Black Hills Parks & Forests Association
Spending the night in Black Hills National Forest turns a day trip into something slower and quieter. When the day-use crowds head home, the campgrounds settle down, the stars come out over the pines, and you are set up for early morning wildlife before anyone else is on the trail.
Every option on this page is inside the forest itself: more than 30 developed campgrounds, two historic Forest Service cabins, dispersed sites out in the backcountry, and RV-friendly loops at a handful of the bigger campgrounds. Most of the popular spots book through Recreation.gov up to six months ahead. Here is what each kind of stay is like, what it costs, and how to reserve it, so you can pick the right base camp for your trip.
Black Hills National Forest keeps more than 30 developed campgrounds across its 1.2 million acres. These are the established sites with a numbered pad, a picnic table and fire ring, drinking water, and a toilet nearby. They are the easiest way to sleep in the forest without giving up the basics.
The campgrounds along the mountain lakes and reservoirs are the ones that fill first, and it is easy to see why. You get forest quiet and water access from the same site.
Sheridan Lake has two camping areas, North Shore and South Shore, wrapped around a scenic reservoir. It is the most full-featured campground in the forest, with flush toilets, showers, drinking water, a dump station, and electric hookups at many sites. A swimming beach and boat ramp sit right next door, which makes it a favorite with families.
Pactola Reservoir puts you on the shore of the largest reservoir in the Black Hills, with sites split between the Rapid Creek and Mountain View loops. You will find drinking water, vault toilets, boat ramps, and some electric sites in the Mountain View loop. The deep, cold water is known for lake trout and northern pike.
Deerfield Lake is the calm one. A 5 mph limit keeps the motorboats off, so the lake stays good for canoes, kayaks, and fishing, and the campground stays peaceful. Expect vault toilets and drinking water, no hookups, and some of the best stargazing in the forest.
If you would rather be surrounded by ponderosa than parked next to a boat ramp, several campgrounds sit back in the forest interior. Horsethief Lake is a small campground tucked among the pines beside a little lake, with drinking water and vault toilets. Iron Creek sits along a clear mountain stream and is popular with horse campers for its stock facilities and nearby equestrian trails. Oreville is a small, quiet campground in an old mining area with a central spot for getting around the hills. Comanche Park in the southern hills and Whitetail up north round out the choices for anyone who wants a base that is a little more out of the way.
Many of the busier campgrounds take reservations through Recreation.gov up to six months out. For summer weekends and holidays, book as early as you can, because the popular sites fill. Smaller campgrounds run first-come, first-served, where arriving midweek or before noon gives you the best shot.
Standard sites run about $18 to $26 a night, a little more for a site with electric. An America the Beautiful Senior Pass or Access Pass gets you half off camping fees at most forest campgrounds. Most developed campgrounds are open from mid-May through September, a few stay open into October, and a small number in the southern hills stay open year-round for winter recreation.
Sheridan Lake, Pactola Reservoir, and both cabins can fill six months out for summer weekends. Reservations open on Recreation.gov.
Dispersed camping is allowed across much of Black Hills National Forest, which means you can pull off and set up outside a developed campground, for free. That freedom is one of the real advantages of a national forest over a national park, and it comes with a short set of rules that keep the forest in good shape.
Camp at least 100 feet from any stream, lake, or spring to protect the water.
Pick a spot that already shows use rather than clearing a new one.
Set up at least a quarter mile from developed recreation areas and trailheads.
Keep your camp at least 100 feet from any road.
Leave no trace: everything you bring in comes back out with you.
Good areas to look include the Limestone Plateau in the western hills, the Rochford Road corridor in the central hills, and the forest roads around Nemo. Pick up the free Motor Vehicle Use Map at any forest office first. It shows which roads are open and where you can camp.
For a true walk-in experience, the Black Elk Wilderness holds the forest’s most primitive camping. No motorized or mechanized gear is allowed inside the wilderness, so it stays quiet. Keep groups to 25 people or fewer, keep fires small and dead out, store all food to keep wildlife wild, and pack out everything. The Centennial Trail runs 111 miles through the hills with plenty of backcountry sites along the way, though water can be scarce, so carry enough or plan to treat what you find.
No permit is needed for dispersed or backcountry camping in most of the forest. You can stay in one spot up to 14 days, after which you move at least 5 miles, with a limit of 28 days total in any 60-day stretch. Always check current fire restrictions before you count on a campfire.
For a roof and a little more shelter than a tent, the forest rents two historic cabins to the public. Both started life as Forest Service buildings from the early days of forest management, a guard station and a ranger station, and both have been kept up and fitted with basic comforts. They are rustic, not resorts, but they put you in a quiet corner of the forest with a real story behind the walls.
Cabins book through Recreation.gov up to six months ahead and go fast for summer weekends, so plan early. Rates run roughly $50 to $100 a night depending on the cabin. Most are available year-round, though the roads to them are not always plowed, and winter access can call for four-wheel drive or high clearance.
Cabins come with the structure and the basics, not the extras. Pack the rest:
Sleeping bags or sheets, blankets, and pillows.
Bring your own; cabins do not stock them.
Utensils, dishes, and food storage containers.
Everything you generate packs out with you.
Or a way to treat it; some cabins have no potable water.
Flashlights or lanterns for after dark.
The basics for scrapes, blisters, and headaches.
Cabins are cleaned between guests, and you are expected to leave yours the way you found it: floors swept, dishes washed, trash carried out.
The forest is friendly to RVs and trailers, with a good road network and several campgrounds that handle bigger rigs, but it pays to plan the details before you tow in.
There are no full hookups anywhere in Black Hills National Forest. Electric hookups are available at select sites at Sheridan Lake and Pactola Reservoir, and most campgrounds have a water fill station rather than water at the site. The dump station at Sheridan Lake serves the area, so extended-stay campers should plan to use it or a station in a nearby town.
Site length varies a lot. Some sites take rigs up to 40 to 50 feet, but many were laid out long before today’s big RVs, and some access roads have tight turns and steep grades. Recreation.gov lists each site’s dimensions when you book. If you are running something over 35 feet, call the district office for advice before you head to a remote campground.
Several campgrounds have accessible sites with paved pads, accessible tables, and accessible restrooms nearby, including Sheridan Lake, Pactola Reservoir, and Horsethief Lake, and Sheridan Lake’s day-use area adds an accessible fishing dock. One of the two rental cabins is fitted for accessibility, with a ramp, wider doorways, and a roll-in shower. Service animals are welcome anywhere the public can go. The forest publishes site-by-site accessibility details, and the district offices can help match a site to what you need, often with a little advance notice.
Three to six months ahead for popular summer sites and either cabin.
For first-come sites, midweek or before noon gives the best odds.
Even in summer, higher elevations get cold after dark. Bring layers.
Keep food secured and camp clean so you do not draw in wildlife.
Cell service is spotty. Save offline maps and carry a paper one.
Afternoon storms are common in summer. Avoid dead trees and low ground.
Restrictions change with conditions. Pack a camp stove as a backup.
Hiking, biking, and the forest’s scenic drives.
Black Elk Peak, Spearfish Canyon, and the mountain lakes.
Seasonal adventures and where to find the animals.
How the forest stays wild through shared stewardship.
The people and events that shaped the forest.
Start here for the whole Black Hills National Forest guide.
Black Hills Parks and Forests Association is the nonprofit cooperating association at Black Hills National Forest. Memberships and every purchase in the park store fund interpretation, education, and visitor programs across the forest.
