Sheridan Lake South Shore Campground — Hotel in Hill City

Beautiful camping but horrible host.

This was my second attempt to give Sheridan Lake Campground another chance after having a poor experience with the Camp Host; who was very rude to my parents and refused to offer any form of assistance when they needed a jump start, last summer. This older female host was very unwelcoming and condescending to us this time around as well.

There are no signs indicating check-in is required, as we made our reservation with Recreation.gov. I don’t believe this is the norm with Federal Lands campgrounds being I never had to go through such a paperwork process, even at National Parks this summer. We drove through not knowing this and she became very irritable and rude. She proceeded to be condescending and overly explain rules to us. She also charged us a fee for having a dog (which is different) and refused to take a $5 dollar bill because she had to give us $3 change. It was a confusing and an uncomfortable encounter.

Ultimately we do not plan to camp at this location again, especially if there is a host who dislikes the public and is poorly operating the campground. I learned it is better to give your business to Custer State Park since the Park Rangers there are always courteous and...

Sheridan Lake South Shore Campground in the Black Hills National Forest was gorgeous and centrally located for our adventures in South Dakota. We reserved site #66 in the Woodsey Loop overlooking the lake. There was a path down to the shore where Bella swam, and we launched our float tubes for fly fishing. We drove to Badlands National Park, Windcave National Park, Mt Rushmore, & Crazy Horse. We rode our bikes throughout the campground, the day use area, and to North shore. Riding bikes on the highway was sketchy at parts with no shoulder to ride on, so we wouldn't do that again. Watching water fowl, boaters, skiers, wakeboarders, and kayakers right from our campsite was great. The campground hosts were very friendly. There were no hook-ups or dump stations at the campground, but that would not stop us from camping there again. We highly recommended Sheridan Lake South...

Very popular camping spot, be sure to reserve well in advance! In the two summers we stayed here, we did experience rain, and once a big thunderstorm, so maybe check the forecast. Many campsites have lake access, but it's a steep walk down to the shore from this side of the lake. A sandy swimming beach is available at the entrance to the campground. Drinking water available by the vault toilets. We saw eagles catching fish in the lake from our campsite. There is a nice hike you can take that goes along the south east side of the lake and crosses the dam, then goes to a little bridge. We saw cliff divers on the...