Any recommendations campgrounds SD???

We've stayed at Grace Coolidge both times that we were there.
Nice facilities and campground with a creek near the back side of the campground.
Elk and buffalo roam free here, so if you dont want to mingle with the residence its probably not a place you'd like to stay.

https://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/campgrounds/grace-coolidge/default.aspx

Another vote for Rafter J Bar. We stayed there last summer.

Just stayed at Rafter J in late August. Very nice and very convenient. We visited Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Hill City, and Deadwood all from there.

beaver lake campground hands down

Whistlers Gulch in Deadwood is our favorite

We really liked Horse Thief Campground located just outside of Hill City.

Enjoy the area!

We stayed for a week at Beaver Lake Campground a couple of years ago. Owned by a forum member here. We were treated like family. Would definately stay there again.
We did drive through Rafter J Bar. Nice campground.

We visited the area in late May of 2015 and stayed at Ft Welikit for a few days at the south end of the area (Rushmore, Custer State Park, Mammoth Site). It is in a wooded area.

After that we got a place at Hidden Valley RV Park for seeing things atound Deadwood and north of that. The site was a pull through with a deck facing onto the creek. They had the cleanest restroom/shower facilities of anywhere we have ever stayed.

Late May was ideal for visiting Rushmore. We got there fairly early and were able to just walk right up to the observation area. We enjoyed seeing the museum showing the construction of the monument, which was on the lower level.

One thing I will mention...the weather can still be pretty unpredctable at that time of year. We had rain while visiting Deadwood, which, coupled with road construction in town, made for slow going. Our final morning there, we woke up to six inches of snow on the ground. It melted pretty quickly, though. And the wind coming out of Rapid City!!! Enough said.

24fb freedom wrote:
I'm planning a trip also this June for our first time in that area and I made reservations at big pines campground.it's about 40 minutes from Rushmore but I like it a bit more quite then in the middle of the attraction.
when are you planning on going?

looking go go the end of may into june, hopefully will avoid some of the rush when kids get out of school for the summer. not sure if my reasoning is right or not but will give it a try.

thanks for all the responses and suggestions, really helped for us to make a decision. seems like a lot of nice places in the area. haven't seen any posts about staying away from some campgrounds so thats good.
so thanks again for great help