This park is along the highway that goes into Hot Springs and therefore can be noisy but not overbearing. The setting is beautiful with many sites adjacent to a warm water stream. There is a small playground for the kids and tubes are provided for fun in the stream. No sewer hookup available, but the is a dump station. No office or attendant, you just place your money into an envelope and slide it into a slot near the restrooms. We would stay here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We stayed at Chinook Campground in the rec area. Quiet, spacious sites, that was really nice. Some shade. No water or sewer and since the beach area is sandy and muddy, water would have been really nice to have. There are several trees and our spot was shaded, however, the grassy areas are dry and dead, not maintained. The beach in front of our camp site would have been really nice, but it was muddy and weedy all along the shore, the kids would not go out in the water because they got stuck walking into the water. Play toys were really nice, but again, no maint. done on the area itself. Bathrooms were clean with showers. This park has HUGE possibilities, it could be great with some ground maintenance, but it doesn't live up to it's potential. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Price is for site. Must also pay $7.70 per reservation for out of state & have a SD camping sticker. ($6 per day or $28 year) Beautiful campground. Great, spacious spaces. Full power 20/30/50, unfortunately, no water or sewer. We stayed in Cascade park, overlooking the reservoir. Great staff & very friendly, helpful volunteers. Perfect place for family, especially if you are boaters. Very well laid out for boat trailers, & some boats were pulled up to lakefront sites. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Stayed here for a week whilst we explored the area, great campground, friendly and helpful hosts, washrooms always clean and tidy. Great lake access and beaches, we enjoyed our time here and would go back. Some of the sites have limited shade, which is the only negative. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Really pretty park with huge spaces and lots of shade. Many of the sites are on the reservoir. There's are a couple of swimming beaches, a bike trail, marina, store. The bathrooms have showers and hot water. Electricity worked well, no water hookups. Quiet midweek. Prices includes the park entrance fee. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The road to the north entrance of the park is fine but a bit narrow with 15 mph turns, cattle guards and a couple of hills that seem steep when you're coming off a slow turn. The park check-in area was closed and we missed the road you have to take at the entrance to get to the CG's but had plenty of room to turn around at the north boat launch area. We took site #33 in the Cascades CG a gravel, fairly level back-in on the lake side with some trees; it was a good size for our 30 ft class A. The lake seems very low right now so it's a long way from the sites but it is still quite scenic; we saw sailboats and fishing boats using the lake. We saw several mule deer in the area, their tracks go through the campsites. One bathhouse in our CG was closed for the winter and the other was not very clean but it worked. The lake at the south entrance seemed extremely low and quite snaggy. Horsehead CG was fairly open (the trees small) but Hat Creek was nice. Overall we prefered the Cascades CG. Both the north and south units have well situated dump stations. Close to Hot Springs and a nice drive away from most if not all of the Black Hills attractions. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Great small corps park to camp during cool weather. It is a very beautiful area to camp in with lots of hiking areas. Map Quest it before looking for it and it will save you anxiety and time. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Cold Brook Lake Corps of Engineers, just north of Hot Springs, SD. No reservations, $5 fee. No hookups. A few small shade trees. Pit toilets. Located near small reservoir with swimming beach. Many open sites mid week in June. Thirteen well separated sites, fairly level. Some deer flies. We would go there again. Evans Plunge, historic indoor and outdoor pools, is located in Hot Springs. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Nice KOA: standard amenities; friendly staff. We practically had the park to ourselves some nights, as it was late in the season. Sites and roads are gravel; some sites would be a challenge to get level but ours was okay. Situated in pine forest on a hillside with not much more than a gas station for 5 miles. Great place for a week to visit Black Hills/Rushmore/Hot Springs. Verizon Wi-Fi worked fine. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
On a hillside, the sites were shady though not quite so flat. The pool was nice though a bit cold. Friendly people running the place. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The temperature averaged 100 degrees during our stay. Lots of trees. The owners were VERY helpful and friendly. Close to Mammoth Cave and not far from Custer attractions. Nice pool. Lots of area to walk. No cable or TV. Bring cards. We stayed 4 days. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This had about the nicest restrooms I have ever seen in a campground. Clean and well lit. Very nice campground with sparkling clean pool. It didn't seem too close to any of the Black Hills attractions which would be a negative if you didn't have a vehicle. Super nice, shady, welcoming place, We camped here in a Motorhome.
What an excellent park - it has all the benefits of a KOA - nice pool, great amenities - plus those of a smaller, personal individual park. The owners are always on site, available, friendly, and helpful. The Hot Springs KOA is definitely kid-friendly and close to Evans Plunge, Wind Cave, and all the other attractions of the Black Hills. It's a great RV Park. We camped here in a Motorhome.
