Is there a particular campground inside the park you would recommend? Is it advisable to have reservations before hand? I normally don't like to make early reservations because it forces me to be at a certain place at a certain time.How late can one wait before getting a reservation, if it is advisable? In other words, how crowded is Custer?

When we went to Custer, and were standing at the host site, he told us we had to make a reservation AND pay a reservation fee even tho we were standing right there in the park at an empty site. We drove up to the only section that is first come, and no hookups, and then we still had to call and "reserve the site", and pay the reservation fee.Custer also requires everyone to buy the day-pass, even if you camp. Custer is a great park, but has a buncha add-on fees, so be prepared for it. If you're camping any other areas in the state, just buy the monthly day-pass and it covers all parks. As I recall it, the day pass was $6 and a month was $15, but am not sure. You might want to open the park website and check current fees. This was two years ago - not sure if it's still the same ... Custer gets pretty full, so I'd get the ducks in a row ahead of time if you're traveling a distance. You pay the reservation fee regardless - at least when we were there.

When we go there we like to stay at Chris's RV Park in Spearfish. It is an hour drive to Custer, which is an awesome park to visit. Spearfish is also convenient to Spearfish Canyon and the waterfalls as well as Deadwood.

We were there July 1 through July 17. We tried getting a reservation for these weeks back in December 2016 and couldn't. We ended up getting reservations at the Good Sam campground in Custer, SD (Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort) and used it as a base to travel from. My daughter and family drove from Kansas City, MO and we got them a tent site. We also rented on the TP's for a night so the grandkids could get the thrill of sleeping in a MODERN TP! Prices were all very reasonable. They offer 8th night free, and if you are a Good Sam member, you get the 10% discount. So, we got the discount on both campsites, and the TP. Click here.This campground also has a train the kinds can ride, a very decent swimming pool, and they sponsor the dinner theater at the bottom of the "hill". There are many local campgrounds in the area, and all were filled to 100% capacity. The folks at Buffalo Ridge said this was the best year they've had in many years. They've been booked solid for months, every day. So YES! Reservations are an absolute MUST!After driving through the park and seeing the different campgrounds actually inside Custer State Park, we agreed, it would hve been nice to actually get a campsite there. There is one campsite outsie the Pay Pass area. By the way pass to get into the various entrances of the park is now $20 and it's good for 7 days. You put a sticker on your windshield. Our trip (from Indiana) went like this:July 1: Home to Peru, IL, KOAJuly 2: Peru, IL to Myre-Big State Park in MN.July 3: Myre-Big to Mitchel SD and the Corn PalaceJuly 4: Arrived at Custer, set up campJuly 5: Sturges, driving, and CandylandJuly 6: Grandkids arrived, Spent time with them while their parents slept.July 7: Mt. Rushmore and Reptile GardenJuly 8: Split. We drove the mountains, Black Hills, and Badlands.July 9: Driving through Custer SPJuly 10: Driving through Custer SP (Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo!)July 11: Driving through Custer SP Black Hills and side trip into Wyoming. (creeks, rivers, wild animals, valleys, mountains, little towns including Deadwood, what a day!)July 12: Decided to actually visit the city of Custer Spent the entire day there.July 13: Headed home. Grand Island KOA in NebraskaJuly 14: Decided to drive the rest of the way straight home (came home 2 days early... which was a good thing!)Bottom line: If you want to get into a campsite, make the reservations as early as possible. And don't just settle for a single campground and if you can't get in to just forget it. There are many, many, many campgrounds in the area, everywhere. And more than likely, you won't be spending much time there anyway. There's just too much to see and do! FYI, a lot of places, you cannot make reservations until mid April. We found this extremely frustrating, because when we tried, on the first available day at some of the places we wanted, they were already booked! That's how we ended up at Buffalo Ridge. They were like our 10th choice. But they turned out to be the best!Good luck!Can you find my wife in this crowd in Sturges?

There are some nice national forest campgrounds north of Custer. I stayed at Sheridan Lake NF CG and it was nice (other than an excessive amount of campfire smoke). Just another option.

