Mt. Rushmore GC recommendations

[jkkinder]

We are planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore. Any Recommendations for camping in the area? We have a tow car so transportation not needed.

TIA

[curver900]

Originally Posted by jkkinder

We are planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore. Any Recommendations for camping in the area? We have a tow car so transportation not needed.

TIA

at this time... anything that has an opening.. good luck!

[Vicr]

I was making reservations in early January for campgrounds/ RV parks in that area and they were booking up then.

[hummy]

We stay in Custer State Park 2 weeks ago, No problem getting a site, Electric only. We left Pa. for Yellowstone with zero reservations or plans and had no issue getting sites at KOA,State Parks,or privately own. Inside Yellowstone all sites were close. We stayed 30 miles outside near Cody for 3 nights. Of course your talking late June early May not July or August. 5400 hundred miles 4 weeks later were home! great road trip

[mini4mw]

We stayed at rafter J.
https://www.rafterj.com/
It was a decent place and was able to pick up a spot that had lots of space between sites. Full hook ups. We just used it as a launching pad for sites, never used any amenities. I can't recall the cost, been a few years, but I'd stay there again. Wife said it was a perfect location to jump around in our car to the different sites.

[hummy]

still a little tired from the trip! meant to say late April into May

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by mini4mw

We stayed at rafter J.
https://www.rafterj.com/
It was a decent place and was able to pick up a spot that had lots of space between sites. Full hook ups. We just used it as a launching pad for sites, never used any amenities. I can't recall the cost, been a few years, but I'd stay there again. Wife said it was a perfect location to jump around in our car to the different sites.

+1

I would definitely stay at Rafter J again. The only "amenities" we really used in the park were the playground and the little camp store (good for a last minute beerrun ... and a few other things if you need).

It was a great "launchpad" for the area's attractions. Mt. Rushmore is SUPER close, Custer State Park, Needles Highway, Badlands is about an hour IIRC, we even trekked all the way out to Devil's Tower one day and the drive wasn't too bad. We took the 1880 train from Hill City (maybe 5 minutes from the CG) to Keystone; what a hoot that was! And we toured a gold mine in Keystone, had a late lunch, and caught the train back. Hill City has some good eateries, and lots of little shops if that's your thing (for us, we like to try the local flavors, but "shopping", not so much). The kiddo had an absolute BLAST, and so did we.

[RedHorse1]

In 2017 we spent 10 nights at the Big Pine CG in Custer and loved it.

Side tip: if you’re visiting all the local sites I’d suggest visiting Rushmore before Crazy Horse. The magnitude if CH is staggering and seeing Rushmore after might leave you with a “meh” feeling.