Palisades State Park — Attraction in Palisade Township

We always have a good time out in nature at such a great area & at only $8 per vehicle for the day, well worth the trip! The gentleman who greeted us at the entrance was very friendly, welcoming & knowledgeable! There are wooden & plastic type picnic tables in numerous areas to sit, eat & enjoy the many spectacular views. There is also a picnic shelter area with one of the best of these. They provide playground equipment for the kids with a small permanent metal bench to keep an eye on them. They even have a few brick restrooms with water fountains. The trails are comprised of wood chips basically, but there are a ton just worn into the ground from trepid explorers going off the beaten path! And of course those are the most fun to explore as they lead all over & you never know if you'll wind up close to the river or in a zoo tableau of rock & Sioux Quartzite outcroppings!! Unfortunately, I don't know what type of bird fills the sky flying, soaring & dive bombing, but they are small blue & brown blurs at times & great fun to watch!! The small "rapids" area in the river is very calming & there are even picnic tables nearby to sit & enjoy the quiet solitude. There are BBQ stands & even fire pits spaced around the park for anyone's enjoyment! They have closed the iconic 1908 bridge to cars, so be prepared to do some walking there. But like everything in this gorgeous state park - it is well worth the effort. They have all types of camping available from just plain tent areas, to cabin rentals to RV spots with fire pit & BBQ stands nearby. There are so many things to do & see at Palisades, but I couldn't believe it when I spotted a sand volleyball area! We spent hours our second trip here & can't...

Palisades is open all year round. As you would expect, facilities and camp sites are shut down to pit toilets and a handful of campsites. Water is also shut down. The pads are asphalt and long. No problem getting the longest RV into these sites with room for that tow vehicle. I like the sound of trains; this is a great campgrounds to hear horns and listen to those diesel engines power up. While there (later part of March), we saw deer roaming throughout the park. FULL DISCLOSURE: There are mountain lions in the area; no one has been bothered by them, though. We talked with a couple that lived ½ mile from the campgrounds, and they showed us a picture they took that morning of a paw print. They had placed a dollar bill under the paw print, and the print was as large as the bill.They have walking trails and swimming locations (Rock Creek). They also have shear rock formations where climbers practice technical maneuvers and repelling. They have an exceptionally large day area use location with huge playgrounds and covered picnic areas. They also have a balcony area on one picnic shelter that over looks the creek , swimming hole, and rock climbing area. The town of Garretson is roughly a couple of miles away where you can resupply if necessary. I messed up my reservation (I picked a tent camping location instead of a camper location), and a park employee (John) bent over backward to help us out. He even opened a closed site to accommodate us. WOW,...

While I will admit the staff seemed helpful and it is a beautiful park there are 2 things this park, and possibly all South Dakota State Parks decent maps and signage so you can find what you are looking for.

We were told about a King & Queens trail and were told to park in the lots near the picnic shelter and go over a bridge, we took a path that went up a hill to the right of the shelter that took us where we could get a great view of the King & Queen pillars but no idea what trail it was as it wasn't marked and the map was poorly illustrated. It was only after driving around the park we actually found where we needed to go to get on the K&Q trail.

My wife also wanted to see Balancing Rock, again we weren't sure exactly where it was because the only place there is a trail sign is at the trailhead but nothing directing you to the actual trailhead.

I wish I could rate Staff, Appearance and overall impression separately as I would give the Staff and Appearance (or beauty) a solid 4 stars but overall it was difficult to find what we wanted to do and making at least 2 false starts before finding the trail we wanted to be on.

I suggest someone from the SD DNR cross the border to see how easy it is to find attractions in the park as well as how much more detailed the MN DNR has made their maps so people can actually get to the actual trailhead...