Gunderson Park

Spent two days here you can park wherever you want local law enforcement showed up soon after I got here talk to them you can pretty much stay as long as you want but they would like to know if you're going to be here over a week. Any size rig will fit as long as you can get it through the gate at the front it probably is no more than 8 foot wide you are allowed to use the fireplace but I didn't use it

Gunderson Park is a nice little boondocking location just ½ mile from the downtown area of Centerville. They have 2 fire pit locations, but, after speaking with the official at city hall we found out you can camp pretty much anywhere in the park you would like.

It is free to camp here, you can stay virtually as long as you wish to according to that same official. There are no hook-ups. No bathroom facilities. No picnic tables. No playground for children. You may fish with a South Dakota license in the lazy rolling Vermillion River that skirts the park on 3 sides. They have a cement boat ramp. I will say when we stayed there the river was so low you would have had great difficulties getting a boat launched. On the west side of the park there are park benches at the beginning (or end of the walk depending on your start location) with a cemented walk way along the road to the park and the Vermillion River. It runs close to a quarter mile long with benches about half way through the walk. The city keeps this park mowed during the summer months. This is an old old park dating back to 1800's. The trees are massive and just as old providing beautiful shade. There are remnants of old stone items remaing in the park, grape vine thingy, a stone fireplace and pillars. Our stay favored us with Bald Eagle sightings. 2 hung around the trees on the other side of the river in full view, it was wonderful.

At the city park you can dump your tanks. We didn't need to so we didn't visit this location. At the four way stop sign located at the center of the town, turn west, travel one block and on the south side of the street you will find city hall. There they will tell you how to find the dump site.

This seems to be a favorite location for locals to drive through. Sometimes we found traffic through the park on the heavy side but most of the time very quiet. People are small town friendly. Population is around 900 people. Town has a grocery store, convenience store, bank, medical clinic, pharmacy, restaurant, bowling alley, auto parts store, bakery and other businesses. We noticed 4 churches in our drive around the town. At the city park they have a community swimming pool, Frisbee golf, 2 ball diamonds, tennis courts, playground equipment, volleyball courts, 2 picnic house areas and a location for 4 RV campsites with electrical plug ins [2 50 amp and 2 30 amp) for $10.00 a night with limited stay.

We were very surprised by this location, it was beautiful park with gorgeous stones. Fairly quiet and all together wonderful location.
If you’re staying here, the town is 0.5 miles away, easy to walk to, definitely try their cafe, the sandwiches there are amazing!! And the bakery has the best Apple Strootle donut I’ve ever had! Also, the Mexican restaurant has a fantastic steak Torta!!

Also, the gate seems a bit tight to get through, but our 8.5ft wide camper fit just fine. We posted more photos on our facebook and insta, you can see if interested.

We work from our camper and had good service to work from, no problem.

This was a great, quiet place to stay. We only needed a couple of days as we were running from winter (we stayed north for the sugar beet harvest), and we try to boondock when we can. It's pretty open with lots of sun, though they've planted several seedlings so in several years, there will probably be a lot more shade. The entrance/exit gates were very narrow, but our skoolie fit just fine.

However, on the evening of our second day, a police officer let us know that there wasn't any camping allowed outside the season and that we'd need to move along. We were already planning on leaving the next morning, so they let us finish our stay. So, be warned: if you want to stay here outside the season (I think the season was Memorial Day to Labor Day), you may be asked to leave. We were told there was an RV park in town that was free if you didn't use hookups.

This is such a beautiful place!! We got here after 5 on a Friday and we were afraid it would be full. No one was there! The park is well kept by the city. Law enforcement drives by a few times to check on things. Very friendly farmer came by and visited while we were strolling around. Someone mentioned in their review "if you can get in the gate". We are a big (40") rig and there was no issue getting in.
We would stay here again.

Super lovely and overwhelming friendly little town across the board.

Katie & Kristin will tell you all you need to know at the local Town Hall 741 Main St, Centerville SD 57014. Phone number 6055632302.

Camping is $10 per night if you use the Hookup or free if you don't. Please do the right thing with the honor system and pay them because they are so lovely and kind.

Make sure you give a cheery wave to Chief Nolan and his deputies as they will call in to make sure you're ok at some point during the day.

Plenty to do and see. Great kids facilities with swings, climbing and a sand pit, basketball courts, tennis courts, restrooms in the big white shake behind the playground even an oval for track and field and football fields.

Plenty of awesome local eateries like Maria's Mexican (actually owned and run by Maria), bakehouse with yummy cakes and donuts and heaps of other hidden gems.

The scenery is amazing and the locals are super dooper friendly. Especially the school kids and teachers.

You can get any sized rig in here and there are hookup spaces for up to 3 side by side with space to spare. Entry and exists are huge... our skoolie had at least 3 ft on each side of both and is 31ft long.