If you have children, they will love the play area and putt putt course. Plenty of room for them to get exercise. The park was not busy, so plenty of sites to pick from. We were given a nice site with a view of pine trees out of our front window. Even saw deer one night. We asked for a site with satellite view and it was perfect for that. The sites could feel a little close together if the campground was busy. Many of the gravel sites were unlevel so be careful with that. If Wi-Fi is important to you, be sure to get a site close to the office, they advertise free Wi-Fi, but once you are two rows from the office, the signal is very weak, we had no reception at all. Good space to walk the dogs, good location to visit Hot Springs, Wind Cave and the Mammoth Museum and other attractions in the area. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Wonderful park close to all activities like Mt. Rushmore, Custer SP, Wind Cave NP. We were greeted by the friendly staff all of who are definite assets to this campground. Clean restrooms and showers and easy place for big rigs to maneuver. We would definitely be return campers. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Great location, but the execution was a bit off. The Wi-Fi was very spotty while we were here, though we did have access at very short interval (it came and went). There's really no excuse for having bad Internet in 2011! The bathrooms were really old and only repainted (versus remodeled) to bring them up to KOA standards. The shower was lukewarm at best, not hot. The grounds, though, were really beautiful and shady and in a great location: on the fringe of Hot Springs really near many of South Dakota's major attractions. The KOA is right off a semi-busy highway, though, so you might get some car noise if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. The owner was very friendly and just recently bought the place, so maybe he'll clean up some of the lingering issues the campground has from the previous owners. Also, he does daily all-you-can-eat-pancake breakfasts for $2.50 a person, which I think is a very nice gesture. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
The people that run this KOA are helpful. The laundry is clean. Unusually ,the Wi-Fi would not work for us (Macs). It is really really hard to get a big rig in. We and others had to drop the tow to get in the space. We had to change the first space they assigned us because we could just not make it in. We tended to make our reservations at least 2 months in advance and I have noticed that by doing so with KOA you get the worst spots. Now we call early in the day we plan to arrive and pick our own space. We were here to visit the wild horse sanctuary, which was great, but next time will try to find a better campground. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This park has friendly and helpful staff. Has a clean camp store, laundry, rest rooms and showers. We had a pull through site (just a one night stop) and we did not have to level. There is a nice pool and pavilion area. Pancake breakfast available in the pavilion at 7:30am every day. Some of the facilities are showing some age (the mini put area and some trees are in need of trimming.) We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
I stayed in this park for about a week. As with most KOAs, we were ramrodded into small sites close together. There were many trees that provided shade, but also made the driver have to jockey the rig in the site so that all slide-outs could open without hitting a tree. The staff was very friendly. The playground kept our little one busy as did the mini-golf. The daily pancake breakfast was a cheap treat. The pool was kind of dirty and very cold. We ended up there for one day at the start of the Sturgis motorcycle rally, so the price for the site went up to over $50. The location was pretty good for our needs (going to Pine Ridge Reservation), but next time might stay nearer to Rapid City. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We usually use KOAs on our travels, but we were disappointed in this one. It's location is not good for wind and weather. It sits on the east end of Hot Springs on a high plain at the base of the hills, and the wind constantly blew through the campground while we were there. It was very hard to find level sites front to back, most are on hills. We were disappointed in the facilities, and Hot Springs is not much of a town. If going through the area again we'd stay in further up in the Black Hills, between Hill City and Rapid City. The only thing worth seeing in Hot Springs was the Mammoth dig site, but not enough to draw us back for an overnight stay. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
The park doesn't know how long their sites are. I needed a long site and they said they only had 40' but I could go check it out, and I found it to be over 60'. There are roo many trees for my satellite dish to deal with and no cable TV. The Wifi had a good signal but poor bandwidth. Other than that it was ok as I only stayed one night. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is a very good place to stay, right in the middle of all the attractions, being all are at great distance between each. The bathrooms are clean but there are not enough for the number of campers staying on the grounds. 3 for the men and 3 for the women. There was a line each morning starting early. The staff was very friendly and helpful. There is skunk weed around the grounds, which can cause your nose to wrinkle if the wind blows in the right direction. All the sites had trees and were level. The grounds were not crowded together and we were very comfortable. I would definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
WiFi barely covers first three rows of sites. Sites very close together. Pool was closed on this visit (Sept 11, 2007). Much noise from the highway with trucks roaring by. I'd not stay here again. Positives. Friendly accommodating staff. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The campground had wonderful shade, which was very welcome in the heat of the plains. The sites were nice. Satellite access was touch and go due to all the trees, but it worked out. My only complaint was that WiFi was only available near the office. Our site was perhaps 50 yards from the office, but I still had to walk up there to get access. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We originally were tenting, but the weather was so hot that we requested a cabin with AC later in the week. Someone left unexpectedly and the owner, came to our site and offered it to us. He was very helpful, friendly, and personable, as were the attendants in the office. The CG was very clean, all the facilities in very good shape, with lots of trees and a very relaxed, campground feeling! We will definitely stay here again! We camped here in a Campground Cabin.
