Question for anyone familiar with Custer State Park in SD.

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.

I can think of numerous places where this can occur. I have spent a day four wheeling in Moab, then had to pay the NP entrance fee to continue on the trail, and drive on Arches NP dirt, to the highway. Literally a couple of miles of unmaintained dirt track for $20. You can end up in the same situation in the Badlands NP, when you leave Rt 90 and decide to loop through the badlands on what look to be SD state highways. Smooth sailing on a secondary SD. highway until you hit the national park toll booth. It's not the park's fault, or issue, that you decided to use a secondary state park road to get where you are going. It is actually possible to drive straight thru Custer SP without a pass, on RT 16, as long as you do not stop to use any park facilities.

Oddly, Mapquest doesn't show the route you discuss, but google does, and boy did they blow that one. One of those roads they recommend, (playhouse) is gravel and nothing I would want to be on with anything bigger that a pickup truck. Bottom line is that you can be bitter till your last breath, but there is nobody to blame but Google for suggesting that route in the first place. The park volunteer was right, it's google leading you to the toll booth, and he can't let you pass for free.

Google just got me the other day. It told me of a Subway shop four blocks east of my location. I headed east, and appeared to be in a fairly tight residential area. What I didn't know is that I was on a toll bridge ramp, with no way to get off, and no warning before the last cross street. I literally drove four blocks and paid $8 for a bridge that was unmarked, with no "last exit before toll" signs anywhere. I wasn't happy, but it could of been worse, if I had the motorhome it would of been $24.

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.

I made reservations for Game Lodge in April, for 5 nights in late August. But, I had to check every day for a site to open up that had 5 nights in a row. Cancellations do occur, so if you don't find what you want, keep looking!

We stayed at Bluebell. Its right at the end of the wildlife loop and the closest to Wind Cave. They also have horse rides and Chuck wagon dinners there. The food at the Bluebell Lodge was great. The sites were decent and the bath house was very clean.

For better or worse, I now have a reservation for a camping site at Game Lodge. It's a long way ahead of time (11 months) to reserve a spot. I selected site GL51E. It seemed to be within reasonable walking distance of the bath house. Main thing for me is it has electricity. My CPAP works better on electricity. :)

Of course by the time I leave on our big trip next year, I plan to have changed out my Grp 24 12V battery for two GC 6V batteries. Then I'll get a device that allows me to hook the CPAP into the DC plug that's by the bed.

CharlesinGA wrote:
The ripoff is the reservation fee. If you need money for the state, just charge more for the campsite, that doesn't bother me. Making me pay to make a reservation for what is essentially a walk up site is frustrating for the camper, just build that fee into the camping fee.

Charles

I agree it is a ripoff. Will probably stay at Spearfish City Campground and rent a car to get around. Will still have to pay the park entrance fees or buy the annual pass. arrgh!!!

Charles

Sure looks like you are complaining about entrance fees? As for the whole huge :R cost of the reservation fee, it looks to be $10 if you call the center, or $8 online. But, don't forget to figure in the fact that the site fees are unusually low for a park of that caliber. A modern site with water and electric is $25 a night. So, all in, a week of camping would run $185 with the onerous fee. Of course, you could avoid the reservation fee by staying at many nearby commercial campgrounds, but they are going to be close to double that a night, and more.

I have to agree that the reservation fee is a ripoff. It stops an overnighter from staying at a open SP site. I have no problems paying the entrance fee & the camping fee. But now you have to call in to reserve an empty site to overnite. Self check-in worked great for many many years.$$$

The ripoff is the reservation fee. If you need money for the state, just charge more for the campsite, that doesn't bother me. Making me pay to make a reservation for what is essentially a walk up site is frustrating for the camper, just build that fee into the camping fee.

I guess the other way of looking at the reservation fee is kinda like the $1 toll on the bridges over to Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola, FL. It keeps a surprising amount of the rif-raf off the island, who don't want to pay a buck to come over and make trouble or trash the place. The reservation fee kinda assures the state that you REALLY want to come and stay at that park. But for a walkup it still stinks.

I work for an airline, and customers hate the fees for baggage, but in our situation, the market is competitive and you gotta make it look cheap to the consumer. In the camping business its different, just charge what you gotta charge and get it over with, don't nickel and dime me.

I'm not complaining about the park fees, we have virtually the same thing here in Georgia. I bought a park pass (senior version) for $35 and got a night free (they punch the pass when you use it). The site was $32, so for three dollars, I get a "pass" into every Georgia state park for free until next August.

Charles

We stayed at Stockade Lake South last summer. Summertime is generally hard to find a spot, as they book up well in advance. Sturgis is in August and the Buffalo Roundup on 9/29/17.

Mortimer Brewster wrote:

soren wrote:

CharlesinGA wrote:

I agree it is a ripoff. Will probably stay at Spearfish City Campground and rent a car to get around. Will still have to pay the park entrance fees or buy the annual pass. arrgh!!!

Charles

Yes, because clearly, as an out of state resident, you have a God given right to enjoy one of the greatest state parks in the nation, while contributing zero towards the massive burden of maintaining and improving it. Let the citizens of South Dakota pay for it, even it the vast majority of users are from out of state, or from another country. After all, it's all about you. I feel your pain.

Tourists added $2.5 BILLION to the South Dakota economy in 2016. If the parks is short on money the state has some responsibility to use an adequate amount of the taxes generated for upkeep.
No one is forcing you to go there.

Who is claiming that there is a shortage of funds? As for taxes, the state does not collect income taxes, and the overall population of the state is smaller than most larger, or even medium sized, cities in this country. The state collects a small tax on tourism related spending which generates a fairly low amount statewide, amounting to 11 million in 2015. Asking users to pay is completely fair, and hardly expensive at $20 for a weekly pass, or $30 for a yearly pass to all state parks. It doesn't matter if it's Yellowstone, or Custer SP, asking the taxpayers of a lightly populated rural state to foot the bill for hundreds of thousands to millions of out of state, or foreign visitors is wrong. Most of us have RVs that take hundreds of dollars, or more in fuel to go any significant distance. We dropped hundreds in camping fees, and other expenses in a week of travel, yet some want to whine when one of the greatest state parks in the country has a modest entry fee. Seriously?