When are you going? The time of year does make a difference in crowds and available campgrounds. We stayed at the Sylvan Lake CG at Custer and had to get reservations even in mid-September. The problem was that the sites were VERY close together, a long way from the lake, and the nearest CSP dump station was more than 20 miles away. We won't stay at any of the CSP campgrounds again--would rather pay a little more (not much with the daily pass added) and stay in a private RV park. We also didn't think much of the Wind Cave NP campground. Again too closely spaced, no privacy, and no hookups. However, we loved our hilltop campsite with hookups and a great view at Angostura Lake State Recreation Area SE of Hot Springs. A longer drive, but well worth it for the amenities, including a new, clean shower building, big spaces, and lack of crowds. We would go back there in a minute!

Question for anyone familiar with Custer State Park in SD.

SDcampowneroper
Explorer
May 23, 2018
Big Pine is a great camp. Good choice for your wishes. Give Ron & Angie our best
Jenanne
Explorer
May 22, 2018
We leave monday for Badlands/Blackhills...cant wait...enjoyed reading this thread! Staying at Big Pine Campground near Custer...anyone been there?
monkey44
Nomad II
Apr 16, 2018
SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Horsedoc wrote:
There is not a dump station at most of the CGs in the park.
For a little more $$ you can stay close and have FHU (Custer Gulch, Wagons West, several in and west of Custer city)
They are getting a little greedy since the Park is such a big money maker for SD.
Prices will likely go up for Sturgis Rally this year, just to ride through the park
SD state parks are revenue neutral. SD is a user pay state, with no general funds supporting the parks. Visitor fees are set by a citizens commission valid throughout the year. Visitor and camping fees are constant regardless of season or event.
Custer State Park does have a higher visitor fee, than other State parks due to the higher cost of managing such a large park with such extensive amenity.
Camping fees are also higher than most other state parks which reflects the cost of their operation, short season. There is no rate increase for any park for any event.
Fact is. CSP does have only 1 dump station, to serve its 5 campgrounds. Rock and soil , proximity to lakes , streams, wells prohibit waste treatment systems for all 5 camps, so a central waste treatment system in favorable soil is the solution. Even Quartszsite La Posa south does it.
There are free to fee dump stations availabe in city systems, private camps nearby.
SD State Parks are intended like NFS, USCE to be discovery camps, not residential . A 14 day stay limit for any ' camping unit ' is commonplace in federal and state lands.
I would not wish it otherwise. a gov. park without pay as you go fee and restriction is fodder for misdirection of truth.

*************
True enough for the park - worth every dollar to see it, camp, and use the visitors services. And we've been there several times, and enjoy it, and will probably hit it again on this fall trip west. We have no problem paying our way either, it's worth it, and it keeps the parks viable, and the wilderness areas and habitats open and safe for wildlife.

The one single thing that stuck in our craw, standing on an open, first-come site in the park, and having to call a reservation station and pay a reservation fee to enter and camp in an empty first-come site and stay one night !! That's not the way to do it, and in our opinion, just a chance for the reservation company to rake off another eight bucks for nothing. jmho !