We enjoyed our one night stay at this campground. We were having trouble with our propane, and the owner/manager took the time to help us figure our problem out especially since we were newbies. This park is very pretty and we had a nice pull-thru level site which we were very happy with. We would return to this park again if in the area. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
My wife and I (plus 2 dogs) stayed here four nights in August, 2004. A great base camp
for the Black Hills. The camp has nice shady spaces fairly widely spaced. Groceries, shopping, and restaurants are nearby in Hot Springs, a very interesting small spa town. There was no phone or modem at our site, but there were free local phones and modem hookups at the pavillion. The camp managers served a pancake breakfast each day we were there. We were assigned a spot near the highway and when we checked in, the attendent warned us about Jake Brake noise, but we didn't hear any. We'll definitely return. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
2004
$23
This campground has new owners that are very nice. They went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. We came in late and they helped us set up our TT. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 7 / 10 ]
1999
$22
Campground is near Wind Cave Nat'l Monument and approx 1 hour from Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments. Sites are level, wide and grassy with picnic tables. Access roads and pads are gravel and well maintained. We camped here in a camper.
This park was a pleasant surprise. Looked pretty shaky when we drove in, but we were met by a very helpful host and soon were in place. Park is rustic. The view of the Black Hills is great and this park is close to town. It is a passport America Discount park so rates are very reasonable. Bathrooms and showers were rustic but clean and everything worked. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We enjoyed our stay and found this to be a small disorganized RV Park a mile north of Hot Springs within the Black Hills. There are a few pull-through sites and perhaps just one site with 50 Amp. Some sites have sewer and others do not. Some have only 20 Amp and others are 30 Amp. The utilities are on the opposite side, but it appears the owner does not care which way one parks on the site. Access lanes and sites are gravel base. There is plenty of lush green grass mixed with short pines trees and other shrubs between the spacious sites. This place operates other business on the property with the RV Park. Vehicles must pass through the RV Park to reach a storage building and tool rental business. Those drivers seem to race through and raise lots of dust. Showers and bath are aged, not so clean and sure could use a make-over. The highlight here is the rural setting, it's quiet, and there is an open scenic view of Black Hill ranges. We stayed here for two nights and will likely return. The rate shown is an average between the first night and second at the Passport America rate. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Definitely a no-frills campground. However our sites were level and the water and electricity were good. Passport America rates honored. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This campground is handy for exploring hot springs, and the many surrounding areas. As previously stated, it is no frills. The electricity was not working when I pulled in, but the staff was working to fix the problem, and had it on later in the day. Sites are pull through and offer a decent view of the surrounding hills. Walking with the garbage trying to locate a dumpster I ran into another camper who had been all over with the same goal in mind. We finally located the only dumpster, at the end of one of the dead end rows. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
"Rustic" park means red clay sites ,which are muddy red when wet, and the "office" is for show...never saw anyone there for most of 2 days. You put your money in an envelope. This campground seems to exist as a sideline for the tool and storage business there. Good news is that it's only $13 for Passport America members, and you barely get that value. Bathroom and the shower room (one each for each sex) are located in the same run down shack as the "office". Laundry was in a shed; filthy washer and dryer. No TV reception but cell phone works. Too bad this dump is a PA park, tho it is cheap. Would not come back regardless. We camped here in a Motorhome.
No frills park. Allows washing of vehicles. Quiet, rustic, and honors several camping clubs including PA for 13.00 for first night. Would stay here again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Quiet park with many rules most of which are for RV'ers benefit. The Lake is more of a pond but is pretty and the pedallo boats were enjoyed by our twin daughters. Excellent wireless internet! We camped here in a Motorhome.
A very nice campground located near a small lake. Traffic noise from a nearby highway was minimal. Very clean restrooms and showers. High expectations for appropriate camper behavior, pet control, and cleanliness as evidenced by the multitude of signs - some of which insulted one's intelligence and common sense - throughout the campground and in the restroom facilities. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.