Game Lodge Campground

Join us on a walking tour of the Custer State Park Game Lodge Campground. Custer State Park is the most popular state Park in South Dakota. The Game Lodge Campground is the most accessible campground within the park. In this video, I show you the best campsites and provide a walking tour of campground amenities. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 8.32 Mbps download speed and 3.53 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 80.5 Mbps download speed and 3.94 Mbps upload speed. T-Mobile cellular service clocked in at 0.42 Mbps download speed and 0.01 Mbps upload speed.

We had to split our stay btwn sites 22 & 51. 22 was slightly longer with more shade.

We loved this campground. It was clean, plenty of room at sites, trees for shade and bison.

Pros: clean bathroom, flush toilets, good showers (also they were free), a couple fishing ponds, ranger programs,
Super close to wildlife loop

Electric only. Dump station in campground. (Also one at the beginning of the wildlife loop)

The bison hung around the campground for 3 days. We loved it. (Note: the bison use the swimming pond. As a result, we did not.)

Went on wildlife loop 4 times: one time early in the am (6am), no one around (except for wildlife); 2 times at dusk, once mid-day. Don’t bother with mid-day.

Site 10E looks right into your neighbor. Bad design. Low spruce hedge would help between sites. Asked camp maintenance worker if I could place mulch that was piled up opposite the camp in muddy area in front of door. He handed me a shovel and bags and said get it yourself. I did it myself. Many areas need mulch or gravel. Only other complaint toooo many dogs barking. One dog left in RV barked nonstop for hours two days. These are just recommendations. Park is best in middle of park. Near all major sites to see.

Only stayed one night, and all said and done, the $40 price (including the requisite non-resident surcharge) plus the $20 park entrance permit hardly constituted the best value. We didn't have a lot of time, and our primary purpose for visiting this state park was for the bison corral, the highlight of which was at a specific point along the Wildlife Loop (a 1-2 hour drive). In hindsight, probably would have just paid the $20 park entrance fee, driven the Wildlife Loop and moved on. That said, if you are visiting during peak season with the intent of spending a few days visiting the park and other key sites in the area (i.e. Mount Rushmore, Custer, Keystone), this still might be the best price you'll find. Since we were on a tight timeline and the rainy weather didn't lend itself to a lot of hiking, just feel we could have done it differently.
Amenity wise, the positives were that the bathhouse was clean, the main dump station in the park was within this campground and there is a nice paved trail that runs a long ways between this campground and some others within the park. Wasn't able to get a T-Mobile connection.

This was our 2nd stay at Game Lodge Campground. Yes, the sites are electric only, yes, I had to go carry water from the spigots to our trailer, yes, I had to use our tote tank to go dump, yes we had 16" of snow (in mid March 2021) and YES! IT WAS AWESOME! There are few words to describe how much we love Custer State Park and Game Lodge Campground. The amount of wildlife you will see right from your campsite is unbelievable. During our stay we had Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Bison, and Bighorn Sheep, stroll behind our campsite. Game Lodge campground is located directly across from the Visitor Center and the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop. We took full advantage of being so close to the wildlife loop and drove it in the early morning and evening to maximize our chance to see wildlife. Another benefit is the cell service! We had 4 bars of Verizon 4G service. Game Lodge is the only campground with reliable cell service. We were in site 1 but have stayed in 1 and 2, both are great sites! We payed $39.50 which included taxes and the out of state fee. March and early April can be a tricky time to stay due to the unpredictable weather, but having almost the entire campground to yourself is an awesome experience! Here is our latest stay at Game Lodge Campground: https://youtu.be/SS0SbKR6e70

Be sure to take in the surrounding area, as it is very beautiful. Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse parks are a must see. We drove in from stays in Wyoming and western S Dakota and enjoyed each step of the way. Glad to be here during a couple of days snow fall especially so since we are from Louisiana.
Campground has clean bathrooms and showers with sites spaced adequately apart with electric and water but no sewer.

Very nice campground. We got a site that was on the far side perimeter. Most of the others are in the full sun. Ours was a pull thru site with electric. No water at the site. Nice large clean showers. We found out when we arrived at the park that you must have a vehicle pass that costs and additional $20 even if you are camping. It was in the fine print and makes one night stay quite expensive.

This was my first time in South Dakota. I was surprised at the beauty of the Black Hills Forest.
This is a very pleasant campground. It had power and water. There is a dump station in the campground, but less than a mile away is a nicer dump station. It is very clean, has grass, and lots of trees. It has a creek that flows into a small pond at the entrance.
There are trails to use for biking or hiking.

10/08/19 thru 10/09/19 - 1 Nights - $36.21 - 42' 5th Wheel

Custer State Park - 13329 US Hwy 16A - Custer, SD 57730 - (605) 255-4515 - Space 8

Excellent Park. Nice grass spacing between RV's. Asphalt and level parking. Laundrymat. Very nice and clean bath houses. Creek. Across from Custer State Park Visitor Center. About 45 minutes from Mount Rushmore. Take Hwy 79 South from Rapid City. Take 39 across to Custer SP. DO NOT come from the north on Hwy 16A. 3 tunnels too small for most RVs. Buffalo in park. Fence between park and Buffalo. Lots of deer outside park heading to Mount Rushmore. Extreme grades on roads to Mount Rushmore (Hwy 40/244).

E/W - 50A electric.
Dump Station
No TV antenna reception
No Verizon Cell Service

This is a very nice park and friendly to Big Rigs.

Camp Host was on site.

The drive from this park to Mt Rushmore is scenic and beautiful with interesting wood/log bridges. Mt. Rushmore itself is undergoing construction. There is no entry fee but a mandatory parking fee of $10. During this construction, visitors are restricted from the amphitheater. Construction also blocks the view when you first arrive. But you won't be disappointment. You can still take the stairs up most of the way to the carvings. BTW...We did not find the National Treasure there :)

Could only give 3 stars for access due to the RV Tunnel limitations of Hwy 16A. You will wind back and forth on Hwy 39 into the park area. Slow travel is required.