Planning a trip to the South Dakota area on our way home from Oregon to Florida. We would love to go to Mt. Rushmore,The Badlands and Custer State Park. Other than a state CG can someone help with a nice park with full hookups. Thanks for any help. We are traveling up the northern Ca coast and off to Oregon in the morning. great weather for us crossing the country and we are very grateful!!! Thanks so much!!

We stayed at Rafter J Bar Ranch last fall and thought it was very nice. It has an area that has full hook-ups and other areas that don't. The best thing about it is that it is very centrally located for seeing all the sights in the area. We drove to all the places you mentioned. It is about 10 mi from both Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The fartherest was the Badlands, but it is still easy to do as a day trip. Its reviews are under Hill City, SD on this site.

Another really pretty RV resort is Elkhorn Ridge just outside of Spearfish. It is not as centrally located for what you want to see, but it is a really nice place.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

We have spent about a month each year for the past three at Custer's gulch Rv Park. It is located about 1/2 mile from the state park and there is easy acces to the sights you mention. The park sites are large enough to handle the big rigs and you are llikely going to see deer come through the campground . Not a great place for kids thoug. there is no pool.

Hi,

I don't usually recommend KOA, but there is a lovely one very near Mount Rushmore. They also have car rentals.

If three days is enough in that area, I recommend the free three-day introductory visit at Hart Ranch Resort outside Rapid City. It's $39.99 for the whole visit, and it's one of the nicest parks in the country. Hart Ranch Resort Web Site

We are members there, and when friends have taken advantage of the $39.99 deal they were subjected to no sales pressure whatsoever.

If you like amenities, and don't actually want to "rough it" while camping, then the Hill City/Mount Rushmore KOA is for you. Great pool, horseback riding, restaurant on site, etc. The sites themselves are not wooded but the entire CG is surrounded by gorgeous views of the Black Hills region. The check-in is like a hotel lobby. They have a shuttle to Rushmore and Crazy Horse--very convenient. Sturgis Bike Rally is in that area in August--you might want to check out the dates so you can be prepared. Bikers everywhere! Not a problem except driving among them is nerve-wracking, trying not to hit them with your rig. But they changed our opinion of bikers--they were all so nice to us and our kids. It was amusing to see these big tough biker dudes walking around Rushmore eating ice cream cones and doing all the touristy things we were doing with our kids! Anyway, don't miss Wall Drug--what a tourist trap, but a fun place to stop off for a couple of hours.