Camping at Bismarck Lake Campground in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Looking for more fun things to do in the Black Hills?
Bismarck Lake is a great place to paddle! You can also head to Sylvan Lake for a swim or hike through Sunday Gulch.
LOCATION
Bismarck Lake Campground is located five miles east of the town of Custer, South Dakota, off Highway 16A. Although it is not part of Custer State Park, you will pass through the Custer State Park entrance near Stockade Lake to reach Bismarck Lake when driving from Custer.
ABOUT THE SITES
- Bismarck Lake Campground offers 21 campsites.
- The campground is open from roughly mid-May through late September.
- Campsites cost $28 per night.
- A few campsites offer views of Bismarck Lake, but most do not. Sites #4 and #5 have the best views.
- Most campsites are spacious and have ample separation between other sites. There are a few sites that are placed close together, particularly sites #6 and #7 (but these are gorgeous sites if you don’t mind the proximity). Check the description and map on the recreation.gov website prior to reserving for details about each campsite.
- Most campsites are fairly shady, but also offer some sun.
- All campsites are within walking distance of Bismarck Lake, which is located downhill from the campground. Campers are also given a parking pass that allows you to park at the day use area near the boat launch.
- We stayed at campsite #5. This sizable site features some of the best lake views in the entire campground, and is spaced well apart from the neighboring sites. While there was shade along the perimeter, there was plenty of sunshine over the driveway for our solar panels. We loved it!
- Bring bug spray. It is a lake, after all. During our stay, the mosquitos came out each evening, but weren’t bad earlier in the day.
- Pets on leash are allowed at Bismarck Lake Campground.
FUN STUFF
- Paddle Bismarck Lake. The calm waters are the perfect place to enjoy a peaceful paddle surrounded by nature. Only non-motorized boats are allowed.
- Go fishing. You can purchase a South Dakota state fishing license at the Custer Ace Hardware store or online on the Go Outdoors South Dakota website.
- Hike around the lake. Well, make that part way around the lake. A trail leads from the day use area past the campground and continues on from there. However, there doesn’t appear to be a maintained path around the entire lake. It’s still a beautiful walk, just be prepared to turn around if it gets too brushy.
- Take in the sunset. Since Bismarck Lake is west of the campground, it’s a prime spot for epic sunsets. We had a great view from campsite #5, but anyone can watch the show from the boardwalk or lakeside trail.
- Watch for wildlife. Numerous bird species, turtles, and more make their home at Bismarck Lake. I also spotted a yellow-bellied marmot at the campground — twice!
CURRENT INFO & RESERVATIONS
- General information about Bismarck Lake Campground is available on the U.S. Forest Service website.
- For reservations, visit the recreation.gov website.
Reservations for Bismarck Lake Campground can be made six months in advance. Book well ahead of time for summer weekends, or if you want to score a specific site. Campsites 18 through 21 are available on a first come, first served basis only, while the other sites take reservations.
WE STAYED HERE
June-July, 2022, 8 nights
AMENITIES
- Vault toilets
- Drinkable water, available from faucets located around the campground
- Picnic tables and fire pits at all sites
- NO electrical or water hookups for RVs
- NO showers (try the showers at the day use area by Center Lake in Custer State Park or the YMCA in the town of Custer if you want to get clean)
- Lakeside boardwalk for fishing and relaxing
- Day use area with small boat ramp (non-motorized boats only)
- Firewood may be for sale from the camp host
- Gathering dead wood is allowed
NEARBY & NOTABLE
- Custer State Park dominates this region of the Black Hills, and for good reason. This impressive park offer more stunning lakes, superlative hikes, and an abundance of wildlife, including bison, pronghorn, and big horn sheep. Check out Sylvan Lake, Sunday Gulch, or Black Elk Peak, just to name a few highlights. Custer State Park also hosts numerous campgrounds, but beware — they open for reservations a full year in advance and are very popular! Bismarck Lake Campground is just as convenient and often easier to reserve.
- Wind Cave National Park is located a half hour drive south of Bismarck Lake Campground. Book a cave tour ahead of time and enjoy a beautiful drive through the prairies en route to this lesser known national park.
- Jewel Cave National Monument is another fantastic cave to tour, located half an hour west of Bismarck Lake. As with Wind Cave, it’s best to book your tour in advance.
- Mount Rushmore National Monument provides visitors an opportunity to wrestle with the U.S.A.’s complicated history while viewing one of our most famous monuments.
- Crazy Horse Memorial offers the chance to see the world’s largest sculpture in process. The site also features an extensive Native American museum and numerous cultural programs.
THE VERDICT
Where to even begin? For our family, Bismarck Lake was the perfect campground base from which to explore the Black Hills. It’s small and peaceful, yet within a half hour’s drive of so many key sights: Sylvan Lake and the Needles Highway, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and so much more.