And, that's after an entrance fee, a day use fee, and a camping fee.
SDcampowneroper
Explorer
Apr 16, 2018
Horsedoc wrote:
There is not a dump station at most of the CGs in the park.
For a little more $$ you can stay close and have FHU (Custer Gulch, Wagons West, several in and west of Custer city)
They are getting a little greedy since the Park is such a big money maker for SD.
Prices will likely go up for Sturgis Rally this year, just to ride through the park
SD state parks are revenue neutral. SD is a user pay state, with no general funds supporting the parks. Visitor fees are set by a citizens commission valid throughout the year. Visitor and camping fees are constant regardless of season or event.
Custer State Park does have a higher visitor fee, than other State parks due to the higher cost of managing such a large park with such extensive amenity.
Camping fees are also higher than most other state parks which reflects the cost of their operation, short season. There is no rate increase for any park for any event.
Fact is. CSP does have only 1 dump station, to serve its 5 campgrounds. Rock and soil , proximity to lakes , streams, wells prohibit waste treatment systems for all 5 camps, so a central waste treatment system in favorable soil is the solution. Even Quartszsite La Posa south does it.
There are free to fee dump stations availabe in city systems, private camps nearby.
SD State Parks are intended like NFS, USCE to be discovery camps, not residential . A 14 day stay limit for any ' camping unit ' is commonplace in federal and state lands.
I would not wish it otherwise. a gov. park without pay as you go fee and restriction is fodder for misdirection of truth.
Horsedoc
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2018
There is not a dump station at most of the CGs in the park.
For a little more $$ you can stay close and have FHU (Custer Gulch, Wagons West, several in and west of Custer city)
They are getting a little greedy since the Park is such a big money maker for SD.
Prices will likely go up for Sturgis Rally this year, just to ride through the park
Rangerman40
Explorer
Apr 15, 2018
We ended up at Bluebell as that's all that was available. On the complete opposite end of the park from Game Lodge, but it's very close to Wind Cave NP and the wildlife loop. Wasn't too far of a drive to Needles if I remember correctly.
ADAD437
Explorer
Apr 14, 2018
SDcampowneroperator wrote:
OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
I have to jump in on this one. Yes, Custer is a beautiful park but they have another racket going on for money. I was traveling from Rushmore to Windcave and Google Maps took us through the edge of the park. Map shows road is a through route. First time we hit a gate/ranger station, we were charged $20. I said we were just driving to Wind Cave, not visiting Custer. He replied, "Yep, we need to send Google a thank you note. That will be $20." I asked if I could turn around and go another route and he said too late, I had already driven through the park.

Did not leave a good taste in my mouth to say the least. Who put's a gate on a through road and after you don't have a chance to turn around? Traveled 48 states and countless state and national parks and never saw that anywhere else.

Sad first impression because I read so many good things on here about Custer.

You drove through on the wildlife loop, a park road signed as a fee road at its beginning near the Game Lodge. not state or fed. hwy. Sorry, its your bad. You did enjoy the drive?

you also passed thru other gates in route to the loop that you apparently failed to stop at.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Apr 14, 2018
Here is Custer State Park map... much more accurate than Google Maps:

https://gfp.sd.gov/userdocs/custer-map.pdf
SDcampowneroper
Explorer
Apr 14, 2018
OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
I have to jump in on this one. Yes, Custer is a beautiful park but they have another racket going on for money. I was traveling from Rushmore to Windcave and Google Maps took us through the edge of the park. Map shows road is a through route. First time we hit a gate/ranger station, we were charged $20. I said we were just driving to Wind Cave, not visiting Custer. He replied, "Yep, we need to send Google a thank you note. That will be $20." I asked if I could turn around and go another route and he said too late, I had already driven through the park.

Did not leave a good taste in my mouth to say the least. Who put's a gate on a through road and after you don't have a chance to turn around? Traveled 48 states and countless state and national parks and never saw that anywhere else.

Sad first impression because I read so many good things on here about Custer.

You drove through on the wildlife loop, a park road signed as a fee road at its beginning near the Game Lodge. not state or fed. hwy. Sorry, its your bad. You did enjoy the drive?
dieseltruckdriv
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2017
OutdoorPhotographer wrote:
I have to jump in on this one. Yes, Custer is a beautiful park but they have another racket going on for money. I was traveling from Rushmore to Windcave and Google Maps took us through the edge of the park. Map shows road is a through route. First time we hit a gate/ranger station, we were charged $20. I said we were just driving to Wind Cave, not visiting Custer. He replied, "Yep, we need to send Google a thank you note. That will be $20." I asked if I could turn around and go another route and he said too late, I had already driven through the park.

Did not leave a good taste in my mouth to say the least. Who put's a gate on a through road and after you don't have a chance to turn around? Traveled 48 states and countless state and national parks and never saw that anywhere else.

Sad first impression because I read so many good things on here about Custer.

As much as I like to and do use tech, it really is your fault, for not checking anything else. I know the route you took, and if you would have gone just a little to the west, you wouldn't have had to pay anything. These types of things have bitten me also, but I have never tried to blame anyone but myself because of the old saying, "Trust, but verify".

I live in the Black Hills and camp every year in Wind Cave NP. I am sorry you think the state park volunteer and DOT had it out for you. Although, the statement about owing Google a thank you may have been out of line IMO.