Best Glamping near Newcastle, WY

The pros:

• 100+ spaces for campers/motorhomes accommodating all sizes, even the real big diesel pushers.
• They have small cabins to rent, tree houses, and glamping tent/cabins.
• The bathrooms are clean and have private showers.
• There are laundry facilities on site.
• Full hookup sites.
• Two swimming pools.
• Close proximity to Keystone, Custer, Rapid City
• Each gravel pad may require minor leveling but they are pretty good.
• A nice picnic table is located at each site.

The cons: We ended up here because I called 17 other places between Custer and Rapid City and all were full. Many of the sites offered by the competition are nicely spaced out with mature trees surrounding the pads, that’s not the case here.

• The RV area is tight with a sea of RV’s. For us it’s less like camping and more like a townhouse development. It’s not as bad as the parking lot variety, there is grass between the sites and some trees.

As a Ranger on The Dyrt, I sometimes receive compensation for reviews like this one. We received a coupon code for The Dyrt's online product store in exchange for trying out the new online camping reservation system to make a reservation for Buffalo Ridge Camping Resort. 

We reserved a campsite for Buffalo Ridge Camping Resort through The Dyrt, and it was a breeze to go through the process. We were emailed the reservation information, payment was taken via bank card, and it all made the check-in process very fast upon arrival. We decided to change from a tent site to a log cabin and all the contact information was in the email, so we called and they made the change for us at the office. When we arrived they handed over the key and off we went. 

Buffalo Ridge is conveniently located in Custer, South Dakota. It is at the location of the previous Flintstones Resort(my kids miss that place), and some of the playground equipment from the Flintstones Theme Park were located at the campground. My boys loved playing on the teeter-totters and in the old Flintstones car that were there. Good memories. The resort is sectioned into areas- a tent area, the glamping tipi area, two RV areas, and the cabins. There is a main building where you check in and they have a nice little gift shop with trendy, outdoorsy items and camping needs available. The heated pool is coming… they have broken ground behind the main building! However, since the pool is promised on their website, they partnered with another of the Custer Hospitality’s properties, Comfort Inn, which is across the road, and provide passes to the indoor swimming pool there until their pool is done. My sons were thrilled as the night we stayed at Buffalo Ridge it got down in the 30’s- that would have been a very chilly outdoor swim for June! 

The RV sites are pretty typically spaced, and there are small trees throughout. The tent sites are large, have a fire ring, and some have picnic shelters as well as tables. There are two types of cabins, log (think KOA-style) and rustic. They sleep 4-5 comfortably. Cabins also have fire rings and picnic tables, and there are trash cans right outside the cabin! What a nice touch(you can tell we aren’t in bear country here!). There is a really nice, new laundry and shower facility and a bathroom building with two toilets and a very large outdoor sink for washing dishes. 

The price for this campground is more than reasonable compared with others in the area! We were happy to see both their tent sites and their cabin prices were about$10 below the local competition. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful, and did their best to insure a positive stay. 

The log cabin we stayed in did not have A/C, but they do provide a space heater(which we needed in June, believe it or not), but they are situated near the top of the ridge so get a nice breeze. There were two sets of beds inside, one twin bunk and one full-twin bunk. Five could easily sleep there. There is a nice porch with chairs and a swinging bench as well. Our sons asked if we could stay a second night, they enjoyed it so much! 

Right now (as of June 2019) they are working on installing the outdoor pools, expanding the second RV area(looks almost done), they just paved the east entrance this week, and are putting in more gravel and possibly paving more of the main roads. It is going to be a very nice campground when it is finished, as it already has a great start! There were a ton of RV’s the night we stayed, and they have an employee that leads you to your site using a golf cart, which is always a nice touch. Class A’s fit easily into their sites, as well as RV’s with slides. Plenty of safe room for kids to run around and play as well. All around, we are very pleased to have Buffalo Ridge in our home town and will stay there again just for the fun of it!

For the techies - excellent Wi-Fi service is included all over the campground, and there is a  very good 4G Verizon signal at the campground.

Campground Review:

Allen Ranch offers RV, Tipi, Canvas, and basic tent sites located under shade along the river. Pull-thru sites are also available. All RV sites have water and electricity, with a dump station available on site. I only took a star away because of the loud road next to it. I didn't mind but some of my family mentioned it once or twice so I thought it needed to be scored. 

Allen himself stopped by on our first day to say hi. And he is a really nice guy! He is a former Park Service Law Enforcement Officer and Fire Ranger. He bought this land a long time ago and didn't want to leave it to work at other parks. He knows everyone in town and can recommend some great spots to visit. He started this campground and has been maintaining it with his family for a long time. It's on a beautiful strip of land right on the Fall River. The Fall River is fed by hot springs so the water stays nice and just slightly chilled. Almost feels like getting into a heated pool, like where you step in say "ahh that's nice" instead of cringe with chills. Since we were the only tent campers there we offered to mow the grass or help set up the tipis but Allen wanted us to just relax since he had his family helping him. So that is what we did. I did offer him a nice cold beer out of my Icemule cooler though. He was shocked to see "such a neat contraption!"  

There are 12 RV sites, 6 tent sites, 1 group site, and 3 tipis. I saw one canvas tent that was set up. You can call ahead and reserve sites but we found that we could just drive up and put our names on a site as put the money in an envelope at the shower house. On a busy weekend I would call ahead. 

Cost:

Tent sites: $25 to book and $5 for each additional person. 

