Game Lodge Campground

Awesome little campground. Make sure you do the wildlife loop and go slowly to catch all the Buffalo, Prong Horn and Deer.

The small lake in the campground looks like a nice place to cast a line.

The showers had hot water and were totally functional. They are located inside the Men's Bathroom, and are partitioned off with dressing areas and are free.

The park is located perfectly to make trips to Mt. Rushmore, and the local sights.

There are numerous campgrounds in the park, some close sooner than others, so make sure you look at the one you want carefully.

Make sure you take the drive up South Playhouse to 16A and go through the Tunnels if you are NOT dragging the trailer or have a high tall rig (only go with your regular car/suv). The drive is amazing and the views are unbelievable, including 2 or 3 places where the road is perfectly cut to point right at Rushmore, including one of the Tunnels that frames Rushmore as you go into it. Notice the Pigs Tail bridges that cross over and under each other. It is just an amazing drive.

Another amazing campground was Center Lakes, but for us it was closed for the season. But that is up Playhouse road and is off the beaten path.

The noise level is at a medium because of the motorcycle traffic on the main park road, and that can be much worse depending on the time of year such as with Strugis in full tilt.

What a beautiful spacious campground this is. It has something for everyone - large back in sites - tent camping along the creek, small cabins, fishing in the pond and everything is spaced apart so you are not on top of each other. There are showers, laundromat and dump/water site on the premises. Visitor Center across the street and nightly talks in the barn. Make a right outside the entrance and you are on the Wildlife loop and it really lives up to it’s name with beards of Bison, Deer, Pronghorn, Elk.... It’s also close to Mt. Rushmore and and the Needles highway - which we recommend the drives (if you have a car). Great cell coverage - we were able to stream shows to our TV via ATT. We’ll be back here for sure!!!

We stayed here for 5 nights starting 5/19/2019 Thought the snow was done. First night 12 inches plus about 6 the next day. Unexpected at that time of year. Park and surrounding area without power 24 hours.

Our site was level and paved with 30 Amp service. Not much privacy between sites. Campground had 2 bathhouses and several vault toilets. The bathhouses were good and warm each having 3 showers. We had a laundry right across the street that was in good working order. No air TV.

Campground is across the street from the visitors center and at one end of the wildlife loop road. Small gift shop with fuel about 1/2 mile near Game Lodge. Best town for supplies was Custer which was 12-15 miles away. Campground trees are on the small side so you have lots of open sky for solar panels or night star viewing.

Park staffed kept us informed as to storm related power issues.

We loved staying at Game Lodge! We wish we booked for longer than 2 nights, we can’t wait to go back. Campsites are asphalt pads and are nicely spaced. Each site has electricity. There are water spigots near the bathrooms if you need Potable Water. There is also a dump station in the campground. Bathrooms are clean and have showers. There is a fishing pond and a playground. We loved that the campground is directly across the street from Visitor Center and right next to the beginning of the wildlife loop. We unfortunately didn’t get to have any Bison behind our campsite but they were just up the hill on the wildlife loop about 1/4 mile from the campground where we also saw White Tailed Deer, Pronged horn antelope and Elk all in the same meadow.

Custer State Park is one of our most favorite parks...you will see wildlife, and its often right out your back door. We stayed in the Game Lodge campground, which is right next to the entrance of the Wildlife Loop and your ticket to seeing herds of buffalo, often right next to the road.

This is an excellent campground. We stayed in site #11 which is right near the dump station, water source and laundromat. There is an excellent paved walking path that runs for miles; its a short walk, from here, to both the Visitor Center and the Game Lodge. The food is excellent at the Lodge, but expect to pay a pretty penny for your food. The Visitor Center has a wonderful large screen theater and the excellent movie is narrated by Keven Costner.

We stayed here a total of two nights. The site had a concrete parking pad, spacious sites, fire pit, electrical hookups, playground in the park and a dump station nearby There is a bathroom and showers onsite, but we did not use them so I am unsure on quality. Only about five minutes away from the start of the wildlife loop and few minutes away from a wonderful general store/gift shop. We had a wonderful time and ever had buffalo Neely a few feet away from our trailer. There is a fee to get into the park. We purchased the annual fee for $35, unsure what the daily rates are. The park is near a main road through the park but the noise wasn’t awful .

We stayed at Game Lodge in April on our way to the PNW and loved it so much we came back on our way back through. Our experience is probably a tad different than most peoples since both times it was cold and snowed. The payoff for enduring the weather though is the campground to yourself!
There are 20,30 and 50 amp hook ups at the site, but no water connections. There is a water spigot and dump station centrally located in the campground, and another dump station just up the hill on the Wildlife Loop. The laundry is closed in the winter, but the Lost Sock in Custer is a great one of you need one.
Be aware that there is a $20 park vehicle fee in addition to the campsite fees.
ATT service was great at the campground and around many areas of Custer and Windcave.