This campground is fantastic! Sure, you’re about an hour’s drive (with some entry station traffic) to Yosemite’s Tioga wilderness and Valley attractions, but driving three miles down the access road to the campground just adds to how special this place is.

It’s secluded, away from road noise and the river’s flow and swimming hole is a very short stroll away- some sites have the river right behind them. Not to mention that the camp hosts are fabulous. There’s a lot of attention that goes into keeping the grounds well kept and clean.

The sites are rather large, too, and not stacked on top of one another. There’s enough space between each site. We also appreciated being only three miles away from Hetch Hetchy, too. It is a part of Yosemite that does not receive many visitor’s and to take in what used to be there (It was John Muir’s favorite valley), is a trip in itself.

Treat yourself and stay at Dimond O, you won’t regret it!

This is a nice and very large campground tucked away in the northern part of Shenandoah. The facilities and grounds were well kept and it’s a short car’s travel (but there’s also a trail!) to ice, wood, and other essentials at Elkwallow.

We had originally made a reservation online for a site in Loop B, but when we arrived, we were able to choose a different site number. The A loop has the most appealing sites with many being situated along the forest’s edge (include bear boxes, not all sites here do), providing a pleasant mix of shade and sun throughout the day.

Site A072 was perfect for our liking. It’s sheltered on one side by brush with only one neighbor on the other side, yet it’s angled in such a way to feel much more secluded than one expects to feel in a large, dense campground - the sites can/are very close to one another. As for activities, there’s an amphitheater and several hiking trails that start within or in close proximity to the campground. The Appalachian Trail is one of them. I’d definitely recommend this campground.

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.

We thoroughly enjoyed this small campground. It’s was well Kept and the host, Kim was very friendly. After staying here for several evenings and moving to another spot near Rushmore, we were certainly grateful for the quite of this place. No helicopters flying above all day or travelers road noise.

Although it’s right off of the 16, the vehicle noise is dampened by the forest enough to make it seem like white noise, particularly in sites further back in the campground (the group sites are closest up front).

The spaces are close to one another, but they were designed well enough to have the picnic table and fire rings spread apart enough to feel less cramped, which was nice. The sites along the outside of the loop back up to the meadow/trees, which added to a more private feel.

We very much enjoyed its location as it was close enough to town, Custer State Park (Sylvan Lake is only 25 minutes), Jewel Cave (less than 29 minutes), and all the rest within an hour to two hours reach.

Returning to the campground felt like home.

We came here to boulder and we were very pleased with the place. Despite the parking lot being quite full with car campers, only two tents were pitched. It’s not clear whether or not the dispersed spots (not with tent pads) were intended by the forest service or created by campers, but we saw at least seven of them throughout. It’s a very basic camp spot, bathroom only and all garbage must be packed out.

On the bulletin board it mentioned that the area is monitored by video surveillance, which is nice to have in free spots. Definitely worth checking out.

It’s a sweet find close to Rushmore and although it’s noisy during the day (darn helicopters never stop!), it’s nice and quiet in the evening.

Added bonus is a fun, scrambling hike/climb to the summit of Mt. Baldy. It is about a mile or so from the South Seas climbing area. From the parking lot, you can see it in the distance facing East. The trail is not "marked", but there are foot paths through the gully near South Seas that you follow. You hug the aspen grove before reaching a split with a Mt. Rushmore sign. Stay right and continue to the Boulder patch at the base and just have fun from there.