Center Lake Campground — Custer State Park

All campgrounds in Custer State Park require a reservation (either online or via phone), but this campground is same day reservations ONLY, which is nice for travelers like us who don’t plan and reserve spots in advance. Since these sites cannot be reserved in advance, you’ll have a good shot at getting a spot for the day.  Don’t forget it costs $20 to enter the park as well.

There are no hookups and not many amenities here. There are vault toilets, trash dumpsters, and recycle bins. There are water spigots throughout the campground as well. There’s a dump station in Custer SP. 

The roads in this campground are paved, driveways are somewhat level. Lots of regular spaced out trees, and no real privacy between sites. Other than one extremely loud group in the lower loop (that seemed like a one off), the campground was quiet and peaceful, though the flies were really obnoxious here. 

There is zero cell service at this campground, though cell receptions everywhere else in the park is good. Also, there is a phone at the info board that connects directly with the reservation desk, so even without service you can come to this campground and reserve your spot.

If you are able to manage the same-day reservation, this campground is a great option for Custer. I planned my trip too late to stay at Sylvan Lake campground, but wanted to be near the Needles Highway since that was the reason this park was on my itinerary. There was plenty of vacancy on a late August weeknight. My site was next to the creek, which provided nice white noise at night. The showers were a short distance away, and even had hot water. The lake is a no-wake lake, and had I stayed for longer, I would have loved to paddle on it.

Stayed in upper loop. Sites were spaced out slightly more than in the lower loop. Nice tent pads at all sites. Most back in driveways were fairly short. By nightfall, all but 2 sites were taken . More than 50% of users were tents, not RVs or trailers. Toilets well maintained.

Will make this a longer camping experience next time Sites are generous but open all with trees Stayed on upper loop Pit toilets clean , shower house by lake spent 2 nites and drove up to Lake Sylan for a swim

The spots here are huge and reserved for same day reservations. We didn’t understand the system and went to the park which overall has very limited cell service. To compensate, the campgrounds have land lines in them, but in our case it took a while to sort everything. There are two loops and a tent only section(40-45), which was full by the time we got there after midday. In any case the spaces across the board seemed very spacious, with level platforms. We were two cars traveling together and these two spots in particular (on upper loop) gave us domain over a huge wooded area, close to toilets and potable water. Quick drive down to the lake which was wonderful and had a playground, picnic tables and great showers that served the lake and campground. $20 to get into the park on top of the camping.

This campground does daily reservations so call early in the morning. Have stayed here twice now with availability never being a problem. Quiet and clean showers along with a fresh water station.

Reserved the morning of and no where on the website that it states you can’t park on the dirt. So after checking in the the host(which seemed to be inconvenient for them) we went and set up our trailer in the spot. It was a beautiful spot with some nice neighbors. They finally come over and tell us we have to move off the dirt. Meaning we need to park in the roadway. Well that doesn’t work since our rtt ladder would be in the road. They gave us some terrible options to move to(small or next to the road). We decided to leave and try to get our money back. They could only give us the second night since we were there after check in time. So we got to pay a night for nothing which is fun after driving from Oregon to get there.

We’ve stayed at this campground twice now in the tent-only loop (sites 40-45). The tent-only sites are walk-in, so you park at the top of a small hill and walk down to your site. It is beautiful! Sites are same-day reservation only, so you have to call the campground number starting at 6:00 MT to see if any spots are available. There’s some awesome trails you can access from the campground. There’s a swimming beach for the lake, and a small park for kids. Vault toilets and hot showers are available. Custer State Park is truly a gem.

Beautiful and quiet spot with dedicated area to set up your tent separate from the gravel driveway and fire pit. We stayed in the upper loop site 52 which was super spacious and had the potable water spigot nearby. Only major drawback was not having cell service but mostly bc we still had to work on our trip. In the mornings I would drive down to Keystone Community Center to take early calls before

going about our day, but it honestly wasn’t bad bc it’s a really pretty drive.

Camp hosts were very helpful and informative. This was the cleanest most well kept campground I’ve been to. The black hills are a must see. There’s so much to do in this area. Only 30 minutes from Custer. The bathrooms were very clean and Center lake had free warm showers available 24/7.

