mT Rushmore RV park recommendation?

beaverlake campground and rv park in custer

ReneeG wrote:
When we visited Mt. Rushmore and the area, we stayed at Mount Rushmore KOA. We were impressed! It's huge, site are spread out and some are wooded.

X2. We stayed there last July. Excellent KOA. Had we known how much they had to offer, we would have booked to stay longer than two nights. If I recall, they are probably the closest campground to the memorial itself. We had no problem with our 33ft there.

FYI, the Sturgis motorcycle rally is the first week in August. If you're arriving the last week of July you'll be impacted by availability and price of campgrounds.

We stayed at the KOA one year, and it is a very busy CG with lots of families (Kids all over the place). Dont get me wrong, I love my kids and others, but it is noisy. If you like that, go for it, but Rafter J was much more enjoyable for us.

Rafter J is a winner to me.You will not regret it.Huge campground and many options so check it out

I got tagged with a $15/vehicle fee just to drive through Custer because google maps routed me there and the road runs right through the park - however, if I was camping, I would stay at Custer. Nice wildlife with buffalo and pronghorns. Also, Wind Cave National Park is south of Custer, which was our destination as we drove from Rushmore. Wind Cave is a neat phenomenon and worth a day if you are in the area. We were actually more impressed with it than Rushmore, but we didn't have time to do hikes at Rushmore due to our itinerary.

dverstra wrote:
Rafter J is close and a great place to see the area from.
Clicky

Another Rafter J Bar recommendation. Stayed there last summer, great place for base camp, convenient to nearly all of the Black Hills region. 5 different areas for varied tastes, all spread out.

Have stayed at Beaver Lake CG in Custer and would recommend it highly.

Have also stayed at a little CG/cabin property called The Roost Resort in Custer (between the town of Custer and Custer State Park). Very small campground but super quiet, spaced out nicely, and very pretty surroundings. The owners/hosts are really nice people.

Have driven thru Rafter J Bar and it is a beautiful, very large campground resort. Only problem is, they're way more expensive than other cg's in the area. I've never been able to talk myself into spending the extra money to stay there.

The Mt. Rushmore KOA (Palmer Gulch) is a large family-oriented resort with little shade and a lot of activities. Have been there many times to ride the horses but have never camped there. Too busy for our tastes.

The campgrounds in Custer State Park are beautiful but not all of them have dump stations. Also depending on where you stay in the park, you would be adding a lot of drive time to your day, with the very curvy roads and wildlife hazards.