South Dakota - Montana Owners Club

illapah · 11-14-2005, 08:08 AM

Thinking of spending some time around Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish, & Rapid City, SD next summer. Any thoughts on campgrounds you like?

Anyone stay at the Ellsworth AFB campground?

Ontheroad · 11-14-2005, 08:22 AM

We stayed at the Rafter J Bar Campground last summer. I highly recommend it. Away from traffic noise. It has a variety of large sites. ( open and wooded)
It is located a few miles south of Hill City.

http://www.rafterj.com/

Parrothead · 11-14-2005, 09:53 AM

Looks really nice. Just added to my list as Mt. Rushmore is one of our "must sees". Thanks for the info and recommendation.
Happy trails.................

HamRad · 11-14-2005, 11:05 AM

illapah,
That is such a wonderful area to visit. It would be easy to spend an entire summer in and and around that area. We also stayed at the Rafter Bar J park. It is huge and as indicated you can park in the forest or in the open. When we go back to this area we will stay there again. I hope they don't go up any with their prices. I seem to remember about $33 per night.

We were sort of in a hurry so we didn't get to stay but 3 or 4 nights. But when we go back we will stay at least a month. There is just so much to see up that way.

Happy travels.

HamRad

azstar · 11-14-2005, 12:27 PM

We too have used Rafter Bar J. Very nice.

Another must see just a few miles away from the Camp Ground is the Crazy Horse Monument, and don't miss Custer Park.

Happy camping

adelmoll · 11-14-2005, 12:45 PM

We also have stayed at Rafter J three different times but this year it was closed (Oct) so we went to Heartland Resort in Hermosa on Hwy 79. It was a little further from Custer but it was a Passport America park and we had full hook-up with WIFI for $10.00 per night. There was no limit on the amount of days at this rate. It wasn't quite as nice as Rafter J but the price more than made up for it.

Parrothead · 11-14-2005, 12:48 PM

I think the whole summer there sounds nice. I just checked their average temps and sounds pretty good to me. Much better than the 3 digits we had here all summer. Ed has been tracking the Crazy Horse Monument for ages and that is one of things I noticed, it is close.
Happy trails...................

drifus · 11-14-2005, 12:50 PM

Was there Sept. this year. I like the KOA in Interior, SD. It's in the Badlands (also where I found the cheapest gas that month). Pool, laundry, Wifi, full hookups and nice water pressure. I'd probably stay there again.

Crazy Horse is a must see, try to get there Sept. 6th. It's the anniversary of the death of CH and the birth of the sculptor. They do a laser light show and then a "night blast". I was very moved by the experience. The museums were great, I was however too late for the ride to the base which I plan to do soon.

http://www.crazyhorse.org

You will not be disapointed.

RADHAZJOE · 11-14-2005, 02:03 PM

we stayed several days at ellsworth. Nice park, good manager. We used it as a home base for all the things you want to see. I was disappointed in the night ceremony at black hills. A waste of time.

Montana Sky · 11-14-2005, 02:20 PM

I used to live there and still have many good friends in Rapid City and the hills. I never have used a campground since staying with friends is free. =) There is so much to do I would plan at least a month to see it all, and the summers are awesome. Great temps and lots of sun, just watch out for those few midwest thunderstorms that seem to come through every now and again.

Mac · 11-14-2005, 02:45 PM

We've had a couple family reunions in the Custer area and stayed in the American Presidents Resort. It's obviously close to Custer, Mount Rushmore and Deadwood. It's a nice facility for a family gathering since there are cabins as well as the campground. It's been several years but we enjoyed it then, of course maybe it was all the fun we were having seeing family we hadn't seen in awhile.

We're actually thinking about going back this June and taking my mom for her 80th birthday.

mac

adelmoll · 11-14-2005, 03:24 PM

The first full weekend of June is the Votzwalk where you climb the back side of Crazy Horse. We happened upon it in '04 and decided to hike it. You arrive at the top on his arm right below his nose. It is the only time anybody can go to the top. I was so excited when I made it all the way that Bill bought me a medal. On our way down we ran into a 90 year old lady that was almost at the top. She was hiking with her 70 year old son.

Another time we went the first part of August. Boy was that something to see. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is always the first week of August. While it was really nice to see it was just too crowded everywhere. Imagine 250,000 motorcycles. You would not believe it.

Our favorite is Custer State Park. Check our Journey for pictures.

