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.
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.
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.
"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.
We agree with praise heaped on this park by others. Open all year, but flush toilets and water are shut off in winter. There is an amazing modern design pit toilet that is immaculately clean and absolutely odorless, even after some dunce left the cover up!!!! No showers. All facilities are in good repair. There are paved roads and fairly level gravel sites with our favorite round steel firepits. We had no trouble getting our 32 foot fiver and tow vehicle into one of the pull throughs, and several sites could accommodate big rigs. Host and all other personnel are friendly and helpful. It is a pleasure to be there, and we are eager to return. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
If you are going to stay here, charge the battery, fill the water tank, empty the gray and black water tanks prior to arrival, turn on the gas 'fridge, and get ready to live with what you got. There are no showers (was told local private campgrounds fight the NPS on installing them). But, if you can take it, the rewards are awesome. Bison are fenced out of the campground, but can roam very close to the entrance. Deer, birds plentiful. Coyotes howling. The ultimate in quiet and peace. Dark at night, great for star viewing. Nighttime ranger shows were quite good. Sites are tight, even for our 18 ft trailer. Water is available, but the faucets have no threads, so we had to fill our tank by hand holding the hose against its washer. Bathrooms were immaculate. Free fire wood for campers. No dump station made us watch our water use closely. Road was good for bicycling. Not for the camper who needs electric devices and entertainment. We would definitely camp here again for a few days at a time. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We loved this campground. No hook-ups or showers but very clean restrooms and incredible peace and quiet even in the middle of the busy summer season. Some sites a bit sloped and the Trailer Life directory says no slide-outs for this campground. I assume because some pull-thrus seemed to leave your road side slide a bit exposed but it appeared that most if not all sites could handle slide-outs. We took a back-in for our 30 ft class A and it was very spacious. (Trailer Life also says no tents and we saw many, many tents so that seems to be an error.) The park has a nice nature trail with beautiful views of the surrounding hills, lots of wildlife and free firewood (this is the first year for the free firewood we understand, while dead and down wood in the area is being cleared from the surrounding forest; don't know how long it will continue). It was so pleasant and peaceful that we opted not to change locations and did all of our site seeing as day trips from this park. We enjoyed the Mammoth site in Hot Springs, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse monument, Mt. Rushmore, the town of Deadwood, Wall Drug and Badlands National Park. We also took a tour of Wind Cave but unfortunately found the many unhappy, wailing children on our particular tour to be rather a distraction from the event. We loved the area and the campground and hope to return some day. We camped here in a Motorhome.