Rafter J Bar Ranch

Large private gravel lots, Laundry facilities and bathrooms were cleaned and excellent. We very much enjoyed our stay here. My only negative is the customer service was lacking. The men working were not very friendly and it was off season so not like they were too busy. A lot is said for a friendly smile after a long day on the road. But with that said we loved this campground and would for sure stay here again.

Excellent location. Easy drive from Rapid City and I-90. Short drives to major attractions like Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park.

The staff was extremely helpful and accommodating. Very pleased with the customer service. They will receive FedEx and UPS packages and helped us change sites when we asked to.

Everything was well maintained. It’s a beautiful park. Sites are a pretty good size overall. Normally, we don’t stay at parks this expensive, but we felt our money was well spent.

Several places to do laundry on site. But the laundry room in the Main camp area was the largest. You can change dollars for quarters at the office.

Hill City is a short drive (less than 10 minutes) if you need gas or food. But we would recommend Custer (15 minutes away) - more options, larger grocery store, things stay open later.

Cell service varies throughout the park. We would recommend the Island (50 mbps down) or the Ranch (30 mbps down). However, we noticed some issues / slow downs as we got into the holiday weekend and the area became more crowded - the staff warned us that there just aren’t enough towers in the area during the busy season. We had similar experiences with both Verizon and AT&T.

There is just a tiny bit of highway noise. Not enough to bother us, but you don’t feel like you are in the middle of no where. If you are trying to get away from that, The Ranch is a bit further from the road.

This is truly one of the best campgrounds, period. There are a number of areas within the campground, all with their own feel. We stayed in Ranch Camp which we liked as it felt a bit remote but it was a quick bike ride to the playground, pool and camp store. The pool is nice and big with views of the mountains. The sites are clean, well laid out and there is some privacy (although not much). The location cannot be beat as you are about 15-30 minutes from basically everything within the Black Hills. We would absolutely stay here again if we can find a site.

I've read multiple reviews of this place being one of the top ten campgrounds in the country, and this place absolutely deserves it's reputation. You'll need to reserve early, their reservations open in November, and from what I hear they mostly fill up for the season within a couple of days. Check-in was easy, facilities were very nice. Pool is awesome. Sites are very spacious, you have plenty of room between you and your neighbors. I was struck by the amount of green space here... they could easily triple or quadruple the number of campsites. Our view from the front of our campsite was acres of green grass and the mountains. We loved staying in the Lower Ranch Camp area, although really any of their areas are super nice. It's about a ten minute drive to Crazy Horse and about 20 minute windy road to Mt. Rushmore. Custer State Park is equally close and is amazing. We'll be back and will plan to stay longer next time. RV Atlas podcast has a great description of this place that fits it to a T, it is well worth a listen.

This campground is very large but well spaced out into several 'camps'. Our site in Main Camp was very nice with RV and Tenting sites plus several full service cabins. It was well looked after daily by campground staff. The welcome desk was efficient, friendly and accommodating to our special requests. We did not use the amenities like the pool etc. but many of the campers did. It is well located to all the Black Hills recreation and tourist stuff. Our site had water and electric and we were able to 'borrow' a sewer hookup from a nearby site upon departure. It is a far more attractive campground than many others in the areas as it was roomy, quiet, shady and convenient. We had cell service but no internet. Internet was available at the office. The 'camp' restrooms / showers / laundry was clean, well kept and looked after daily by staff. We would stay here again but the price was higher than we normally like to pay. It was not a bargain but worth the price.

We couldn’t have been happier! Large sites, no neighbors on either side added to the spacious feel. The ranch is immaculately kept and a great place to walk around with the dogs. Seeing the sunrise (despite the smoke haze from the west coast) in the large open field In the middle with the beautiful mountain backdrop is a must! Another small but important detail: their fire wood is dry and aged - too many times we buy wood from the camp store only to realize it’s too wet to burn. Happy to pay $6/bundle for it. May want to have an extension sewage hose with you as the drain was toward the entry of our site and would limit your trailer positioning flexibility without hose extension (depending on where ones sewage tank drains). Sad to leave... internet was spotty. Both ATT and Verizon Mifi hotspots struggled to get beyond 2 bars...

We had stayed here a couple of times, maybe 10-15 years ago in a tent but recently stayed in our RV. We had reserved a spot in The Island sites. We had a large back-in spot with more than enough room to accommodate our 30ft trailer plus truck. These spots in The Island would comfortably accommodate a 35ft+ trailer with plenty space for your tow vehicle.

One of the things that always stood out to me about this campground from our tent visits was how spacious the sites were and how much privacy that gave you. Same comment for this visit after all these years. Lots of space, lots or privacy and very quiet sites even when busy.

The campground has great facilities for children, a well stocked camping store with necessities and a big outdoor pool.

One downside, at least for our site was how un-level it was. It took several attempts to get level and even when we did our Anderson Levellers were as far back as they could go. Other sites looked a lot more level though. A minor gripe; if you like WIFI at your campsite, you wouldn't be happy here. The WIFI is only available in the Office and at the Base Camp sites. Verizon signal was good enough though. Will definitely stop here when in the Black Hills again.