Parrothead · 11-14-2005, 04:48 PM

And I just found out there is a railroad at Hill City so now it is really a must!
Happy trails...................

SAndreasen · 11-14-2005, 05:21 PM

We stayed at Rushmore KOA just outside of Hill City. Great campground. Close to all the activities: Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, 1880s RR out of Hill City, Beautiful drive from Hill City to Deadwood(about 45 minutes) Really had a GREAT time. Went first week in June. Don't miss the meedles highway but DON"T take the Monty over it. Several tunnels less that 8' wide!

Gypsy · 11-15-2005, 06:31 AM

Please come visit me at Hart Ranch next summer!

I'll be working there part-time from late June through early September. You can come in either as a Hart Ranch member (1$/night up to 21 nights), RPI or Coast to Coast ($9/night up to 7 nights, or 14 nights if RPI Preferred), or a marketing stay of 3 nights for $39.95. I work in membership sales, and we're not high-pressure type salespeople, so the marketing stay is a good deal to spend a brief time in the area. There's so much to do, you'll want to stay longer, as others have said. I love the whole Black Hills area.

The campground is about 23 miles from Mt. Rushmore monument and about 10 miles south of Rapid City. It's a 5-star campground with lots of activities and amenities including free WiFi, full hookups with 30 and 50A, etc. See more info at www.hartranchresort.com.

I hope you'll let me know when you're going to be in the area, whether staying at Hart Ranch or another campground, so maybe we can get together!

Sturgis Bike Week will be Aug 7-13, 2006. People start arriving at least a week before the official dates. If you love wildly painted motorcycles, loud engines and crazy outfits on people (or lack of them!), you'll have a good time. If you're spooked by hundreds of riders swarming around you on highways, clogging city streets and increasing wait times in restaurants, avoid those dates. Also, a lot of campgrounds and hotels/motels boost their rates during that time as well (not Hart Ranch, but it may be hard to get in). In 2003 I stayed Wed-Fri nights prior to Bike Week in the Spearfish KOA and paid $50/night (normal rate then was $29).

sreigle · 11-15-2005, 07:12 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by adelmoll

The first full weekend of June is the Votzwalk where you climb the back side of Crazy Horse. We happened upon it in '04 and decided to hike it. You arrive at the top on his arm right below his nose. It is the only time anybody can go to the top.

Helen, I hiked it the same weekend you did in June, 2004. Maybe I even saw you folks but didn't yet know who you are! On our website, the Crazy Horse pictures including me standing by his chin are in the 2004 postcards, July 21 postcard date.

So many great things to see in that area, as others testified. Among those we got to besides Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore, there are Custer State Park (we did this 7 or 8 times, for the wildlife), Needles Highway, Spearfish Canyon Scenic highway including a few waterfalls off the beaten path, Deadwood, Badlands National Park, Hot Springs, Stockade Lake and French Creek. I'm sure we didn't see everything.

This is one of many areas we want to return to and spend more time exploring the area.

Searchers · 11-15-2005, 08:01 AM

Add the Western Heritage Center in Spearfish to the sights to see list. We enjoyed visiting this museum earlier this year. Here's a link. www.westernheritagecenter.com. Also the motorcycle museum in Sturgis was worth the visit. www.sturgismuseum.com

Dancyn · 11-15-2005, 08:42 AM

We, too, stayed at Rafter Bar J for several days and really enjoyed it. We then went into Deadwood and stayed at Whistler Gulch. It is on a hillside, so a decent climb to get in. Which also means that someone else's sewer is uphill from you. When the neighbor went to hook up his sewer, he took the ground cap off and there was a sewer geyser! What a mess! Luckily for everyone, he had a great sense of humor.

adelmoll · 11-15-2005, 10:39 AM

Steve, it sure is a small world. Isn't it? I was so proud when I finally got up on that arm.
Another thing I remember about the Black Hills is that the firewood there is real green. We had brought our own from Minnesota and I think half the campground at Rafter J came over to join ours. Nobody could keep their's lit. Turned out to be a really fun evening. When we left we shared a bunch of ours with the ones near us to use for kindling.

sreigle · 11-17-2005, 06:45 AM

We were just across the highway from Rafter J and a bit north towards Hill City. I forgot the name of the park, something Creek? Anyhow, looks like we were there at the same time! Do you see yourself in this picture anywhere?

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