Black Hills/Badlands trip advice

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Jammer

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Dec 20, 2009
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We're planning a week-long family trip to this area in June.

Looking for a full-hookup site that is otherwise rustic, ideally with some tree cover and protection from the wind.  We anticipate having to reserve sight unseen and would welcome any advice. 
 
If you by chance have the Microsoft Streets and Trips program, you can do a search for nearby campgrounds in and around the Black hills.  Then go to rvparkreviews.com to look up reviews for specific campsites.  I really like using Streets and Trips because I can see just where the campgrounds are located in relation to where I want to be; then I start checking them out.

Marsha~
 
In the Black Hills, pretty much every place you can find will have lots of tree cover.

In the Badlands, you will be hard pressed to find so much as a single tree anywhere there is a decent, full hookup campground (KOA if I remember correctly) in the town of Interior, just south of the visitor center.

Joel
 
Custer park is a good choice, as is Rafter J or Spearfish City park. Might think of staying in two or three different locations around the hills.
 
We like to stay at least one night in the Badlands NP Interior Campground. It only has 30/50 amp hook-ups, but for one night, that is plenty. We try to get there after 12 noon to find a site and then go exploring. The only reason that we want the electric hook-ups is for our dog. He likes to sleep in the air conditioning.
There are several RV parks in and near Mt Rushmore. RVParkrevues.com  should be a good place to find one that you will be comfortable with.
Good Luck,
Indiana Journey
 
Marsha/CA said:
If you by chance have the Microsoft Streets and Trips program, you can do a search for nearby campgrounds in and around the Black hills.  Then go to rvparkreviews.com to look up reviews for specific campsites.  I really like using Streets and Trips because I can see just where the campgrounds are located in relation to where I want to be; then I start checking them out.

Marsha,

I do use rvparkreviews.com but only with caution.  The travelers who post at rvparkreviews have widely varying expectations.  There is a recent trend of people derating sites because the WiFi works badly. While I can sympathize with the frustration of a promised amenity failing to meet expectations, I'm not going to use campground WiFi.  On the other hand I care more about grounds maintenance, site size, and whether the office is staffed by organized, friendly people.

I also believe that some bogus reviews written by or on behalf of campground operators slip through.

 
Becks said:
Custer park is a good choice, as is Rafter J or Spearfish City park. Might think of staying in two or three different locations around the hills.

Thank you, those appear to have potential.  I see that Spearfish City does not take reservations until May 15.  Is it your experience that they fill up quickly?
 
Jammer said:
Do they have full-hookup sites available?  From the web site info it seems they do not.

I would believe the park website. I know we had electric and a place to dump.
 
:)Hi, we have stayed In Custer State Park at Blue Bell Campground. They have electric hookups here,(there is water froma spigot) .......but just reread your post and saw you are after full hookups.... anyhow i'll post anyway......the campground is treed and rustic, just beautiful. We were very happy, and we reserved all the way from australia, and plan on coming back and staying at this campground again in 2014 on our next trip.

You mentioned you were coming with family, how old are the kids? I highly recommend the wild life loop in custer state park. We saw buffalo, pronghorn, prairie dog town, deer, and of course the famous wild burro that eat suff out of your car window!! Our kids loved that. Also, near the entrance to the campground theres riding stables that you can book a trailride into the park. These looked like fun, but were booked out. 

At bluebell we stayed in site 30E and we were very happy. Its a lovely campground and a big plus for us having kids was it was rustic AND had a laundry!!

 
We also recommend Broken Arrow for the Black Hills.  We stayed about a week, and there was a group of horse campers there, but that was great!  We were invited to join in with their Chuck Wagon Feast all cooked over open fires and big cast iron skillets and pots.  Got to meet some great horse people there!  :D

Ron
 
We really enjoyed our stay at Rafter J.  They have a variety of campsites, some rustic and some wide open.

Margi
 

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