Horsethief Lake Campground

We were looking for a 1st-come 1st-serve site., and this was the first place we checked when we entered Black Hill NF. Some campsites are paved, but the 1st-come sites are not. That didn't bother us. Horse Thief Lake is a great little lake for swimming, fishing and kayaking. We spent most of our time on the lake.

The negative.
1)The campground host is a misogynistic a-hole, who questioned why I was letting my wife back the trailer. Then had stated that he hoped she followed directions well. Not friendly at all.
2)The constant droning of helicopters overhead, from 8am to dusk. The NP in Black Hills, has allowed commercial helicopter tours of the park, and there is one flying overhead every 10 minutes.

We were looking for a c/g close to all of the sites in the Black Hills. We also need a first come, first served site as we had no reservations. Luckily, we got one of the last two sites available and enjoyed our time so much we stayed one night longer than planned. This is a well-maintained, lovely place. The lake is mainly for fishing, but there is also a wonderful trailhead for hiking a few hundred feet up the road. (one can also mt. bike or horseback ride along certain sections) and Mt. Rushmore is just 3 miles down the road the other direction. While there was no cell service at our site, there are certain areas where a bar or two of cell service was accessible. We would definitely recommend this NFS campground.

Paying for camping is proving more and more difficult as we discover more and more free, exquisite spots like those found in abundance throughout Wyoming. $5 or $10 seems worth it though, if for the access to the vault toilets alone. Packing out all of the nastier bits you’ve packed in is probably the only downside to free camping, but we’ve decided that catholes are no longer plausible with the multitude of campers in the forest these days.

Horsethief is not an Abe Lincoln affair, despite being just 2 miles or so from his visage as the only social distanced President on Rushmore. At $26, we’re scrounging for quarters to make the full payment. Here in the Black Hills, where dozens of campgrounds host hundreds of campers,–and with such “high” fees–a credit card system would be nice.

We score the largest of three remaining sites at 6 o’clock on a Wednesday in August, during Sturgis. The spot behind our van is RV Park close, but the forest in front of us obscures us from most other campers.

The pristine lake for which the campground is named is immediately accessible, with soothingly frigid waters easily accessible right from the campground. The tacos I cook please everyone in the family. The campground hostess, while not initially over-friendly, smiles and approaches my newborn baby, which I quickly shield for reasons of current affairs. However, she realizes my uneasiness, keeps her distance and does not offer him a poison apple, and so our host to camper relationship is improved.

No Verizon. Clean vault toilet.

We've stayed here twice - three times if you count the one nighter in the nearby horse camp, Beautiful setting with mostly private and spacious sites, Near Rushmore, Custer SP and several awesome USFS back roads. On both occasions, the hosts went out of their way to get us a site (we didn't have reservations) and to make sure we enjoyed our stay.

We pulled in to this site around 2pm and the campground filled by 3pm. We did not have a reservation, but still got a good site. She told us which sites were available and to come back and let her know which one we wanted. Site was level parking and a grassy spot for tents sitting just below in the trees. Has a picnic table and firepit, she sells bundles of wood and ice. Vault toilets are a short walk away and the lake is a short walk from this site also. Others had brought fishing poles or kayaks. It was peaceful until an camper showed up and started his "chainsaw" sounding generator! Thankfully he did turn it off at 10pm and then they sat outside having fun till 3am. It's a short drive past Mount Rushmore to get into Keystone, maybe 4 miles to pick up any other needs. There is a water spigot at the restroom for filling jugs, etc.

Reserved our campsite online in advance after striking out at Custer State Park. Selected site 17 and we had perhaps the best spot in the whole campground! We were right on the lake.

We read the reviews in advance including about Gloria, the camp host. We arrived and sat at the entrance hut for approximately 3 minutes with no sign of life. We edged forward to the Camp Host site and slowed down, rolled down the window and again, no sign of life. Many of the other camp sites are telling campers to head to site due to COVID precautions. We headed to the site and started backing in. We got out to be lambasted by Gloria on her 4 wheeler. She yelled at us for not checking in and when we told her we had waited at the hut and stopped at Camp Host site she yelled we did a “rolling stop”. Heck of a greeting! She allowed us to unhitch before check in. We went back up to the hut to complete the paperwork and she acted like she did not even know who we were. Odd. Perhaps some senility kicking in? After that hiccup, the rest of the stay was glorious!

The site itself was gravel pad with picnic table and fire pit with grill. We are pulling a 14’ teardrop trailer and the site barely accommodated both the trailer and our van so site 17 not for larger rigs. The picnic bench on one side was broken with steel bars sticking up with caution cones. Fortunately we are only a couple and we didn’t use the table. There are no site hook ups but we were blessed with low temperatures and a very nice breeze the whole time so no air conditioning needed. There is potable water spigot available across from site. Campfire wood and ice are available from host. I did not use the bathroom facilities as it is just a vault toilet and was “unpleasant” according to my partner. (We have a portable toilet.) No shower facilities.

The location is perfect for outings to Mount Rushmore, Keystone, and Custer State Park. There are restaurants and groceries in nearby towns.

I highly recommend this site. Only drawback to be mentioned for site 17 is that there is a cut through foot path to tent sites on the loop above and we saw some foot traffic cutting through our site to get to the lake. It was a minor disturbance. The main path to the lake is in front of the site so again, you will have folks walking by from time to time. This did not outweigh the pros of this site. Will definitely come back!

What a great spot to stay. We were here June 1st, 2020 and had a wonderful 4 days and 3 nights at the lake. Spots 17, 16, 15 and 18 are the tops in the area bc they are all right by the lake and in some shade. The lake is perfect for swimming, paddle board, kayak, canoe or fishing. Kids had a blast and the views are top notch. Super close to Rushmore and town of Keystone which is cute and fun for kids. The pit toilets were clean and always stocked. Felt like we had the place to just a few of us which was nice too. Cell reception was non-existent for us (Verizon) when in the campground - a blessing really. Will be back for sure. Loved it here.