatively empty. Our site was a bit unlevel, but very scenic and shady. Only one other site was close to ours, and luckily, no one was in it over that weekend. Sites are all gravel, and each one has an aluminum picnic table and fire ring. Most of the sites appear wide enough to accommodate slide-outs on RV units. Although there are long sites available, we did watch two large rigs struggle to back in their vehicles due to the narrow, curved campground roads. When viewing the reservation map, those sites that appear distanced from others truly are - try to reserve those if you can. Another pro tip: If you need to buy firewood, there is a Lutheran church just west of the state park entrance that offers wood for a donation, and supports their youth programs.

SInce it was the beginning of the camping season, the vault toilets were exceptionally clean and smelled great. We did not use the showers, but they looked to be in great shape.The drinking water was easy to find, and there is even a place to fill the RV tank before heading to your site.

**For a video summary of our campground and the backpack, see our YouTube video:** [**https://youtu.be/pElJjB1t4XA**](https://youtu.be/pElJjB1t4XA)**.**

**Product Review:**

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, we get products to test from time to time, and since we knew we would be out all day fishing and hiking, we took along the Renogy Solar Backpack ([https://www.renogy.com/renogy-solar-backpack](https://www.renogy.com/renogy-solar-backpack)). We wanted to be able to keep our electronic devices such as our cameras and phones charged throughout our weekend adventures! This backpack is exciting! It sports a 5.6-watt solar panel and you can connect any usb device with its 5V charging port (maximum 1.2A output).

The weather all weekend was partly cloudy with isolated showers, and yet the backpack was able to charge a battery bank for our electronics 3/4 of the way in about three hours. We believe that if the sun had been out constant all afternoon, we would have easily charged bank one full and a second bank at least half way.

Other highlights of this backpack include the nicely padded strap-side that rests against your back, a slot on the left strap for sunglasses, an expandable water bottle (or other small gear) pocket, and plenty of space inside for jackets and other layers that were shed throughout the day as it got warmer. Thanks to a plethora of inside and outside pockets, we carried water bottles, battery banks, two phones, a tablet, headphones, snacks, a sweatshirt, and a jacket all at the same time with ease and comfort. A smaller laptop would also fit nicely inside the main compartment.

This backpack can be used without the solar panels exposed, with a quick zipper flip-around, and it looks great! IAt only 2.2 lbs, it also carries the inside pack weight very comfortably for a range of sizes, from a 6’ 4” father to 5-foot, 11-year-old son. Both mentioned that they felt the backpack was a nice way to carry their gear for a day of hiking and fishing.

Ranger Review: Renogy Solar Backpack at Stockade Lake North Campground

This place was filled with kids and was really fun associating with them . Y=there are ranger programs and the sites are the one of the best. The rangers were really friendly and the night wasn't too cold. The sites are a little difficult to get because this is a pretty popular place to camp. There are a lot of animals and you can pet them. 

Real green

Love love love! Stunningly beautiful, breathtaking, rush to this place if you haven’t been. It’s AMAZING! Yes I am shouting but I am in awe of this place. Maybe it’s because I am from Louisiana and this is so very different from bayous and alligators but this is the sort of place that you leave wanting more! I highly recommend you visit. We barely scratched the surface of the wonders in this place during our visit. Also convenient to Wind Cave national park. 

Buffalo, bison, prairie dogs oh my!

We love this park. There are lots of campgrounds within this State Park. We have almost camped in everyone of them. See "RV Camping Journal" for details.

Custer State Park - Our FAVORITE Park

Beautiful park with a bison right on the road !  Campsite nestled in the pines, gorgeous lake !! Can’t wait to go back !

Loved it 

Definitely bringing the daughter and granddaughter next year! 
Beautiful area, awesome drive with scenery and WILDLIFE! 
I thought more about Teddy Roosevelt then Custer while here. Roosevelt was all about wildlife , etc. the park has the animals you relate to “the West”.
The park had the feel of cowboys/covered wagon era. I enjoyed my visit so much, a surprise around every curve. 
Wind Cave National Park and the Badlands are an easy drive from here so you can continue the experience. 
Nice campground , well maintained and nice staff. 

Bringing the kids

Really cool area with prairie, rock formations and forest all rolled into one place. Super quiet during the end of the season so plenty of picturesque photo opportunities!

Nice airy stop

The park was beautiful during our stay and we were lucky enough to see Bison and Elk.



Beautiful views and lots of wildlife

Spent 6 nights in Custer state park. Prettiest part of the country I’ve been in so far. From trout fishing to hiking to watching the herd of bison as well as nearby attractions of Sturgis, Deadwood, and Mount Rushmore, there’s always something great to do. Highly recommended trip!!!

Stockade Lake North

We stayed at center lake campground and easily obtained a same day reservation. 

This place is on the same level as a national park it is massive.   We saw 100s of wild Bison on the wildlife loop, but also saw dozens of bison throughout the park in a more wild setting.   Home to many species of wildlife and tons of beautiful roads to drive on.   Campsites are generally quiet and remote semi remote feeling for a state park.

Massive  state park wildlife abound

Lots to see, good trout streams all over and the bison roam even near the campgrounds so keep your eyes open. The wild life loop is very scenic, make sure to gas up first. I though a state park would be smaller but this place is huge. There are numerous smaller scenic 1.5 lane roads to check out with a postcard perfect view everywhere. The lakes are pristine and even the rustic store is well stocked and taken care of. Be sure to buy the annual state park pass- it is not much more than a day or two. The horse camps are pretty neat to see when venturing down dusty trails. There are 10 different areas to camp….yes. 10 campground areas with numerous sights and different scenery.

Huge - like a mini Yellowstone

Nice quiet Campground, we were camping mid week in early July. Campground is at 5300 get so it was a bit cooler,slight breeze and no bugs. Sites are spaced out nicely among the pines.  Love all the Custer State Park has to offer, however we pulled in after 4 nights of boondocking and asked where the dump station was.  Host said it was 8 miles down the road at  game lodge Campground. Wish I knew that earlier.  But that was the only inconvenience of our time here.

Quiet and no bugs 

I stayed two nights here in June, in addition to nights at 2 other campsites in Custer State Park and Stockade Lake North was by far my favorite. There is SO much space between sites (I was at 14 and 9–I’m convinced 14 is the best site in the entire campground) and the entire campground is very quiet and peaceful, plus easy to access. The bathrooms look fairly recently renovated, but unfortunately were less clean (but not filthy!) than other campgrounds I stayed at, but I would have been there right before they were cleaned.