Hill City, S. Dak.

[jamesu]

Looking for campground recommendations in/near Hill City. Want hookups and don't want to be crammed in wall-to-wall next to neighbors. Looking for a good location to explore the Black Hills.

[tsetsaf]

Trailside is always our choice site 10 is the best

[jamesu]

I am the original poster.

I appreciate all the good info and recommendations. I made May reservations at Rafter J but an unavoidable family occurence forced me to cancel the next day. The guy on the phone at the desk was very cordial and canceled no problem.

Our plan now is to do the Black Hills trip in September after the kids go back to school. I'll reschedule and we'll stay at Rafter J based upon the many good recommendations here and upon the way yesterday's cancellation was handled.

[rjr6150]

Martyn wrote:
Rafter J - by far the best campground near Hill City. Try to get a site in 'The Island' 🙂

Definitely the Island Area. Depending on the time your going may not have any openings.

[craig7h]

Have stayed in Camp Welikit. For me it was a great park, full hook up with cable. Its close to Hill City and all that goes on around the area. Had deer and turkeys visit us each night.

[DrTanTodd]

We normally stay at Hart Ranch but since you wanna be close to Hill City I would concur with Rafter J!

[RGar974417]

We stayed at Rafter J and it was great.But back then Custer didn't have electric hookups. If we went back,I would stay in Custer State Park.

[knshook]

Roadpilot wrote:
We love the Rafter J Bar. We had a spot that was several hundred yards to our nearest neighbor on the passenger side. It's a great location for exploring the Black Hills.

x2 great location, lovely park. Just 9 miles from Mt.Rusmore! I think someone else mentioned this-try getting spot on the Island if possible.

[bgradert]

Were staying at the Rafter J for the first time June 11 to 16th. I think were staying in the main camp area.

[Martyn]

Rafter J - by far the best campground near Hill City. Try to get a site in 'The Island' 🙂

[dodge_guy]

X2 on Horse Thief Campground! Just outside of HillCity on Needles hwy. beautiful views of the surrounding hills. We love it and will stay again when we go back!

[Thom02099]

Another vote for Rafter J Bar, since the OP specifically asked about Hill City.

Rafter J has 6 very distinct and separate loops or areas to choose from. H E R E is their campground map, which will give you a good idea of how spread out they are, and H E R E is a description of each of the various loops and their amenities.

[Alabama_Jim]

If you don't mind driving 45 minutes to Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore, then consider Chris' Campground in Spearfish, SD. Nice couple own the place, good room, excellent wifi and cable, full hook up and pull through are fine. This campground puts you closer to WY and Devil's Tower.

[3oaks]

I think you got some pretty good recommendations.

However, for us it always has been Custer State Park campgrounds.
Either the Game Lodge campground or the Grace Coolidge campground. There are others in the park as well. In fact, our reservations are already in the this Fall again. It is an annual affair for us. 🙂

[flgator4]

We're planning to stay at Rafter J in June so I'll let you know after then. I used google map and earth to look at it to see how big it is and how far apart the spots are.