NF Campground Rating – Comanche Park (Custer, SD)

August 8, 2010 by libertatemamo 2 Comments

Info on Campground Here: Comanche Park, SD 

1. Site Quality = 4/5
   The sites here are, overall, quite nice. Most of the sites are long, dirt and very level (especially for a forest location). This is a heavily wooded area, so the only ding is that some sites can be a bit of a squeeze for a big-rig to get into between the trees. Each site has fire-pit and bench.
2. Facilities = 2.5/5
   There’s only pit toilets here. No hookups or dump station. There are potable water outlets at 2 locations around the campground, but the outlets are not threaded (look at getting the Water Thief)
3. Location = 3/5
   This campground is in a decent location. It’s ~6 miles west of Custer and in a small, thickly wooded patch next to the highway. The only negative is that all the surrounding area is private land so there’s no hiking from the campsite. But, it’s fairly easy access to Jewel Cave and Custer.
4. Pet Friendliness = 4.5/5
   This is a great doggie campground. Lots of space for pooch to hang out in your site and lots of woody area for them to run in. Only ding is there is an extra $2/day pet charge.

Overall Rating = 3.5
BONUS ALERT = wild raspberries and thick forest 

Summary: This is a quaint little forest campground ~6 miles west of Custer. It’s a heavily wooded area and some of the turns and sites can be tight with trees, but we saw a 45-footer make it (albeit after ~40 mins of work) so it is possible to get in if you’re comfortable with your rig. This section of forest has no trails and is surrounded by private land, so the only negative is that you’re a bit isolated and need to drive out to get to hikes. Also, there is some residual noise from the highway so it’s not as serene as we’d like. However, as a result of these oddities there’s not alot of visitors, so it’s quite empty most of the time. We enjoyed the forest and “bush-whacked” across it quite happily with the bonus find that it’s filled with wild berries. Overall it was a pleasant experience and it’s nice that we had space (alot of Custer campgrounds are completely booked in summer) but we’ll probably look for another location if we come back to the area. 

 Extra Info: No cellphone or internet here. Sites cost $15/night. There’s a mix of reservation and first-come, first-serve sites. No hookups. Nearest dump-station is Sinclair gas station in Custer ($4 to dump)