State Park Nearby

Badlands Hotel and Campground

24 RV Sites, 26 Tent Sites, 21 Hotel Rooms

Badlands Hotel and Campground in Interior, South Dakota, offers 24 RV sites, 21 hotel rooms, and 26 tent sites one mile from Badlands National Park's south entrance, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 100 feet. Full-hookup, water-and-electric, and no-hookup categories serve every budget in one of the country's most isolated park settings. Twenty-four sites span 30-amp back-in, 30-amp water-and-electric back-in, 50-amp water-and-electric back-in, no-hookup back-in, and pull-through categories, sized to 100 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and site WiFi. The no-hookup option suits self-contained rigs at a lower rate. Twenty-one hotel rooms, a two-bedroom apartment, and 26 tent sites round out an unusually broad lodging range. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, firewood, and on-site dining handle the practical side. Campfires are permitted, subject to any posted restrictions. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with walking trails, picnicking, hiking, boating, and birding from the area. Pets are welcome. The one-mile distance from the park's south entrance is the whole proposition. Badlands National Park protects one of the most visually striking geological landscapes in North America and one of the largest intact mixed-grass prairie ecosystems left on the Great Plains. This is genuinely remote country — the nearest significant commercial infrastructure is an hour away, which makes a property with hotel rooms, a store, and a restaurant unusually valuable. Summer is peak. Reserve well ahead.

from $24/night

Split Rock Park Campground

7 RV Sites, 20 Tent Sites

Split Rock Park Campground in Garretson, South Dakota, offers seven RV sites with 30-amp electric service and 20 tent sites on the banks of Split Rock Creek, sized for rigs to 40 feet with fire pits and picnic tables. A boat ramp and playground sit beside a natural waterfall where the creek cuts through pink Sioux quartzite. Seven back-in sites carry 30-amp electric only, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables — there are no water or sewer hookups, so arrive self-contained. Twenty tent sites cover simpler camping. Restrooms and portable toilets serve the grounds. This is a community park rather than a commercial campground, and the infrastructure reflects that honestly. Pets are welcome. The geology is the reason to come. Split Rock Creek cuts through exposed pink Sioux quartzite to form a natural waterfall and narrow gorge — a landscape of ancient bedrock and clear spring-fed water that contrasts sharply with the flat agricultural plains surrounding Garretson. A boat ramp gives paddlers direct launch access, with fishing, canoeing, and kayaking from the creek, and a playground for families. The combination of geological uniqueness, creek fishing, and paddling launch infrastructure gives this small park genuine regional draw well beyond its size. Garretson sits on the northwestern edge of town in eastern South Dakota, within easy reach of Sioux Falls. The campground serves the short northern plains season, with summer paddling and fishing carrying the demand and fall bringing quieter conditions along the creek. With seven RV sites, reserve ahead for summer weekends.

from $20/night

Camping 109

40 RV Sites, 1 Cabin

Camping 109 is a quiet, family-run campground on the eastern shore of Big Stone Lake in Big Stone City, South Dakota—40 full hookup sites positioned next to a boat launch on one of the state's most northeasterly bodies of water, at a point where the South Dakota-Minnesota border runs directly through the lake and the Whetstone River enters from the north. The campground's lakefront simplicity, clean facilities, and direct boat access make it an unpretentious and practical choice for anglers, paddlers, and families who want lake access without resort-scale pricing or crowds. Forty sites with full hookups in both pull-through and back-in configurations offer 30 and 50-amp electric service, water, sewer, and WiFi, each with a picnic table and fire ring. A playground, laundry room, dump station, and amenities block with clean restrooms and showers round out the infrastructure. The boat launch is immediately adjacent to the campground, eliminating the drive to a public ramp that many lake campgrounds require, and the lake itself provides the primary recreation draw for the cabins and campsites that the property maintains. Big Stone Lake straddles the South Dakota-Minnesota state line in the Minnesota River watershed, occupying the northernmost point of the Coteau des Prairies—the elevated plateau that divides the Missouri River and Red River drainage systems across the northern Great Plains. The lake's 26 miles of length give it enough water to provide meaningful boating recreation in a region where large natural lakes are not abundant, and the fishing for walleye, northern pike, perch, and bass sustains the local angling community through the open-water season. Big Stone Lake State Park, about five miles north on the Minnesota side, provides the public boat launch, camping, and shoreline access infrastructure that makes the lake a destination for visitors from both states. Big Stone City is a small community of under 500 people at the lake's southern end, providing the basic commercial services that a summer lake destination requires without the development pressure that has transformed many comparable lake towns. Ortonville, Minnesota, four and a half miles east across the state line, provides a somewhat larger commercial center and the Brown County Museum, which interprets the history of the upper Minnesota River valley and the glacial geology that carved Big Stone Lake from the Quaternary ice sheet. Wine and craft beverage tasting options in the area provide an additional local draw for the summer evening after a day on the water. Camping 109 operates through the South Dakota lake season, typically from spring ice-out through fall, with fishing season demand concentrated in the spring walleye runs and the fall feeding activity that precede ice-up. The campground's small scale and family management give it the personal character that larger commercial properties lose, and the adjacent boat launch means that early morning fishing departures require nothing more complicated than backing a trailer down a ramp from a campsite. The North Dakota border is a short drive north, and the vastness of the northern Great Plains landscape surrounding the lake makes Big Stone one of those genuinely out-of-the-way destinations where the primary reward is the absence of the crowds that accumulate at more accessible recreation sites.

