Leslie B.

Rapid City, SD

Joined August 2020

Small campground

Only stayed one night. Camp host had the day off, but Ranger Kevin was very nice. Sites are mostly close together. Very little shade Lake is not accessible unless you want to boat.

Lovely and peaceful

Free campground in SD, not WY. Most sites are well separated. Most have picnic tables. Came over 4th of July and there were only 5 other campers when I left. Several piles of wood available for firewood (resulted from clearing trees); you will need to split it, however. Sites has been mowed for fire mitigation which also resulted in nice "lawns". I stayed in 1st on the right. It was more exposed to wind and rain, but I preferred the layout. Other sites are more protected.

Remote location

Due to it's remoteness, it appears some campers are taking advantage of the CG. Lots of trash and a pile of dog poop were left in a site vacated on my second day. Many other campers don't understand the need to put seat down and close door of vault toilet. There is no trash collection, so pack it out, please. Otherwise, this is a cute CG. No cell service. Water pump is provided but it's a workout to use. Sites 1&8 are the best. Trees for some shade. 1 has creek right behind it. Don't use GoogleMap as it does not take you to actual destination. USFS directions are off a bit, but are pretty good. Less gravel road if you come from Wyoming side.

Didn't stay

I planned to stay but severe storm was on the way. Drove through to at least check out. Free camping. Vault toilets. Water taps. Campground is on a bluff over Shadehill reservoir in national grassland. Most sites are pretty close together. I would have selected #11 if I had stayed.
It looks almost abandoned since you have to know it is here. Hard to impossible to find info on USDA web. I only knew about it from The Dyrt.

Pleasant escape

Very nice campground. What appear to be lakeside sites are actually elevated above the water. Clean vault toilets and also shower house with running water. Lots of big rigs; I felt tiny in my truck tent. Some of the rigs left outdoor lights on all night, so was not a very dark sky location.

Quiet and free

This campground used to be on The Dyrt. I re-added it. Stayed in 2023. No water. No electricity . Well spaced sites. Vault toilets

Free camping with wildlife

Campground is basic. Only 2 (very clean) vault toilets, no water or electricity. I got there a little before 3pm on mother's day; it was full by 8. Only a handful of sites have sun covers over the picnic tables. You will be very close to other campers. Most are respectful. I would just recommend getting there before dark to keep from disturbing everyone. Prairie dogs galore in the center and on the periphery of the campground. My dog was fascinated by them. As noted by others, you will most likely be serenaded by coyotes and have morning visits from the bison. I also heard wild turkeys off in the woods.

Great campground

We went for the 4/8/24 eclipse and really liked this campground. $20 for water, electricity and trash can at every site. According to neighbor, this is usually low use, but it was fully booked for the eclipse. The only downsides were flies and small bathrooms. (2 stalls) But running water and a small shower.

Lovely campground

I was here just before labor day weekend and almost had all to myself. If you drive from Sundance, follow USFS directions; Google maps tried to direct me up a dead end road. Road from Aladdin side is better and easier. Nice trail (Cliff Swallow trail) that I was able to start on right next to my site. Toilets were clean. Take your own water; pump is down by the host site. Looked like most sites had some shade during the day.

Quiet campground

Stayed in upper loop. Sites were spaced out slightly more than in the lower loop. Nice tent pads at all sites. Most back in driveways were fairly short. By nightfall, all but 2 sites were taken . More than 50% of users were tents, not RVs or trailers. Toilets well maintained.

Wet trip

Campground is a 5. Experience was a 3 due to rain 75% of the time I was there. No one else there first night. 2nd night was a young man who was trying to get out before dark. He got stopped by herd of cows and returned. Dirt road in is mostly sand, but several sections get muddy and greasy with rain. It has been abnormally wet this year and it looks like most people are skipping this campground due to accessibility. I would not recommend a sedan when wet. Vault toilet was clean and well supplied. Forest road trees were being trimmed back.

Neat formations

Free camping in Custer Gallatin NF. No water, no trash collection. Many sites are really private with long driveways. Not all had tables and/or fire pits. Only a couple other campers there. Good views of The Castle which is part of Slim Buttes. Bathrooms needed some attention. Lots of flies. There is a map of campsites at entry off of SD20.

Interesting campground

Two campgrounds within the park. Lower one is for horses. Upper is not. Sites in upper campground are a little small and close together but very well maintained. Hosts are very friendly. Bathrooms on include showers and we're extremely well maintained. Trails in the area give you a chance to stretch your legs. Convenient to the interstate, but that also means some highway noise if you are not in a hard sided camper.

Nice views

Smallish campground on the lake. Sites are a bit close together. Huge thunderstorm came during the night but winds were blocked somewhat by location and trees.

Camping in the middle of history

Small campground. Well maintained. It was fun to explore the historical buildings. A couple of wild turkeys came by in the evening. Only downside is that campsite was fly infested. It was pretty clean so I think the flies came from horse areas.

2nd visit

Best sites are 6,7,3. FMR host working out of Hanna campground is keeping Timon very clean. Toilet was clean and he had a trash can out by the water pump that he emptied daily. Very nice host. This is one of my favorite CGs in the Black Hills.

Really nice

Sites are spread out and also have great "lawns". Fairly new, so facilities are in great shape. If lake is really low, it would not be as inviting, but on this trip I only had to walk 50' to the water. 2 cubicles with shower and toilet, plus vault toilets. Much less densely packed than angostura rec area campgrounds.

State park is better

Campground seems large but sites are pretty densely packed. I tent in back of my pickup so like a little more space. Mostly designed for RVs and trailers, but there are tent sites with and without electricity. Didn't use the shower house because of drenching rain. There is a small vault toilet near tent sites which was pretty deplorable for so early in the season. For the price, id rather stay at Rocky point state rec area campground.

Lakeside sites

The lake is nearly full, so waterline was 40-50 feet from campsite. Very quiet, very green right now. I was across from restrooms with running water (nice change of pace for me). Host site was right there as well. However, hosts never stopped by to confirm who I was.

Pretty campground

This is one of the prettier campgrounds in the black hills. Most of the sites are well separated. We stayed in #6, which is close to #7. But the views are worth it. The table and tent pad are down the hill a bit from parking which is right next to the toilet. I had nice neighbors and it appeared that it was just the 2 sites using the vault toilet, so that was not too bad. Camp hosts was nice. Lots of water taps. Toilets was pretty clean for end of season.