Game Lodge Campground

This campsite is in the heart of Custer SP. The campsite has coin operated laundry room and RV dump station. Our campsite was very shady and quiet. The camp host was very friendly and knowledgeable. The campground is near the State Game Lodge and General Store. There are several hiking trails nearby and a nice kids playground. The campgrounds have two nice restrooms with showers.

Due to hardly any AT&T cell service in our Oerville Campground, no showers, no electric, and no dump station, we canceled our next reservation in the similar Bismarck Primitive Campground and luckily booked another site back at Game Lodge Campground which provides all the above. We forfeited the $22.00 we had previously paid for one night at Bismarck and spent another $39.50 for this one important night at Game Lodge, which for some of us would seem pretty stupid. But I don’t care. Our next planned adventure is for three nights, weather permitting, in the Badlands and we wanted to get better prepared for the coming unknown. We packed up early and arrived back at Game Lodge around 11:30 AM . Our site 33E was vacant so we set up camp. Next, a nice shower in their very clean restrooms and a load of laundry was completed as well in their nice little laundromat. A short nap followed and then some more relaxation in preparation for our next day of exciting travel. All worth it as Game Lodge is the best place to camp IMO in all The Black Hills.

Notwithstanding the injustices festered here, this park is one of the most beautiful and astounding places we have ever been. Words cannot describe the majesty of this place. Game Lodge Campground itself is a gem as it provides, if desired, electricity on sites as well as the cleanest shower rooms and a coin-operated laundry facility. Our site was 51E and it cost us about $34.00 per night. We were lucky to get three nights at this site, and still wish we had more. The park’s main information center is across the street and there is a stadium seating theater inside and a beautiful but short large-screen video showing off what the park has to offer. There are also interactive displays and materials in which to get a better idea of what to do and see throughout the entire park system while visiting. The actual Game Lodge is also less than a mile away and offers very good food at reasonable prices. Game Lodge Campground is centrally located to just about everything.

We stayed at the Game Lodge campground in Custer State Park for five nights beginning May 8, 2022. Granted, we were early in the season but Game Lodge and three other park campgrounds were the only ones of the eight open. Yet, when we arrived on Sunday evening the campground couldn't have been half full. Although it did fill to almost capacity by later in the week. The campground was clean and organized, the utilities worked, the bath-house was immaculate and the campground host was terrific. We even had two bison greet us from the other side of the fence (to keep them out of the campground). In fact they pretty much hung around the Lodge/Campground/Visitor's Center all week. This campground was perfect for two older adults but didn't have much to offer children but a small play area and a swimming pond. If you're traveling with a family you'd be better served by some of the other more resort-style campgrounds. Game Lodge campground is rather out-in-the-open with few trees which was great given the time of year and the limited warm sunshine. If you value a more in-the-woods style of camping the Blue Bell Campground might be more to your liking. None the less, Game Lodge is centrally located to all of the driving loops in Custer, and the other nearby sites such as Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave National Park, the Black Hills and even the Badlands are only 90 minutes away. In five days driving the park roadways we saw over 50 bison, long horn sheep, antelope, turkeys, pheasants, and hundreds of prairie dogs! All from the car, or from short hiking trails. All in all a fantastic place to visit, and a great place to camp.

Reservations easily made online. Stayed here November 5th-8th. Park not very busy. Only one bath house still open, but did not use. Paved roads and sites, easy to level. Fire pit and picnic table at site. Lots of trees and grass. Sites are spaced out nicely, reminds of National Park, COE campgrounds. Water spigot and dump were still open. Good Verizon signal. Able to text, search the internet, and stream videos. Would definitely stay here again.

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