from $35/night

Lakeshore RV Park - Ortonville

6 RV Sites, 2 Cabins, 4 Tent Sites

Lakeshore RV Park in Ortonville, Minnesota, offers six full-hookup RV sites, two cabins, and four tent sites on Big Stone Lake, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 60 feet. An outdoor pool, a hot tub, boat docks and rentals, and a game room round out a compact lakeside resort two miles from downtown. Six full-hookup sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, in both back-in and pull-through configurations, with fire pits and picnic tables at the sites. Two cabins serve guests traveling without a rig, and four tent sites cover simpler camping. WiFi reaches the property, and laundry and a general store handle longer stays. Note that all RV sites and cabins carry a two-night minimum. On-site recreation centers on the lake. Boat docks and boat rentals put guests on Big Stone Lake directly, and fishing, boating, and swimming run from the property. An outdoor pool and a hot tub cover the non-lake hours, a game room and arcade handle rainy afternoons, and a pavilion hosts planned activities. Golf cart rentals make the grounds easy to cross. Pets are welcome. Big Stone Lake sits on the Minnesota–South Dakota line at the headwaters of the Minnesota River. The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge protects the surrounding wetland, making this a strong stop for birders on the prairie pothole flyway, and Ortonville's walkable downtown is two miles from the sites. The park operates through the Minnesota lake season, with summer fishing and boating driving peak demand. Reserve ahead for summer weekends — six RV sites go quickly, and the two-night minimum applies throughout.

from $35/night

Dead Colt Creek Recreation Area

25 RV Sites, 13 Tent Sites

Dead Colt Creek Recreation Area in Lisbon, North Dakota, provides a city-operated outdoor recreation facility in Ransom County's rolling glacial lake country in the Sheyenne River valley, offering partial hookup camping with 20/30/50-amp service alongside an impressive array of on-site facilities that serve the recreational needs of local residents and visiting campers who come to the Sheyenne River corridor for fishing, swimming, and the quiet character of the northern Great Plains outdoor experience. The facility's city management and public recreation mandate give it a community character that distinguishes it from commercially operated campgrounds in the region. The facility's infrastructure serves a complete outdoor recreation day and overnight experience: boat docks, a boat ramp, a pool, pavilion, playground, ball fields, sports courts, a dump station, and showers create a multi-activity park rather than a simple overnight parking facility. The Sheyenne River's access for fishing, boating, and non-motorized paddling connects guests to one of North Dakota's more scenic river corridors, and the facility's off-road access to the surrounding Ransom County countryside expands recreation options for guests with OHV equipment. Basketball, volleyball, and swimming provide organized activity options for families whose camping trip centers on structured outdoor recreation rather than natural area immersion. The Sheyenne River valley landscape surrounding Lisbon is the product of the Wisconsin Glacier's retreat, when meltwater channels carved the Sheyenne's valley into the flat glacial till plains of southeastern North Dakota and created a slightly more topographically varied terrain than the surrounding Red River Valley to the east. The river's wooded bottomland—cottonwood, green ash, and elm along the river banks with open native prairie on the upland terraces—provides wildlife habitat in a landscape dominated by row-crop agriculture and the grain elevator infrastructure that defines the Great Plains agricultural economy. Lisbon serves as the Ransom County seat and the commercial hub for the Sheyenne River valley corridor, providing the grocery, fuel, and dining services that recreation area visitors need for extended stays. The North Country National Scenic Trail, a congressionally designated long-distance trail extending from North Dakota to Vermont, passes through the Sheyenne River Valley near Lisbon and provides hiking access to some of North Dakota's most scenically varied natural terrain in the Sheyenne National Grassland east of Valley City. Lake Ashtabula, formed by Baldhill Dam on the Sheyenne River approximately 60 miles north, provides additional large-water boating and fishing options within the broader Sheyenne River recreation corridor. Dead Colt Creek Recreation Area operates seasonally from late spring through early fall in North Dakota's northern plains climate, where the compressed summer season from June through August delivers warm temperatures and long daylight hours that make outdoor recreation intensely rewarding despite the brevity of the season. Fishing season, which opens in May for walleye and continues through fall for various species in the Sheyenne River system, drives the earliest camping demand, and the pool's summer operation from Memorial Day through Labor Day anchors family recreation during the peak July weeks. The facility's public recreation character and affordable pricing make it one of the more accessible and complete camping options in the Sheyenne River valley.