We drove through here while out exploring but didn’t stay here. It’s a nice campground and was fairly open to those needing a last minute stop.

Quiet and pretty campground about 30 minutes drive from Mt Rushmore. Only reservable same day and at 7 am we got one of the last remaining sites, so book early in the morning! We swam and paddle boarded in the lake and there was a ranger presentation in the evening. The drive to Rushmore the next morning was beautiful through the Black Hills National Forest. Bathrooms were basic.

The day use areas are nice, there is a trail around the lake, and you can rent kayaks. The restrooms are clean but there are inexplicably no trash cans at the day use area. Worth visiting.

There is an Upper Loop Campground and Lower Loop Campground. I stayed in both for a total of 5 nights. Upper 4 stars and Lower 2 stars. There is a little more space per campground in Upper. Lower sites are very close to each other. Some RVers run generators and if you are downwind from a diesel one you get the fumes. Same with campfires and smoke. I'd stay in certain sites in Upper again. I won't stay in Lower again.

Pros:

- beautiful spot, lots of spaced out tall, skinny trees and flat platforms for tents at all sites.

- drive in

- no cell service, but there was a phone on site to be able to call and reserve a walk-in spot. 

- I'd tried Sylvan Lake first and it was full, but glad I ended up here because it felt slightly less crowded than Sylvan. 

Cons:

- given the geography, there wasn't much privacy in the form of trees from one site to the next. 

- where my site was I has to walk fairly far to the latrine, but this wouldn't have been true of all sites.

- sound traveled fairly easily, so I was awoken several times. One loud group until fairly late, around 11 PM.

We really enjoyed staying here for two nights and would recommend. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there aren’t any bears in the area to worry about! My husband went looking for wood to burn around the campsites one night and unfortunately came a foot away from a rattlesnake. A neighbor saw one on his hike the same day so campers should be aware and careful.

We aren’t hikers but there are a couple of 1-3 mile hikes in the area that we enjoyed. The hike up the hill to the overlook is a must!

There are FREE hot showers at the lake too which we were so thankful for.

Went up for Sturgis motorcycle rally. Stayed the weekend. Had a great time. Got me wanting to go camping again.

I was tent camping and it was great how they have special sites to put the tents straight. So much wildlife to see! Very clean restrooms. Wildlife all arround...

Water, bluffs, pine trees... what more could you want? This place is perfect! There are great trails around the lake and along the creek. You might even catch some trout if you decide to drop a line in. Watch out for poison ivy along the creek thou.

The camp sites are a little close but overall we loved our experience here. The bathrooms were clean and all sites had one relatively close by. Fire pits and picnic tables were great!

The center lake campground is the only spot I've stayed at in Custer State Park and I hope to get to camp at all the other campgrounds. This was such a wonderful experience. I personally prefer primitive camping but this area was so beautiful and the campsite was so easy to reserve. Each little site had its own picnic table and fire pit. We had to set up camp and cook dinner late at night, but the campground was so organized that it made it simple to navigate in the dark. There are endless trails and areas to explore in the entire park that it deserves a good whole week to experience it all! I look forward to making our next trip back.

Just went for the day, but plan on going back as soon as possible for a few nights. The lake is cool and quiet, tucked away in the center of Custer park. Several trails and tons of fishing spots. There are vaulted toilets and a shower house. Camp sites are next to the lake and spaced well apart. One of my favorite spot s in the Black Hills, saw a buffalo on the drive there too.

Center Lake Campground is our favorite campground in Custer State Park. Because the lake's location is further from the main roads through the park, the area has less visitors and less campers than several other campgrounds here. The lake has a nice beach for the family, as well as a boat launch area. The campground sites are well-shaded and spaced out well, and can accommodate both tents and RV's. The camping is primitive, with vault toilets and water spigots throughout, but there is also a shower house available near the beach. Sites are available both walk-in and by reservation, even on the same day. This campground is one of our local favorites for camping with our family. Remember that your total camping fees will also need to include a state park pass for your vehicle.