Belle Fourche Dam & Reservoir

The coordinates stop in the middle of a gravel road at a turn. I took the turn (only goes right). There were a few other campers around the lake but we could only see one from our spot. The weather was beautiful and so was the open view. Bugs weren’t too bad in September. Was glad to find a clean fire ring and made sure to leave it how I found it. The dog had room to explore and loved it as much as I did. As a solo female camper I highly recommend! I felt safe and relaxed. As other reviewers have mentioned - let’s keep it nice and pick up after ourselves! So grateful for this spot!

We got here on a Sunday afternoon and there was NOWHERE to park but we got lucky with one group leaving. By Monday afternoon the lake was pretty much empty and we had a pick of any site we wanted. It’s free and there are a TON of spots with picnic tables and fire rings RIGHT on the water. The weekends have been packed but still quiet. Pit bathrooms and dumpsters. It’s hard to tell if the dump station and water is free or paid, but I think it’s free. There’s a small store just a few miles away with ice and beer and a couple snacks, but the town is only 8 miles away and felt more than comfortable leaving the trailer unattended to go grab dinner and groceries. There’s a lot of bugs, like.. a lot. There’s very limited shade so keep that in mind in summer months. It’s mid July and 101° today, but the trees do bring more spiders and bugs while the grass spots do have mice. This is the best find we’ve come across since we started full time and I never want to leave. The lightning storms are amazing, the water is clear and beautiful and it’s not cold. This is the biggest lake I’ve seen. If you are anywhere near the area, I highly recommend swinging through.

Nice sites close to the water. Picnic table, fire ring and pit cement pit toilets which are clean. They also provided a load of firewood. I was in the first loop, and there isn't much shade. So beware of that to have something on hand. Gets noisy on the water during the weekend, but quiet at night. I needed to fill a couple of 5gal jugs, and the gal and the gate let me go in for free to fill.

Beautiful views! Pretty lakes! Super quiet! And free! Hardly anyone here. Good cell service. Big spacious sites with lots of room to roam. Close to town and supplies and the Visitor Center in Belle Fourche has a dump site and a really nice museum. Did see some trash left in fire rings by previous campers. Do better people so we can have continued access to our lands!

This is a beautiful spot right on the lake!! They even have picnic tables and fire rings at every spot!! We really enjoyed this treasure during our June trip to South Dakota! Unfortunately, a hail storm went through and tornado landed nearby. We did safely spend the storm in an outhouse with another couple and the local volunteer firemen went camper to camper to make sure everyone was safe. We felt bad for the damage in town; but we were very impressed with their spirit of kindness and helpfulness to all. What a wonderful community!!

We stayed here in mid June. There are biting flies. But not bad with the breeze.

Easy access from Belle Fourche (Foosh) on 212. Follow the signs.

Turn left at state park entrance. About two miles of washboard. Wonderful clean lakeside sites. Clean pit toilet. Big dumpster. Some gravel sites. Not level but you don’t have to worry about getting stuck. Dog owners, please clean up before leaving.

Fire pit. Did not use. Too breezy for fire. Quality picnic table. Pretty new. About 150 feet between sites. Other generators were not a problem!

Took the canoe out a lot. Check your marine regulations. We saw fish feeding. But we did not fish. No licenses. We saw fish caught.

Plains camping! Meadowlarks singing all day. Right in camp. Black birds feeding on the bugs! Yay! A few cottonwood trees on the shore. No shade.

Bugs went away with the evening breeze. First quarter moon on the evening lake. Glorious thistles. Even saw an antelope doe.

Great solar exposure. Our batteries were full before noon. And the breeze was wonderful. Nice and quiet and un crowded.

We had internet connection with Verizon Jet Pack. Too slow for streaming. No idea what speed is available.

We stayed here 8/26 – 9/8/20. This dispersed camping area includes vault toilets, dumpsters, fire pits, and picnic tables. During our 14 day stay we camped in two different spots. The first was on Middle Point and the Second spot was on Gadens Point. Both spots had great views of the water. There is a free dump station in Belle Fourche at the Center of the Nation Visitor Center. The camping areas were beautiful and the services provided for a free campsite were really great. We were very disappointed in the amount of litter we found. Dumpsters are available as previously mentioned but site to site service is not. The cleanliness is not a reflection on the land management. It is a reflection on the campers not taking self-responsibility and picking up after themselves. Behaviors like this will shut down great places like this to RVers in the future.

It's hard to believe, but you can look right across the water at campers in the State Park, paying at least $26 per night (though they do have electric) for the same view. This location was easy to get to using the satellite view on google maps. We had no problem, though once you hit the gravel, it gets really dusty. Just beyond the left turn onto the access road is the State Park dump station, where there is also potable water available. We had a state park vehicle access pass, so I am guessing it was OK to use this facility.
The reservoir has numerous camping locations all around the water. All well spaced from each other so you can get some privacy though there are few trees. When we were here in late June, the wind was absolutely fierce for 2 of the 4 days here, but that was OK as the temps were in the 90's and the wind helped cool us down. Plenty of sunshine for the solar panels, but there were quite a few generators humming. We choose a spot which had our door about 10 feet from the water's edge. Getting down to the spot and maneuvering the rig to where we wanted it was no problem at all.
Some nice day trips from here including Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, and you can also check out the geographical center of the US right in the town of Belle Fourche!!
A great free spot to relax and kick back and enjoy the water view, launch a boat or throw in a line.

This place is great, cant believe its free. The sites are very far apart, several different loops. We stayed in the first loop, not many trees but great for solar. Big rig friendly! Each site has a nice picnic table, and a fire pit. There are pit toilets and they were spotless. We arrived here on a Monday in late September and only two people in our whole loop. Very quiet too. I had two bars of 4G on Verizon and could stream videos just fine. My husband had 5bars of 3G ( his phone isn't 4G) and it was a bit slower but worked.