from $12/night

Painted Buffalo Resorts

Painted Buffalo Resorts in Hermosa, South Dakota, offers full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric alongside cabins in the heart of the Black Hills, between Rapid City and Custer. Site WiFi, picnic tables, propane fills and exchange, and a dump station serve a quiet property positioned away from the tourist congestion but within short reach of the Hills' major attractions. Full-hookup back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi and picnic tables. Cabins blend modern comfort with Black Hills character for guests traveling without a rig. A dump station, propane fills, and propane exchange handle the practical side. Pets are welcome. The property's value is its position and its quiet. A playground serves families, and the surrounding ponderosa pine ridges and granite outcrops at roughly one mile of elevation give the setting its high-plains mountain character. Picnicking areas and exceptional stargazing round out on-site use, with wine and beer tasting nearby. The Black Hills attractions fan out in every direction from Hermosa. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park's bison herds, and Wind Cave National Park are all a short drive, with both state and national park access close at hand. Positioning between Rapid City's activity and Custer County's wildlife concentration is the point — guests get the whole circuit without staying in the middle of it. Driving directions from Rapid City: take SD-79 south toward Custer, turn right onto SD-40 West, left onto Battle Creek Road, left at the first cross street onto Bender Ridge Road, right onto Box Canyon Road, right onto Outback Trail, then left on Sage Brush Trail. Summer is peak across the Black Hills. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

Lake Park Campground and Cottages

28 RV Sites, 7 Tent Sites

Lake Park Campground and Cottages in Rapid City, South Dakota, offers 28 RV sites and seven tent sites on Canyon Lake, four miles from downtown and 30 minutes from Mount Rushmore. Sites carry 30 and 50-amp service, sized to 48 feet, with kayak, boat, and bike rentals on site and cottages sleeping from two to sixteen guests. Twenty-eight sites run in 30-amp back-ins, 30-amp and 50-amp pull-throughs, and water-and-electric categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 48 feet, with picnic tables and site WiFi. Seven tent sites and cottage and vacation rental options — from intimate two-person retreats to four-bedroom homes sleeping 16 — give this property an unusually wide accommodation range for a single address. Laundry, a dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. The lake is the anchor. Boat rentals, kayak rentals, and bike rentals are all available on site, with boating, fishing, and canoeing from the shoreline and miles of paved bike paths beginning at the campground's edge. A playground and dog park serve families and pets. Pets are welcome. The position is the real advantage. Four miles from downtown Rapid City and 30 minutes from Mount Rushmore, this is one of the Black Hills' most accessible base camps, with the full range of attractions stretching in every direction. Summer is peak across the Black Hills, and the August Sturgis rally tightens availability regionally. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

from $35/night

HTR Black Hills Resort

61 RV Sites, 13 Cabins, 11 Glamping Sites, 6 Houses, 1 Lodge

HTR Black Hills Resort in Rapid City, South Dakota, offers 61 RV sites, 20 cabin, house, and lodge units, and 11 glamping sites in ponderosa pine forest, with 30 and 50-amp full hookups, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 65 feet. Deluxe concrete back-in and pull-through categories join gazebo and patio pull-through options. Sixty-one sites span deluxe concrete back-in, deluxe concrete pull-through, deluxe gazebo pull-through, and deluxe patio pull-through categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with cable TV, sized to 65 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. The gazebo and patio categories are worth requesting — they add genuine outdoor living space. Twenty cabins, houses, and lodges and 11 glamping sites round out the accommodations. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side, with WiFi throughout. Two policies: only golf carts rented from the resort are permitted on the property, and quiet hours begin at 11pm. An outdoor pool and hot tub anchor the summer, with mini-golf, sports courts, basketball, horseshoes, a playground, pavilion, community fire pit, and walking trails across the forested grounds. Stargazing and birding are strong under the pines. Pets are welcome. The resort sits at the doorstep of Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and the Black Hills National Forest, with both national and state park access close. Summer is peak, and the August Sturgis rally tightens the region. Reserve well ahead.

from $24/night