Custer State Park

[garmp]

We were fortunate enough to snag 3 nights, one at Sylvan Lake campground & 2 at Blue Bell campground on our way to Spearfish for a RV rally in early/mid Sept.
Driving a 26' class C, DW wants to tour the area, but understand there are tunnels & other concerns to consider. Any suggestions on what to see & what to avoid? Would a rent-a-car be required? Any eateries near the area with local flavor?
Any & all info appreciated.

[dieseltruckdriv]

John S. wrote:
We went last year and I wills ay I was disappointed with the park. The campground was great and the hosts were very nice as well. I will say that the area while pretty and had animals paled in comparison to Yellowstone and it was pretty crowded as well.

You do understand you are comparing one of our state parks to a national park, correct? That really isn't a fair comparison, but I will say that between Custer/Wind Cave NP or Yellowstone NP, I will take Custer/Wind Cave.

As far as campgrounds go, the ones at Custer except for Game Lodge, are not some of the best in our state park system in my opinion. This state does an excellent job with the parks and campgrounds.

[Crowe]

John S. wrote:
We went last year and I wills ay I was disappointed with the park. The campground was great and the hosts were very nice as well. I will say that the area while pretty and had animals paled in comparison to Yellowstone and it was pretty crowded as well.

Did you get the opportunity to drive through the buffalo herd? It's amazing. Been to both Yellowstone and Custer multiple times-it's apples and oranges to some extent. Love them both.

[John_S_]

We went last year and I wills ay I was disappointed with the park. The campground was great and the hosts were very nice as well. I will say that the area while pretty and had animals paled in comparison to Yellowstone and it was pretty crowded as well.

[SDcampowneroper]

Kavoom wrote:

garmp wrote:
We were fortunate enough to snag 3 nights, one at Sylvan Lake campground & 2 at Blue Bell campground on our way to Spearfish for a RV rally in early/mid Sept.
Driving a 26' class C, DW wants to tour the area, but understand there are tunnels & other concerns to consider. Any suggestions on what to see & what to avoid? Would a rent-a-car be required? Any eateries near the area with local flavor?
Any & all info appreciated.

They do have full size tourist buses go through those tunnels, but they make me nervous in my pick up to be honest and I do not even understand how those buses do it even though I have seen it. Frankly a rental car would be much more fun. Get a sunroof if you can. We go every year and even have land to build on after retirement. Here is a map https://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/maps Don't print it out. They are next to every cash register in the Black Hills. Do the needles and Iron Mountain for sure...in a rented car... You can go to the Badlands for about a four or five hour trip. Same for Devil's tower. So, a day each. The Spearfish Canyon road is a great drive and stop at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge get an adult beverage and sit out back by the creek. Very soothing. The Custer State Park "loop" drive is an absolute must. Early and late is best for animals but you will see buffs irrespective... Hit Breakfast at like Bluebell early and drive through, a couple of hours... Some good hikes in there also. Sylvan lake lodge is our favorite one. Do the lake hike...easy...beautiful. Same for Legion Lake hike, easy beautiful.

The Game lodge has a great porch you can sit on and have an adult beverage with your feet up. The food is usually the same menu with slight variations across facilities. We like the trout when you can get it. The Blue Bell right where you are camping is nice and if nice you can sit outside on the porch with an adult beverage. In the area, the best restaurant in the area is imho the Alpine Inn in Hill city https://alpineinnhillcity.com/restaurant/ REAL German food and beer... Did I say Real...

In Custer, there is the Baker's bakery and cafe great for breakfast or baked goodies. The Purple Pie Place is another. Can't miss it... Another decent restaurant is the buglin bull. General place,two sides restaurant or bar...lots of TV's a couple good entrees. We have done various wine tasting days (rainy) and that can be fun. Very dog friendly area by the way...

Oh, favorite Buffalo story... Got up opened door of trailer, big buffalo about five feet outside the door (Legion lake). He looked at me, I him and I said, nevermind, I'll come out later... We have also hit Whispering Pines campground and Fort Chilikat? in the Custer area. Nice, hook ups. I just realized...we do like our adult beverages...in moderation... Too dangerous othewise...

The name of that camp is Fort Welikit.
not chilicat. pronounced. we like it.

[Kavoom]

garmp wrote:
We were fortunate enough to snag 3 nights, one at Sylvan Lake campground & 2 at Blue Bell campground on our way to Spearfish for a RV rally in early/mid Sept.
Driving a 26' class C, DW wants to tour the area, but understand there are tunnels & other concerns to consider. Any suggestions on what to see & what to avoid? Would a rent-a-car be required? Any eateries near the area with local flavor?
Any & all info appreciated.

They do have full size tourist buses go through those tunnels, but they make me nervous in my pick up to be honest and I do not even understand how those buses do it even though I have seen it. Frankly a rental car would be much more fun. Get a sunroof if you can. We go every year and even have land to build on after retirement. Here is a map https://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/maps Don't print it out. They are next to every cash register in the Black Hills. Do the needles and Iron Mountain for sure...in a rented car... You can go to the Badlands for about a four or five hour trip. Same for Devil's tower. So, a day each. The Spearfish Canyon road is a great drive and stop at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge get an adult beverage and sit out back by the creek. Very soothing. The Custer State Park "loop" drive is an absolute must. Early and late is best for animals but you will see buffs irrespective... Hit Breakfast at like Bluebell early and drive through, a couple of hours... Some good hikes in there also. Sylvan lake lodge is our favorite one. Do the lake hike...easy...beautiful. Same for Legion Lake hike, easy beautiful.

