July/August 2023 – Camping in Wyoming and South Dakota
- Trevor
- Oct 12, 2023
- 7 min read
Why
Most of our “why” was based on camping in Canada for the first half of the summer. Go back and read that blog post for more details….
We had originally planned to head back to Canada after attending the family wedding in Casper, Wyoming. However, our favorite spots were further west in British Columbia, and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to get great reservations later in the summer. Instead, we looked at exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota. Temperatures tend to stay in the 70s in the summer, so perfect for us with Gunner.
How
We were already set up with all the necessary gear, and didn’t make any changes from our trip though Canada. We did notice that our rain fly worked fine in light rain but would start to leak in heavier rains. We tried putting a tarp over the tent, which worked well unless it got windy. Then the tarp worked like a sail and tried to fold the tent over…. We also had one of our tent poles snap due to wind, which I was able to repair so that it didn’t impact our trip. But, if we go camping again next year, a new tent might be on our shopping list.
Where
Learning from our experience in Canada, we planned out our entire trip before we headed out. We discussed increasing our time at each spot, but decided instead that keeping our driving distance down would make up for it. So, we still planned 4-5 days at each location, but only travelled about an hour each time we moved. Again for your entertainment, and for my future reference, here are the places we stayed:
KOA, Cody, Wyoming – We stayed at our first-ever KOA in Cody to explore the Buffalo Bill Center of the West with Sandy’s parents. The campground was clean and well-maintained, and the campground provided free pancakes daily for breakfast (free pancakes, pay for sausage, juice, coffee, etc.). Cody is a nice town and could be a future base location to explore the east side of Yellowstone and the Absaroka Highway. The museum is huge, and anyone planning to visit should allow 2, or even 3, days to see everything.
Worland RV Park and Campground – Worland, Wyoming – Nicely landscaped campground run by a local couple that put together a great info book for day trips in the area. We stayed in Worland to explore the Legend Rock petroglyphs. Based on the hosts’ information, we were also able to see more petroglyphs at Medicine Lodge. We also visited the hot springs in Thermopolis, a distillery in Kirby, and a brewery in Tensleep. There’s probably enough around Worland to spend at least 4-5 days here.
KOA, Devils Tower, Wyoming – Really nice KOA, which is reflected in the $46/night fee. The National Park also has a campground, for quite a bit less, but without showers or laundry facilities. The KOA provided an amazing view of Devils Tower, and they also show Close Encounters of the Third Kind every night at dusk. If we wanted to spend more time at Devils Tower, I think we would return to the KOA.
Echo Valley Park Campground, Custer, South Dakota – This is a basic, private campground, just south of the Crazy Horse Monument. The location was perfect for visiting the monument and the town of Custer. We’ve had better camp sites and better facilities, but the overall property was pretty nice – with access to the historic ranch winding up the valley towards the monument. That said, if we return to Custer, we’ll probably pick another campground.
Timber Ridge Campground, Keystone, South Dakota – This was a basic campground with mediocre facilities. They had an on-site bar and it’s located right next to the highway, so we heard a lot of motorcycles riding past. We had no cell service in this valley, but the wifi worked well. The location was great for seeing the Custer State Park, the Needles Highway, and Mt. Rushmore, but I’m not sure we’d stay here again.
Rocky Point State Park, Belle Fourche, South Dakota – North of Spearfish, this park gets a lot of boating and other watersports. There’s not many trees and the area gets a lot of wind. The facilities were in great shape, we had a good cell signal, and we were able to keep our devices charged at a park shelter. Because entertainment options are centered around the lake, it’s not really our kind of spot, and we are not likely to return. As an aside, Belle Fourche is the geographic center of the United States.
