I was on a cross-country road trip earlier this summer, and had to make a quick decision of heading towards the BLM nearby, or driving a few miles extra to the Sage Creek Campground, and so glad I did end up here.

It's few/several miles of driving on unpaved road, directly south of Wall, SD, but it's rather well maintained, a packed washboard gravel road, no major potholes to report. I saw my first bison on the winding road, heading down into the valley where the campground is.

It was still daylight but late afternoon/early evening, so I wasn't sure if they'd be a spot for my car, thinking that perhaps all spots are already full, especially since it's a FREE campground within Badlands NP boundaries. To my happy surprise, the campground is laid out along a big circular drive, with cars parking along the circle. There are extra spots off to the sides. There are 2 pit toilets, several modern shaded picnic tables along the large circular grassy area (although most were already claimed by other campers). There are trash and aluminum recycling bins next to the toilet building. There is no potable water source as far as I could tell.

The entire campground is in a valley, therefore somewhat protected from winds (which apparently the nearby BLM area is on a ridge and super windy). There are hiking paths that start at the campground for some vista views.

The best part, and most surprising, were the animals right there at the campground. Praire dogs - 100s if not 1000s of them - peeking out from their holes and barking like dogs. I didn't know what praise dogs were prior to coming here. They're like large squirrels, tan color, live in the ground, and bark like small dogs! Bison were munching on grass off in the distance and apparently right at the campground in the early morning. People camped in tents on the circular grass / prairedogs area, but I slept in my camper car. Things to remember that the wildlife is wild despite appearing harmless, they're wild, so keep that in mind.

Overall 5 stars for being a free campground, having toilet and trash facilities, for being in a beautiful spot with vast vistas, for the road being an easy access gravel road, for the fun and surprising animal presence. If you're looking for privacy, this might not be the spot for you as you're next to other people. If you don't mind being amongst other people, this place is great. As a female traveling solo on this stretch of my trip, I felt very safe here.

I camped here on a whim, last minute, last July. We didn’t plant it. Purely by luck and chance we were able to score a site here after cancellations due to wildfires and Hwy 20 closure on the east side of the park. We stayed in a few sites at Newhalem CG this way, some were pull-into (or back into) and some are pull-through. Sites are somewhat close to one another, so definitely hear your neighbors, but it is what it is. Bearproof food locker at every single site. (We didn’t use them as we are mostly self-contained). As someone working remotely while on the road, this was a fantastic place to be at because of cellular / internet reception! I’m an architecture geek, and thought the bathroom buildings’ architectural style fits so in well into the environment, with natural wood, soft lighting on the outside. Bathroom interiors are clean and spacious. Potable water by the bathroom bldgs. Campfires allowed in fire rings. Few trails start at the campground and go along the river (to know a tree trail, and river loop trail). Lovely stay. I’d love to see more first come first serve campsites here, less all by reservation, and had a lengthy convo about it with a park ranger. Unfortunately they’re moving away from first come first serve system, which is too bad for those who travel spontaneously.

I found this free spot on another free campsites app. It’s right next to a National Forest boat launch, where there are 2 pit toilets. The campgrounds themselves are dispersed, with already human made fire rings. Some sites are next to the water (those were taken), I ended up driving to see what’s open and settled on top of a hill. There was another camper who must have been there for a while, set up a little tarp village, he looked like he was moved in there… and then a bear up pickup truck drove by few times - something about it felt sketchy to me. I explored a bit more the next day - there are several walk-in sites which looked great - but you can’t drive into those - some up on a hill, some at the bottom of a hill past big boulders.

There are campground sections before where it’s ‘designated’ on the map - we picked one that seemed a little bit away from the main dusty road. Lots of sand and dust, and fire ban in effect (july 2021). Apparently there is one toilet somewhere but we didn’t find it. Ended up returning here for another night. Had 1 bar of Verizon if remember correctly.