Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing — Local services in Bayard

The Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing campground was my last stop prior to arriving at America's Mailbox in Box Elder, S.D., for residency purposes. I had reserved and paid for a full weeks' stay, but somehow (my bad) scheduled my stop for eight nights. Needless to say, I was chomping at the bit to get on the road by the end of the stay.

First, let me say that the Owners are extremely nice people and work hard at keeping the area nice. But i'm reviewing the overall experience, which was dismal and disruptive. I had been assigned to space #11 per my reservation. It was only hours after getting setup in the space that I had to request being moved! There are now a number of long-term campers at the location. Good for revenue stream, but maybe not for normal campers.

The family in the space next to me had twin children who chaos on steroids... non-stop fighting and screaming, with non-parenting, parents! They also had two ankle-biters which they kept outside, that barked at anything and everything. Then add the fact that the husband was remodeling the back-half of his camper. The noise of power tools, hammers, nail-guns.. you get the idea by now. I was on the phone with my VA medical providers, attempting to schedule appointments, and had to tell them that I would call back due to the noise level.

So, I had to move to another space, which helped somewhat with the noise, but did not eliminate it. No on to the subject of the Technology Desert.. I could get one network TV channel, along with the PBS channels. There is NO Wi-Fi in the park, my T-mobile cell signal was non-existent, but was able to roam with their partner provider, Viaero Wireless which was all but worthless, 2g signal; too slow to even access email.

Back to the Noise.. there are train tracks just a few hundred yards from the park, and there are about a dozen, very long, and load (air horns) coal trains that go up and down the tracks, every day, and night. Most people don't sleep through air-horns in the middle of the night.

The camper sites were not terrible, but one reviewer mentioned how "roomy" the sites were? Not sure what she was accustomed to, but I measured 12' between my neighbor's hookups, and the side of my camper. And the hookups are in the middle of the site, rather than the rear, which places the sewer drain at your picnic table. (see photos)

I did go to the Scott's Bluff National Monument Park on one day which was very nice, and the camper's have a great view of the Chimney Rock monument. So, this park would be OK for a quick night or two, but not longer. For me personally, I just did not find it comfortable at all. I'm still learning what aspects to consider when...

We pulled into this campground this evening for a quick water fill-up, since it’s the only option in the area. The experience we had here was nothing short of rude, unprofessional, and borderline hostile.

As we walked into the so-called “general store,” one of the owners stood with her back to us. We politely asked if there was anywhere we could fill our RV’s water tank. She allowed it free of charge—which we appreciated—but that’s where the civility ended.

While the tank was filling, my partner went inside and asked if we could buy some beer or if they were closing up, just to show support for their business. Her response, dripping with condescension, was: “Actually, I’ve been closed.” No courtesy. No basic respect.

Moments later, as I was stepping out of the RV from a shower, the other owner (the husband) came flying up in his vehicle, slammed on the brakes, and aggressively yelled, “Are you two boys done yet?” I told him we’d be gone in five minutes. Instead of simply waiting, he grunted, walked up, and disconnected our hose and water line without a word from our RV.

Let’s be honest: this place operates with arrogance because they know they’re the only game in town. But their attitude went beyond bad customer service—it felt deliberately hostile. As a gay couple, it was painfully obvious we were unwelcome. We weren’t just treated rudely; we were treated like a problem.

If you’re LGBTQ+ or just someone who believes in respect and basic decency, steer clear of this place. These people don’t deserve your money, time, or patience. Maybe pick some weeds in your establishment instead of picking to...

I reserved 2 RV spots for the eclipse of 2017. We made sure that the place had showers, as that was a non-negotiable. We booked many months in advance to make sure we could get a spot. In the months leading up to the eclipse, the owners got greedy. Knowing the crowds that the event would draw, they rearranged their campground to accommodate more people. They packed tent sites in wherever they could. We arrived at the campground and found it incredibly congested, and also found that they had LOCKED THE SHOWERS. With the increase in crowd size that they themselves caused due to their greed, their septic system was unable to handle the volume, so they rented portapotties and kept the facilities that we paid for locked up. We tried calling another campground in scottsbluff to see if they had availability but it was after hours, so no one answered. We drove the car there to see, and found vacancies, so we drove the car back to chimney rock so that we could drive both RVs over to camp at scottsbluff, setting up camp in the dark and exhausted, where the sugar plant made the air so rank you vomit, but at least they had showers. I should have demanded a refund for the 2 sites, but we were desperate and all of our energies were put into finding a site with showers. I almost didn't leave a review, but recently got a phone call from a different chimney rock and I got mad all over again and had to, now 8...