Top of the Mountain Dispersed Camping

Space for a handful of small rigs here, maybe a big rig or two. I'm in a minivan camper, so didn't have any issues getting level. (although I highly suggest levelers).

3-4 bars of Verizon, which was excellent!!!

The views are to die for. Quiet. Plenty of shade from the trees but enough sun for solar.

Gravel road up the mountain. Any rig should be able to make it. Close to Deadwood!

YouTube: Adventuring With Amanda

Stayed here for 10 days during a heat wave. Not the same coordinates as listed, so may be a different site. The cords I obtained are: 44.387036, -103.760793. Elevation is: 5517’. One day it got to 90s, but Deadwood was 103 degrees. There was a nice breeze every day. There is room for 3-4 campers and perhaps a tent, definitely no big rigs. There is a view from the bluff that we saw deer in the meadow, a view of Deadwood (don’t miss the lights of Deadwood turn on, all at the same time) and the surrounding hills and mountains, and heard the call of Common Nighthawks. Sites are relatively level, campfires are currently prohibited, traffic dies down at dusk. Hiking along Mount Roosevelt Road in both directions but watch for ATVs. Don’t miss hiking Mount Roosevelt Friendship Tower trail and up to the top of the tower (1.3 mile from parking lot), which also has a vault toilet, but no garbage disposal.

Approach Mount Roosevelt Road from Rt 85 at the Lodge of Deadwood turnoff (the route from Deadwood is rough), continue past the Lodge on paved road, follow sign to continue on Mount Roosevelt Road, which then turns to gravel. Decent gravel road, some washboard. Continue past Mount Roosevelt parking lot for picnic area (there’s a sign) and trailhead to the Mount Roosevelt Friendship Tower approx 1/2 mile. There’s a big pullout suitable for a big rig on the right. Opposite the pullout on the left is a uphill turnoff leading to the camping area and bluff.

First night I camped here I saw view of Deadwood, next night view was obscured by smoke from Canadian wildfire. There's a gravesite/memorial to Harley at campsite.

I camped in a 20’ campervan, had no problem going uphill with 2-wheel drive, and needed minimal leveling. Remember Leave No Trace, Pack it In/Pack it Out, and Leave it cleaner than you found it. This site is pristine. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The road here is unpacked and bumpy but not too bad. Turn uphill from the GPS coordinates to find a relatively level summit surrounded by trees. Not much room to turn around for a big rig, but a nice stop for me in my van. There is room for 2 vans/campers.

There was a tent here in the better of the 2 spots when I arrived about 8 pm. The folks came in late and bustled around for an hour, and left. I woke to a collapsed tent with a bunch of stuff inside. I wonder if they will return to remove it?

The road here is unpacked and bumpy but not too bad. Turn uphill from the GPS coordinates to find a relatively level summit surrounded by trees. Not much room to turn around for a big rig, but a nice stop for me in my van. There is room for 2 vans/campers.

There was a tent here in the better of the 2 spots when I arrived about 8 pm. The folks came in late and bustled around for an hour, and left. I woke to a collapsed tent with a bunch of stuff inside. I wonder if they will return to remove it?

Mt Roosevelt Road goes in a loop from the highway and back down to Deadwood. The directions people are using are from the highway. However, I was already in Deadwood, so when I used GPS it directed me up Denver St, which is an incredibly narrow, theoretically two direction, residential street, and Mt Roosevelt Road is a right hand turn off of Denver St. the road is narrow and bumpy and I could not believe that people were taking trailers and larger rigs up this road. (I have a converted van).

I stayed a very quiet and peaceful night at the top of the mountain. Stunning views and surprisingly good cell service.

In the morning, GPS told me to continue on Mt Roosevelt Road rather than going back the way I came. And that’s when I saw the larger pull-outs and the pit toilets other reviewers had written about. So, FYI, the road goes in a loop, and if you have a larger rig, get there from the highway.

Stayed Here 8/19 – 8/23/20. The entrance was a long dirt road. When we got to our campsite we had a view down onto the town of deadwood. It was quite a sight. We had only intended on staying here a night or two but ended up staying here longer because we enjoyed ourselves so much. This is a dispersed campsite and there are no amenities.

This place is as good as everyone says. I appreciated the detailed guidance on how to get up the road and where the sites are too. We found the last site for a larger rig (24' trailer) and it had the most stellar view.

TIP: you CAN turn around up there. Despite what someone else said about not going past mile 3.1, you can do it even in a big rig (assuming it is not super wet/muddy). The road keeps going past the turnouts and at around 3.5 or 3.6 miles there are two cross roads that branch off the main road and it was really easy to turn around there. In fact, the site we were in required us to back up a somewhat narrow track so being able to turn around first made it pretty easy. The hill is steep but you should be able to get up without trouble if you aren't pulling something bigger than you should, AND you can turn around at around 3.5 miles so if you can't find a spot (it was nearly full on 9/23/20) you can still get back out.

Really worth it to stay here.