Stockade Lake North Campground

Intended to camp at another campground but it closed October 1st. Very clean and hot water in showers. Over-priced for a site with no electric or water ($26). Stockade Lake South has tent sites for $15 but none were available. Also South Dakota does not honor America The Beautiful passes so no discounts available. After our two-day stay we will be moving to disbursed camping close by so we can still use Custer State Park access ($20 for 1-7 days).

The campsite is tucked into a nice shaded spot in the pine trees. A hiking trail starts near the campsite which goes around the lake. The campsite restrooms and showers are well maintained and camp hosts are very helpful and friendly. One item to know is that the actual campsite parking area has a little slope which might be an issue for some but we used some leveling blocks to bring our rig into level. This campsite is close to Custer for easy access to shopping and restaurants.

Made a reservation online which was straightforward and pretty easy. It was a bit confusing pulling into the campsite area. A couple of signs would have been helpful. Other than that this campground is nice the spots are spread out relatively well. It’s close to the city of Custer should you want to go to dinner or need to purchase a forgotten item. The lake is nice, it’s a bit of a walk to get to it. The bathrooms are okay. I would defiantly stay here again.

Great campground. Some sites have hook ups, some don’t. Stayed in one without, but just across from showed and camp host. It was a pull off site, not back in. Was worried about traffic, but not an issue. Some sites had tent pads also. Had a lot of wake up availability in late June. Was surprised about that since reservations were unavailable.

We spent 3 nights in this campground, and were sad to leave it behind. We will return in the future. Nice level campsite amongst tall Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine trees. The squirrels were busy harvesting their winter food supply, managing to drop several pine cones on the camper. No damage was done, all part of living in the beauty of nature.

Campground was quiet. Vault toilets throughout campground were clean as were the flush toilets and showers that were available near the entrance. Sites near the entrance seemed too closely spaced but sites down the hill toward the back provided more space between units. Our site was plenty big and level. No undergrowth so not real private, but tall pines provided good shade and most campers had elec so it was quiet. Site 23E had a path down to the lake but most sites didn’t.
Such a wide variety of things to do and see in the area: Crazy Horse monument, Mt Rushmore, Spearfish Canyon, Needles Highway, Iron Highway, Wind Cave and WC NP, Jewel Cave, the wildlife loop, Sylvan Lake, variety of hiking opportunities, and numerous museums in various small towns. We highly recommend visiting the area and staying at Stockade Lake North when you do. Only downside was no dump station so that could limit the length of your stay.