Suggestions for Visiting the Badlands and South

rk911 wrote:

bluwtr49 wrote:
...Since we won't do SP campgrounds or KOA's some more RV park comments would be appreciated...

curios as to why no to the state parks?

Guess it's just personal preference. If I'm staying somewhere for a week (which is our normal) I want unlimited access to water for showers and laundry, 50 amp power so I can run all the appliances like ice maker, Instahot, Aqua Hot electric, sewer hookups, and all the other conveniences. I even avoid 30 amp sites for the same reasons.

We bought a coach with a lot of amenities so we can enjoy them not ration their use.

Like I say, just personal preference.

bluwtr49 wrote:
...Since we won't do SP campgrounds or KOA's some more RV park comments would be appreciated...

curios as to why no to the state parks?

Thanks again for all the useful information...lots to think about. The comments about Strugis has me vacillating between Hill City, Sturgis and Deadwood.

As far as touring goes does it make much difference? Outside our our one visit to Custer during which we did Rushmore and Custer state park are there any advantages in staying in the Northern end of the park? We won't be there until the middle of Sept so all the frenzy of the Bike week should be well in the past.

Since we won't do SP campgrounds or KOA's some more RV park comments would be appreciated. Especially concerning how spacious are the sites. Too many times we've been packed in where putting our the awning was problematic (Girards are pretty wide). We will probably stay for a week.

If anyone has found some nice golf courses in the area, that would also be a plus.

Thanks again for all the valuable iinput.

Gjac wrote:
Not mentioned yet is Wind Cave and CG, both are 1/2 price if you are over 62. Went there last summer with GS could not get a campsite at Custer, but Wind cave NP had plenty of sites available and were still first come first served, was not far from Jewel Cave either.

I stumbled onto this perusing Google maps looking at the "see, do and stay" in the area. Here is the web site.

https://www.nps.gov/wica/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

No electricity, dump station or showers, just flush toilets, but at the website notes "In past years the campground has been fairly quiet compared to other campgrounds in the Black Hills and finding a campsite has not been a problem."

Charles

Not mentioned yet is Wind Cave and CG, both are 1/2 price if you are over 62. Went there last summer with GS could not get a campsite at Custer, but Wind cave NP had plenty of sites available and were still first come first served, was not far from Jewel Cave either.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Aug 8th - 14th Expect mayhem, Madness, Bikers by the thousands, & tons of fun. :C

Sturgis is one of the most friendly cities around and there are some great restaurants.

I'll second that!

Years ago when we were tent campers before I retired, and were camped at Bear Butt SP just outside of Sturgis, our car broke down. The Ford dealership went out of their way to help us. They towed our car after hours to their shop and went to work on it at 8:00 am the next morning.

Being we were from out of state, I didn't know what to expect, thinking they may take advantage and charge us exurbanite amount. Not so. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and get us back on the road with an amazing low bill for several hours work. :)

The downtown RV park in Sturgis is a nice place to stay and is central to a lot of other areas for day trips with the toad. We have stayed there twice in September, right after the rally, and the cost was only $100 total per week for full hook-ups. From there it was a quick drive to Custer, Devils tower, Deadwood, Needles, Rushmore, etc.
Sturgis is one of the most friendly cities around and there are some great restaurants.

For a scenic drive and avoiding Denver from Black Hills you could work your way over to Casper, WY then south to Rawlins & west a short distance to 789 which becomes 13 in Colorado to Craig, Meeker and Rifle on I-70. Then east on I-70 to Hwy 24 toward Leadville and Buena Vista and on to Poncha Springs. From there continue south on 285 (or17) to Alamosa and Antonito and continue to Hwy 84. You could also go to Taos, NM before 84 if you want. 84 will take you into Santa Fe.

We've driven this route with a 40' motorhome towing.

Santa Fe Skies is the place to stay - very nice and convenient.

For Sedona we enjoy staying at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in nearby Cottonwood. Check out Jerome while you're there but not with your RV.

bluwtr49 wrote:
We're thinking of visiting the Badlands (possibly Deadwood or ??) near the end of our summer trip in mid to late September than dropping S. into NM before heading home in Tuscon. Right now planning ~30 days to get from Billings, MT to Tucson including stops an Santa Fe, NM and Sedona, AZ.

Any suggestions on routing, RV parks, and etc along the way would be greatly appreciated. I don't mind paying for good RV parks with reasonably spacious sites that will easily accommodate our MH (44' overall) Good golf along the way is a bonus.

Also, if possible I would like to avoid the Denver corridor but that might not be practical. That stretch remind me of the Salt Lake City corridor...100 miles of bad traffic.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Distant Drums RV park in Camp Verde, AZ is mui excellente! Camp Verde is maybe 20-min south of Sedona off I-17. if you like quiet and open vs. noisy and congestion you'll like Distant Drums.