Public land camping
Camping in South Dakota
28 federal places to camp in South Dakota, from Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Army Corps of Engineers, on the land they sit on.
- 28
- federal places to camp
- 19 Forest Service, 1 Bureau of Land Management, 4 National Park Service, 4 Army Corps of Engineers
- 707
- campsites you can book ahead
- At the 23 places that take reservations on Recreation.gov. The rest are first come or not listed there
- 6,022 ft
- the highest you can drive to
- Dutchman
- 9
- counties with federal camping
- 12 gateway towns, each with three or more within 30 miles
The South Dakota campground map
Select a pin for its elevation, its sites and its page. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see how you get there, and use the finder for a campground, a town or a peak.
Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.
Map layers
Legend
Federal land, by managing agency
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment
Federal campgrounds, by agency
- Forest Service
- Bureau of Land Management
- National Park Service
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others
State and local land (USGS PAD-US)
- State land
- County and city land
- Regional agency or district
- Land trust or conservancy
BLM roads and trails
Roads Managed for Public Motorized Use
Road
Primitive Road
Roads Managed for Limited Public Motorized Use
Road
Primitive Road
Trails Managed for Public Motorized Use
Trail
Trails Managed for Limited Public Motorized Use
- Trail
Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map
Roads
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal- Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
BLM Wilderness
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area
BLM recreation sites
- Camping
- OHV area
- Trailhead
Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.
Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.
Select any point to see who manages the land.
The map could not start in this browser.
It needs WebGL, which is turned off or unavailable here. You can still browse public land by state, or use the BLM’s own maps.
Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.
Camping near a town
- Buffalo Gap
- Central City
- Custer
- Hill City
- Hot Springs
- Keystone
- Lead
- Piedmont
- Pringle
- Sturgis
- Summerset
- Whitewood
No town by that name has three federal campgrounds within 30 miles. Try the county list below.
Every federal campground in South Dakota
28 places
- Bear Gulch group campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,591 ftelevation 1site 40 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Bismark Lake Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Custer County 5,218 ftelevation 21sites 75 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Black Fox Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Lawrence County 5,894 ftelevation n/asites n/alongest rig First comeor not listed
- Boxelder Forks Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Lawrence County 4,750 ftelevation 13sites 60 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Cedar Pass Campground Park Service · Badlands National Park · Jackson County 2,422 ftelevation 83sites 65 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Cold Brook Campground Army Corps · Cold Brook Lake · Fall River County 3,589 ftelevation 12sites n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Comanche Park Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Custer County 5,515 ftelevation 20sites 71 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Cottonwood (Ne) Army Corps · Lewis and Clark Lake · Yankton County 1,180 ftelevation 76sites 80 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Cottonwood Springs Campground Army Corps · Cottonwood Springs Lake · Fall River County 4,002 ftelevation 17sites 67 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Dalton Lake Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Lawrence County 4,400 ftelevation 10sites 55 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Dutchman Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 6,022 ftelevation 34sites 61 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Elk Mountain Campground Park Service · Wind Cave National Park · Custer County 4,223 ftelevation 64sites 36 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Fort Meade Recreation Area camping area BLM · Meade County n/aelevation n/asites n/alongest rig First comeor not listed
- Green Island Primitive Camping Park Service · Missouri National Recreational River · Yankton County 1,170 ftelevation n/asites n/alongest rig First comeor not listed
- Grizzly Bear Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,620 ftelevation 19sites 54 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Horsethief Lake Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,948 ftelevation 22sites 59 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Iron Creek Horse Camp horse camp Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Custer County 5,146 ftelevation 9sites 50 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Left Tailrace Army Corps · Lake Sharpe · Lyman County 1,367 ftelevation 91sites 80 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Oreville Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 5,323 ftelevation 16sites 78 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Pactola Reservoir Campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,687 ftelevation 53sites 54 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Reva Gap Campground Forest Service · Custer Gallatin National Forest · Harding County 3,253 ftelevation n/asites n/alongest rig First comeor not listed
- Roubaix Lake Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Lawrence County 5,500 ftelevation 30sites 46 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Sage Creek Campground Park Service · Badlands National Park · Pennington County 2,547 ftelevation n/asites n/alongest rig First comeor not listed
- Sheridan Lake Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,638 ftelevation 89sites 77 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Sheridan North Cove Grp Cg group campground Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,668 ftelevation 5sites n/alongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Summit Ridge Lookout Cabin cabin or lookout Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 6,096 ftelevation 1site 40 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Whitetail Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 5,992 ftelevation 12sites 76 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
- Willow Creek Horse Camp horse camp Forest Service · Black Hills National Forest · Pennington County 4,981 ftelevation 9sites 60 ftlongest rig ReserveRecreation.gov
Nothing matches those filters. Clear one and try again.
Camping rules worth knowing in South Dakota
- Dispersed camping on the grassland is marked, and capped at fourteen days
- The Pinnacles Dispersed Camping Area sits south of Wall, just outside the Badlands’ Pinnacles entrance, and the Forest Service has marked 70 designated camping sites there with wooden posts. A 14-day stay limit applies year round. The one instruction the agency adds is about the ground rather than the rules: avoid driving in wet conditions, because the damage is what closes places like this. Source 26
- State park camping opens 90 days out, and a year out at Custer
- Over 50 state parks and recreation areas offer camping in South Dakota, and Game, Fish and Parks takes reservations in most of them within 90 days of arrival. Custer State Park is the exception and books a full year ahead, which is what you would expect of the one people plan a holiday around. In a state where public camping is thin, that difference in the booking window is most of the planning. Source 22
- The Black Hills camping limit changed in 2026
- Forest Order BKF-197-2026 limits camping or occupancy anywhere on the Black Hills National Forest to 14 calendar days, counting parts of days, in any continuous 28-day period. It runs from August 8, 2026 to December 31, 2031. The forest’s recreation pages still print the older rule of 14 days in any 60-day period, so expect to see both. The order sets no distance you must move afterwards. Developed campgrounds have their own 14-consecutive-day limit. Source 10
- Where a vehicle may leave the road to camp
- You may camp with a motor vehicle only where the dispersed camping symbol appears on the Motor Vehicle Use Map, and only within the distance the map gives, up to 300 feet from certain designated roads. That covers roughly 135,500 acres. Camp 100 feet from any creek or stream and half a mile from developed recreation sites. Around developed reservoirs, lakes and campgrounds, camping is only allowed in designated sites. Violating the travel rule under 36 CFR 261.13 carries a fine of up to $5,000. Source 9
- No wood fire outside a developed campground in the South Dakota Hills
- On the South Dakota side of the Black Hills National Forest you may have a campfire only in established campfire grills and grates at designated recreation sites. Gas and fuel-powered stoves are allowed outside developed campgrounds unless a special fire restriction order is in force. The Wyoming portion is different: campfires are allowed in undeveloped areas there after clearing the vegetation and building a ring. Restrictions are set by forest order and posted on the forest’s fire pages. Source 11
Campground records: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), read September 19, 2026. Elevations: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Fees, seasons and limits change; confirm with the managing office before you go.