The Game lodge has a great porch you can sit on and have an adult beverage with your feet up. The food is usually the same menu with slight variations across facilities. We like the trout when you can get it. The Blue Bell right where you are camping is nice and if nice you can sit outside on the porch with an adult beverage. In the area, the best restaurant in the area is imho the Alpine Inn in Hill city https://alpineinnhillcity.com/restaurant/ REAL German food and beer... Did I say Real...

In Custer, there is the Baker's bakery and cafe great for breakfast or baked goodies. The Purple Pie Place is another. Can't miss it... Another decent restaurant is the buglin bull. General place,two sides restaurant or bar...lots of TV's a couple good entrees. We have done various wine tasting days (rainy) and that can be fun. Very dog friendly area by the way...

Oh, favorite Buffalo story... Got up opened door of trailer, big buffalo about five feet outside the door (Legion lake). He looked at me, I him and I said, nevermind, I'll come out later... We have also hit Whispering Pines campground and Fort Chilikat? in the Custer area. Nice, hook ups. I just realized...we do like our adult beverages...in moderation... Too dangerous othewise...

[dryfly]

I am entering the park from the south on 18/385. Then, east on 16A to Game Lodge campground. I am leaving going west on hwy 16.

I trust this route will not provide any difficult situations??

[Horsedoc]

Question please. I will be coming into the park this summer on highway 19/385, and leaving on highway 16. Will I encounter any road issues like tunnels, etc?

If you are coming in from the north, just don't make the mistake of going into Keystone and coming down 16A. Tunnels, narrow roads and a couple of pigtail bridges.
Coming from Deadwood/Lead area you are fine. Hill City to Custer City is good. Little steep as you come into Custer City, so don't be in too much of a hurry.
From Custer, you can leave east of west on 16, but 16A is not good in an RV.
Rent or drive your towed and see the area around there.
If you looking for a place to stay, Spearfish has a great park that is city owned and Very nice

[dryfly]

Horsedoc wrote:
we hosted two summers in Custer. Stockade N and Stockade S. We being from the South likely have different tastes from that part of the country. Truthfully we found very few dining places that we considered 'outstanding'. The Legion Lake cafe/dining room was pretty good for breakfast and lunch. There is a little cafe at a RV park just outside CSP toward Custer City called Wagons West (or similar anyway) The breakfasts are very good.
There is a steak house style restaurant in Hill City that is supposed to be good, but the parking is very limited on the street there and there is always a crowd waiting outside. The only decent food we found in Custer City was the Purple Pie Place. They make their own pies and their own waffle cones for ice cream. There is a couple of mediocre restaurants in downtown Custer but nothing to write letters home about.

Question please. I will be coming into the park this summer on highway 19/385, and leaving on highway 16. Will I encounter any road issues like tunnels, etc?

[navigator2346]

WE worked at Sylvan Lake one summer and can vouch for Horsedoc's recommendations.Don't even think about taking an rv thru those tunnels. Those tour buses are the narrow 96" bodies. The 102" body's will not make it.

[Horsedoc]

we hosted two summers in Custer. Stockade N and Stockade S. We being from the South likely have different tastes from that part of the country. Truthfully we found very few dining places that we considered 'outstanding'. The Legion Lake cafe/dining room was pretty good for breakfast and lunch. There is a little cafe at a RV park just outside CSP toward Custer City called Wagons West (or similar anyway) The breakfasts are very good.
There is a steak house style restaurant in Hill City that is supposed to be good, but the parking is very limited on the street there and there is always a crowd waiting outside. The only decent food we found in Custer City was the Purple Pie Place. They make their own pies and their own waffle cones for ice cream. There is a couple of mediocre restaurants in downtown Custer but nothing to write letters home about.

[Atlee]

Watch this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMYf2nA6O9g&ab_channel=TelemasterPortal

Diesel pushers sometimes go through.

[Mel_Stuplich]

garmp wrote:
We were fortunate enough to snag 3 nights, one at Sylvan Lake campground & 2 at Blue Bell campground on our way to Spearfish for a RV rally in early/mid Sept.
Driving a 26' class C, DW wants to tour the area, but understand there are tunnels & other concerns to consider. Any suggestions on what to see & what to avoid? Would a rent-a-car be required? Any eateries near the area with local flavor?
Any & all info appreciated.

Don't miss the Eye of the Needle tunnel on the Needles Highway

[TexasShadow]

we went through a big herd of bison in Yellowstone on one trip. my window was open and when one of the animals brushed by, I reached out to lightly touch the hair on his/her bushy head. They are very intimidating, up close.

ditto to lunch at Alpine Inn in Hill City.

[EV2]

Lunch at Alpine Inn in Hill City.