KOA, Deadwood, South Dakota – Really nice KOA with good bathrooms and showers and outstanding wifi. There are not many tent sites, and the campground is squeezed into a valley. We had to carry all of our gear to our tent site, rather than just being able to unload from the car. Deadwood is a really fun town, with a strong tourist industry and lots of events throughout the summer. We caught a weekly Wednesday night free concert, as well as the Kool Deadwood Nites car show. Combined with nearby Lead, there is also a lot of mining history, including a museum where the staff was nice enough to let Gunner take the tour with us. We would love to return to Deadwood, and would definitely stay at this KOA again, but might request one of the other tent spots with better access from our car.
Spearfish City Campground, Spearfish, South Dakota – Nice city campground with basic bathroom facilities. Most sites have some shade and we were able to pick our own with large trees that provided shade through most of the day. We also had a creek by the site, but also a nearby power plant that made it a bit noisy. We enjoyed our time in Spearfish and would stay here again.
KOA, Butte, Montana – This was our final campground of the summer. Because we were mainly in town to visit our daughter, Skylar, and because we expected nighttime lows in the 40s, we opted for a cabin instead of a tent site. We used our sleeping bags on top of bedframes with mattresses, and the room had a mini-fridge, as well as an air conditioner and space heater, though we didn’t need either one. The cabin only cost $68/night because Butte is not a popular destination. (We’re not sure why, as there is an immense mining heritage and wonderful old-time feel, which you can see if you’ve ever watched 1923.) If we pass through Butte on a future camping trip, we would stay here again.
Some general comments about camping in the U.S.:
The Black Hills look like really good bear country. But other than the nearby paid attraction (“Bear Country”), we were told there are no bears in South Dakota. We were very surprised, especially given the large amounts of wild raspberries that we found.
KOAs – when in doubt, stay here. They were consistently nice and well-maintained, but always at a higher price-point than the state or private campgrounds (our average was $39 vs $27 per night). We purchased an annual KOA membership for $36 which got us 10% off every booking. Google reviews were pretty reliable for helping us pick good campgrounds.
Similar to Canada, private campgrounds (including KOA) typically have wifi internet, but state parks do not. The Custer Public Library was a good alternative when we were there.
Power – we never rented a camp site with power and continued to use outlets at the bathroom or charged our devices while driving in the car.
Extra stakes and rope are essential. When winds picked up, I was able to reinforce our screen tent and rain fly to keep things from blowing over too much.
None of the campgrounds in the U.S. charged for showers. Maybe because dollar coins aren’t as popular as they are in Canada?
Most places in the U.S. do not sell block ice, only cubes. The cost is the same, but they seem to last about 1 day less per bag.
Our Black Hills animal sightings included lots of bison, a few deer, and some bighorn sheep. Custer State Park has some huge bison herds that we were able to see on multiple days.
Costs
Our U.S. costs were very similar to Canada. Most of our campsites remained $25-$35 per night. With the higher costs at Devils Tower and Butte, we averaged $35 per night for lodging.
As in Canada, we typically ate in camp, took a picnic lunch when we explored, and only ate in restaurants about once per destination. Food costs were around $50/day for groceries, restaurants, and alcohol. To be honest, our actual food costs (restaurants and groceries) were nearly identical between the U.S. and Canada. The increased costs in the U.S. were for a bottle of whiskey that we bought in Thermopolis and from hitting a few more craft breweries than we did in Canada. Ice costs continued to average about $15-20 per week.
I ended up busting the zipper on my sleeping bag, so I got a new one at Walmart for $32. It’s a “oversized” warm weather bag, and I love it! We also spent a bit of money repairing our tent pole. But overall, we didn’t spend very much upgrading or replacing our camping gear in the U.S.
With a smaller travel footprint, our gasoline costs in the U.S. were a bit lower than Canada, coming in at $420 for our 5-week trip, or about $13/day. Our final average costs for travel, lodging, food, and entertainment were similar to Canada and “close-enough” to our Mexico costs, just over $106/day.
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed our 5 weeks camping in the western U.S. The Black Hills are very scenic and we would enjoy a return trip. Also, the temperatures were very pleasant – in the low 70s in the Black Hills, though we often had temps in the 80s at lower elevations in Spearfish and Rocky Point.
Comments