RV site: $40 for 2 people and $5 for each additional person.

Group site: $8 per person for groups 10+

Tipi: $70 (plus $5 per additional person) for basic (you furnish), $130 per couple for everything included (including breakfast)

Glamping tent: $130 per couple (min 2) and $25 for each add person for everything included (including breakfast)

RV sites: Sites are within walking distance to the shower building with hot water and restrooms. They are right when you pull into the campground so you don't get the generators bugging you at night. They are far enough away from the tent sites to create good space. 

Tent sites: There is a large group site across from the shower house. There isn't much shade for the group site but it is large enough for a good sized group. 

The other tent sites are right next to each other so when it is busy, it would be packed. We got lucky and we were the only ones there so we got our pick of the sites. We chose sites 2 and 3 since they were perfect for our sized group and had the best flow section of the river right at the site. We were able to walk right into the water and hang out on tubes without feeling like we were sucked into cattails or "rapids". 

The sites hadn't been mowed, so the grass was a little tall, but we came at the end of a very rainy and snowy week and Allen hadn't had a chance to mow since were there the first day it stopped snowing/raining.

Other than being right next to the main road, the sound of the creek and the cottonwood trees blowing in the wind was lovely. The road wasn't too noisy and the sound went way down at night. 

There are tables at each site with 3-4 wooden round seats. The seats weren't super sturdy but the tables were great for keeping our food off the ground and away from our dogs. 

Bathrooms:

The tent sites are pretty far away from the bathroom and there isn't a place to properly go to the bathroom near the site without being seen from the main road. So that is the only big downfall. 

There is a port-o-potty up by the tipis and the canvas tent. 

The showers are free and hot. They aren't the most up to date facilities but they are functional and easy to use. 

There is a grill on site but it wasn't open when we were there, I think it is mostly open for Summer. They also offer catering for large groups, reunions, weddings and celebrations of any kind. As Allen says: "Come join us for a fun filled , relaxing camping experience near Hot Springs located in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota Mountain hiking, Interpretive talks and warm water river tubing down gentle Fall River, which runs through the entire campground."

Inner tubes are provided FREE for the guests too. They are located right next to the playground. 

There is also a big stage on site where i'm guessing bands or events can play or take place. 

Product Review:

As a ranger we sometimes get the opportunity to review products that would benefit the camping experience. On this trip, I decided that floating down a river with family was the perfect time to review the IceMule Jaunt Cooler from https://icemulecoolers.com/. 

I chose the Jaunt because I wanted something that was easy to carry just a few beers instead of my whole fridge in a bag. Icemule does a great job of creating lots of options for cooler sizes and the Jaunt seemed to be the perfect fit for my lifestyle. Plus, I LOVED the colors! 

It says that it can hold a six pack or 3 bottles of wine. At first It seems like it can hold a lot more than that based on it's height, but I quickly learned that it won't properly keep chilled or stay leakproof if it is filled too much. OOPS! Once I learned to fill it properly, it worked like a charm. Even floats when you need to pass it between people on the water. 

There is a front pocket on the bag that is supposed to be waterproof but the zipper is lined along the outside with no real way to close it fully so I wouldn't trust it to keep things inside perfectly dry. It is also hard to zip with one hand (see video) which is something that would make it easier to use. 

Other than that, it was a great addition to our basecamping and day trip gear. It sites comfortably on my back and isn't too heavy being filled with liquid. It is WAY easier to carry than a cooler and way more more enticing to drink cold beer that wasn't just shook up in a warm backpack while out snowshoeing.

This place was one our favorites on our western US tour last summer. The Black Hills National Forest is a beautiful area with stunning peaks and lakes. We stayed at Custer Trail campground for one night on the way to Wyoming. The site is a bit of a long drive around the lake and through some neighboring cattle ranches to drive down to the site. It can be reach by trailers and no problem for our Sprinter Van. You park in a line of about 5 or 6 sites next to each other with self checkin. The lake is great for swimming, kayaking, and fishing. The fishing from the shoreline north of the site was particularly good. We shared the site with one other group and appreciated the peace and quite. I would definitely recommend this one. They also have a few tent sites as well. Beautiful setting. We could have stayed longer.

Nice layout. FHU at $32 + tax is reasonable for area. 3 or 4 miles north of Custer SD

Laundry available Showers also - probably for tent sites

Fairly close to highway-but by sleep time there was not much activity

Did not use facilities. Did not use their WiFi nor deploy Starlink as Verizon coverage is excellent

This is a fantastic all around campsite. We were the only tent campers (end of the season), but the RV sites were full. The best thing about it is the view of Crazy Horse from just about anywhere in the campground. The Lazer light show at night during summer months is visible with or without binoculars. There are clean bathrooms, showers, laundry, basketball, and a camp store. On top of that there is a horse ranch right next door and I was woken up every sunrise by beautiful horses galloping down the field into their stables. Everyone that works here is super nice and it’s operated by the Crazy Horse Heritage Foundation so you’re supporting a good, culturally enriching cause. Sunrise and sunset are highlights here and you have black hills vistas all around you. Will stay here again. One caution for tent campers is there isn’t much shade with just a stray few trees so bring a tarp...

Great location for Custer and surrounding area and good value. Site was a little small with fire pit set on a bank so not ideal to sit around. Not a problem for us as we spent most of the time touring the area. Picnic table was rotten so we were unable to use it, again not a problem for us. We took a bike ride down into the valley, it is very beautiful.