Athome Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Anyone ever camp in the Black Hills area? Where'd you stay/do? Of course we're doing the big things like Rushmore and Crazy Horse. I love doing the hidden gems as well. We're also trying to keep things on a tight budget for this trip so ANY camping tips and tricks would be welcome. We're a family of 5 with our youngest being 2 1/2 and we're planning on tenting. Did I mention we've never camped as a family before?! I think we're a little crazy but we're dying to see Rushmore and camping seems the way to go to be able to stay longer and stay on a budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Custer State Park is awesome and pretty cheap. There's a lot to do there, and you can even get a cabin w/ bunk beds for a decent price. It's within driving distance to Rushmore & Crazy Horse, and the road to get to Rushmore from Custer is a fun trip with tunnels & curly bridges. There is a herd of burros in the park who love to eat carrots from cars, and a herd of bison (don't feed them), hiking, swimming, playgrounds, park-ranger talks & kid activities. My kids got to pan for gold there as one of the ranger sessions, talking about the gold rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Custer State Park is awesome and pretty cheap. There's a lot to do there, and you can even get a cabin w/ bunk beds for a decent price. It's within driving distance to Rushmore & Crazy Horse, and the road to get to Rushmore from Custer is a fun trip with tunnels & curly bridges. There is a herd of burros in the park who love to eat carrots from cars, and a herd of bison (don't feed them), hiking, swimming, playgrounds, park-ranger talks & kid activities. My kids got to pan for gold there as one of the ranger sessions, talking about the gold rush. :iagree: We have been planning a x-country trip for the fall and Custer State Park is mentioned again and again as the best place to camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livetoread Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Another vote for Custer State Park. We did a big trip last summer and stayed there for a couple of days. Even though we had tents, we got one of the camping cabins at the Blue Bell campground since it was only slightly more. It was lovely, the bathrooms were lovely, and we all loved the huge bison bulls that hung out in the campground. They liked to walk right by our cabin and send us scurrying up on the porch. One of our favorite places on the trip. The wildlife loop was great and the burros were adorable. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I'll 4th Custer State Park. It is one of my favorite parks. I would love one of their cabins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I tent camped at Custer State Park on recommendations here. It was fabulous! Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 We love, love, love Custer State Park :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKidAcademy Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I don't know anything about camping in that area, but I highly recommend the historic cemetery in Deadwood. Mt. Moriah - Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athome Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share Posted August 6, 2012 Wonderful! I'll look into Custer than. It sounds perfect for us and it's always good to know you're staying somewhere people would recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Another vote for Custer SP. Beautiful. We also really enjoyed the Badlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Another vote for Custer State Park. We did a big trip last summer and stayed there for a couple of days. Even though we had tents, we got one of the camping cabins at the Blue Bell campground since it was only slightly more. It was lovely, the bathrooms were lovely, and we all loved the huge bison bulls that hung out in the campground. They liked to walk right by our cabin and send us scurrying up on the porch. One of our favorite places on the trip. The wildlife loop was great and the burros were adorable. Enjoy! Yep! Custer State Park, Bluebell campground cabins. Although I'm pretty sure they're booked up for this year. You have to reserve in advance. But there are lots of campgrounds in the State Park. That was one of our kids' favorite vacations. So much to see and do in the area. Be sure to check out the Mammoth site (forgot the correct name), but I think it is near Hot Springs (or some similar hot springs name!). You can watch them excavating woolly mammoth bones which is very cool. The hot springs town itself is ok, but they have a great WARM creek running through that's fun to splash in. And some big indoor pool that is from the hot spring. Rather old-fashioned, so kinda cool that way. It's huge. There is also an old steam train "1885 Train" that we didn't get a chance to ride, but looked fun. Of course fun touristy stuff like the alpine slide. And my kids even were begging to go to the President's Wax Museum, but we didn't have time. Mt. Rushmore is apparently very cool to see at night, all lit up. So if you have time, go twice: once in the day, once at night. The Badlands are close and worth checking out. But I think that's something you can just do in a half-day. Very windy, can be hot. Rattlesnake warning signs had me freaked! The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is south of that area, and we were lucky enough to be there for a huge Pow-Wow where tribal members from other reservations came - I think it's a thing once every 5 years or something. Although surely they have regular pow-wows yearly. You can see the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre. I wouldn't say it's worth driving WAY out of your way (unless you're super-into that history). I had my kids watch the movie, as well as some other documentaries about that time period ahead of time. You can also get some great DVDs at the library about the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore to prepare the kids. HAVE FUN! JEALOUS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Also, Devil's Tower is not too far to drive. We saw Wind Cave and really enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athome Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Hey all! We're back from our trip. Thanks for your suggestions. We camped in Custer State Park at the Game Lodge campground. It was fantastic!! Our site back right up to a little pond that my kids played around and looked out on to a wooded area where we'd often see deer within yards of us. Game Lodge is also within walking distance of the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center where they hold lots of children's activities for the Jr. Naturalist program. Our kids loved it and learned lots. I would never have found this without your help. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in MN Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Oh, I so wouldn't camp there - too many mountain lions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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