Looking for fresh water and dump stations west of Rapid City

[jesus_man]

Headed to Pactola Res this weekend. There is water available there, but according to the local Forest Service office, it's not for filling tanks.

Additionally, will be looking for a dump station on our way home. Any recommendations there as well?

Lastly, will need some firewood. I am sure there are plenty of road-side places, but having a known location for good dry wood avoid panic stops

Thanks!

[Backcountryboondocker]

Originally Posted by jesus_man

Headed to Pactola Res this weekend. There is water available there, but according to the local Forest Service office, it's not for filling tanks.

Additionally, will be looking for a dump station on our way home. Any recommendations there as well?

Lastly, will need some firewood. I am sure there are plenty of road-side places, but having a known location for good dry wood avoid panic stops

Thanks!

Most of the NF campgrounds there won’t have potable water or a dump. Not sure which way you are coming from, but Camping World off of I-90 just north of Rapid offers free dump and water. Here’s a link of dump stations around there;

https://rvdumpsites.net/#!Rapid+City,+South+Dakota,+United+States

As for firewood there a lot of wood stands around, but if you want to make sure you are getting decently good certified wood I would go to Menards in Rapid if that’s on your way in to the hills. It’s normally $5-6 for a bundle with 11% off.

Are you planning on visiting the area while down there, or more of sticking closer to Pactola?

[jesus_man]

Thanks for the info. Someone also recommended a new Common Cents store near the Flying J.

In looking at the map again, looks like we will be coming in from Sturgis, so perhaps that would be a better location to seek for these amenities. However, it seems to not cost us anytime to go thru Rapid either.

We are returning in the fall to ride the Mickelson trail, but we will be taking our time with spur trips to the big stops like Mt. Rushmore etc. My wife planned that one, and I don't know the exact itinerary.

But what do you recommend in the area? We have our dog with us and while he would be fine in the camper with the gen keeping things cool, we don't want to leave him for hours. We will have 3 kids in our party. 3ish, 7 & 11.

[Backcountryboondocker]

Originally Posted by jesus_man

But what do you recommend in the area? We have our dog with us and while he would be fine in the camper with the gen keeping things cool, we don't want to leave him for hours. We will have 3 kids in our party. 3ish, 7 & 11.

Depends on your time frame being down there, and how far you are looking to drive around. The city of Keystone is pretty nice for families, and they have a nice ice cream shop there too. If you were to pick one city inside the hills to go to then I’d recommend Keystone. Hill City and Custer are OK, more so towns that you stop in if you are driving through instead of making them a destination point. Deadwood is very nice, but it’s more adulty-like. Right outside of Rapid on the west side is Storybook Island, a very nice little park/attraction for kids and families. Bear Country and Old MacDonald’s Farm are also two very nice family attractions, but with the heat I’m not sure how active/out the animals would be. I can’t remember how good Pactola is for swimming (I’ve kayaked it many times), but Sheridan Lake down the road has a nice beach area for swimming. If you’re able to take the dog with you in the vehicle too then a drive down Needles Highway would be pretty good and scenic; (Kinda of a small jaunt from Pactola), but Sylvan Lake is a nice small lake to see, and Needles Eye isn’t that far from the northern entrance.

Edit: I see that Days End Campground in Sturgis allows for non-guest waste dumping for a small fee if your were planning that route out. And this is pretty resourceful information I just found, I had to bookmark it for myself to have also.

https://www.sanidumps.com/sanidumps_usa.php?id=55

[jesus_man]

Any caves you have experience with? Not sure how much time we want to spend away.

Thanks for the other ideas and information.

[Backcountryboondocker]

I’ve been to Wonderland Cave, (Signs galore for it around the area) and it was pretty neat. I don’t know if an out-of-the-way trip to it on limited time would be worth it though if there was other stuff you’d like to see also.

Jewel Cave is very nice! We like it a lot, and have been a few times. It can be crowded during busy times/seasons, but I don’t know what their COVID policies are since it is a National Park site. (Limitations, number of people, etc.)

As for the others around we’ve always wanted to try but never have so I can’t say much about them. Been to the Wind Cave area but never in it because of timing.

[bobneal69]

One thing I highly recommend is Crazy Horse. IMO it is much better than Mount Rushmore, especially the night light show. https://crazyhorsememorial.org/

[Larry-NC]

Rapid City? Gotta go to the dinosaur park on top of the ridge that splits the city. Built as a WPA project in the 1930s.

Of course, as you go through the area, it's the Badlands, Black Hills, Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. Did it back in 1980, tent camping with 3 and 5 year old sons.

[n1acguy]

We stayed here last October https://maps.apple.com/?address=2090...TdWcBQAw%3D%3D They had plenty of water, and full hookups. Not sure about firewood. It was about $40 per night. It was fairly central to all of the things we wanted to see in the area. Just avoid bike week in that area unless that's what you want to attend.

[High Country Duramax]

We were just there. Funniest thing I saw was this tour bus going through needles highway.

[phipps33]

Originally Posted by bobneal69

One thing I highly recommend is Crazy Horse. IMO it is much better than Mount Rushmore, especially the night light show. https://crazyhorsememorial.org/

I second Crazy Horse. We liked it a lot more than Rushmore.

[Bowhunter183]

There is a rest area just east of Sturgis on the interstate that we stopped and filled with fresh water on our way to bike week. we dumped black tank on the eastbound lane when heading home.