Mt rushmore, rafter j, or kemps kamp, or koa?

All the above campgrounds are very nice, Custer state park is our favorite.

I recommend Rafter-J. Stayed there and had a great time.

While there we drove around and checked all the campgrounds that others have recommended for the area - decided we made the best choice with Rafter-J!

Try to get a site in 'The Island'

We like Broken Arrow Campground 4 miles south of Custer.

We stayed at Crooked Creek about 1/4 mile from Rafter J. Nice spot, small but nice. We stayed at Rafter J once, to much like Forest Lawm for us.

I highly recommend Horse Thief Campground located just outside Hillcity on Needles hwy. very nice place with beautiful views of the surrounding hills!

We stayed at the KOA back in 2004 (kids were 9 & 12 at the time) and it was a good choice for us. Lots for kids to do (more on that in a minute) and free shuttle to the monument. Many on this forum prefer Rafter J Bar - so be it. The KOA does not have the larger sites or wilderness "ambiance" that many prefer but normally we don't choose campgrounds based on that. Proximity to what we want to see/do is our #1 criterion, with CG activities for our kids being a close 2nd (when they were with us).

The KOA has a pool, game room, etc. Also you can rent a convertible to tour the area and/or rent horses for a ride through the countryside. Pancake breakfast was a a plus for us, too.

After doing a lot of research on this, I opted for the KOA. I have three children, so the pool and play areas are ideal. I find the KOAs to be fairly family friendly places. Kids will be loud, run around and I am not there to keep neighbours off of my little plot of land. It also has some shops, and a pancake breakfast every morning.

We leave in a little over a week, two days of driving and then meet up with my sister and brother in law. Can't wait!

We stayed at the KOA in town last week, Nice park, but 60.00 a night. Get to Mount Rushmore early. After 10.00 it gets packed. As bluzer52 said Rushmore KOA is the spot, but call, because it looked as they were packed

I live in the area and either the Rushmore KOA or Rafter J are good choices. If you have kids the Rushmore KOA is the spot.

We have stayed at Rafter J....definately going again. Great park, great views. Clean.