Even though you’re surrounded by national forest land, the campground is only a 10-minute drive from the nearest grocery store in Custer. And yes, Bismarck Lake Campground isn’t far from the highway. Thankfully, the road isn’t visible from the campground, and we barely noticed the sound of cars from our campsite. Of course, what you hear depends on both where you are and the direction of the wind, but overall Bismarck Lake is a quiet place. There isn’t heavy traffic here, especially at night.
With all that said, Bismarck Lake Campground isn’t for everyone. There are no flush toilets, showers, or hook-ups for RVs. During our first few days, the floor surrounding the vault toilet was covered in dead flies. Yuck! Fortunately, it was cleaned up and flies weren’t an issue for the remainder of our stay. What didn’t disappear completely was the stench… yes, outhouses are often stinky, no two ways about it.
Fortunately, we had frequent opportunities to use the facilities at the many other sites we visited each day, where flush toilets were the norm. We also discovered free shower facilities at the day use area by Center Lake in Custer State Park. Score!
In any case, for me, vault toilets do not make or break a campground experience. I’m more concerned about the quality of the campsite, the overall atmosphere of the campground, and its location. On all three of these points, Bismarck Lake Campground scored high. Our campsite (#5) had gorgeous views, plenty of space, and easy access to the lake. The campground itself was quiet and never felt crowded, and, as mentioned above, the location was ideal.
My only regret is that we didn’t spend more time simply hanging out at the campground. With so many nearby places to explore, we were often gone all day. We also experienced late afternoon or evening thunder storms six out of the eight nights we spent at Bismarck Lake. Thank goodness for the canopy over the picnic table! And yes, there were a few mosquitos…
But even with the thunder storms and bug bites, we loved our stay at Bismarck Lake Campground. Family camping doesn’t get much better than this.
Our Experience
I had high hopes for our campsite at Bismarck Lake Campground, and it did not disappoint. Eager to secure site #5, the one I felt sure would provide us with the best lake view, I booked the site a full six months in advance. After all, we were spending eight nights here, and I wanted to make the most of it.
Upon arrival, we immediately got to work setting up camp — putting up the canopy, arranging the camp chairs around the fire pit, and, most importantly, hanging the hammocks. That was top priority for my older son, in any case. Initially, he insisted he wanted to spend the night in the hammock. But when the bugs started to come out as the sky darkened, he decided to join the rest of us in the teardrop trailer.
Soon, both boys were clambering over the boulders near our site, eager to explore our new temporary home. A rough path led down to the lake. It was steep, but provided us with easy access to the lakeside trail and boardwalk. The boys soon discovered this was an ideal place to spot turtles and crawdads.
The boardwalk is also a prime spot for fishing. We don’t have fishing poles, but several other campers came down to the lake regularly to try their luck. Others headed out onto the water in kayaks, canoes, or paddle boards, disappearing around the bend as the paddled to the opposite end of Bismarck Lake. Unfortunately, a look down into the water confirmed what I had already expected from my research: Bismarck Lake is not a great place for swimming. Below the calm blue surface, the lake is weedy and murky. As J noted, it was “more like a pond”.
But even without swimming on the agenda, we loved staying at Bismarck Lake Campground. Our campsite offered plenty of privacy, and it was wonerful to keep the same setup for over a week. Every morning, Michael would arrange the solar panels in an effort to capture the most sunlight, and I would open up the kitchen in the teardrop trailer and pull out the camp stove. In minutes, hot water was ready for coffee and tea, the perfect start to a morning at camp.
Evenings at camp were more unpredictable. In the Pacific Northwest, thunder storms are a rare occurrence. Not so in the Black Hills. After our initial first sunny evening at Bismarck Lake Campground, we soon learned that was the exception, not the norm. The typical day dawned bright and clear, but by 7pm (sometimes sooner), dark clouds rolled in ominously, seemingly out of nowhere. We were grateful to enjoy sunny days for sightseeing, but dinner at camp often became a race against time. Thankfully, most storms were over by 8.
Breakfast, on the other hand, was beautiful. We didn’t always have time for a leisurely morning repast, but when we did — wow! Those views from the picnic table will not be forgotten. Nor will one particularly atmospheric morning, or one truly jaw-dropping sunset. It was as if Bismarck Lake was doing its best to make up for the nightly thunder storms with light displays that were nothing short of spectacular.
The day came when it was finally time to leave. I paddled across the lake with my oldest son, where we spotted herons and red-winged blackbirds along the shore. Sunbeams reflected off the mirror-like surface of the water, broken only by the dip of our paddles. It was utterly enchanting, and the perfect end to a lovely stay at Bismarck Lake Campground.
